10 questions for Karen Rhodes, author of ‘A Queen's Heart’.
Some background:
Back in 2016, I started following a fellow zumba-instructor on facebook, called Karen Rhodes. I have been following her life-story ever since, and last month I saw her posting about a book she had written; which was about to be released soon..
I told her I had a bookstagram and she gave me the amazing honor to become one of her ARC-readers :)
At ZINCON 2025(the annual zumba-convention for instructors) we met up, and spent an hour talking about the book. I loved every minute of it <3
I hope you enjoy the interview!
x
You told me that you used to write fanfiction; what was it about?
"When I did not like the ending of a book or a movie, I needed to write the rest of the story myself. Because what happened after the 'happily after ever'?
I wrote different storylines; different fanfiction for 4-5 years. I had all these different ideas, that I wanted to bring together, which I did in this book.
The fanfiction was about Sleeping Beauty and it was the start of A Queen's Heart."
What inspired your story; A Queen's Heart?
"Sleeping Beauty ended with a happily ever after, feeling like Aurora was useless; and I wanted to finish her story. A lot of the romancebooks I read go with the tropes. Happily ever after - the end, or only drama that comes after. I was tired of love being the problem, the drama. Love and romance is not a problem. Why can't we make love the answer?
Damon & Alira's love is the thing that stands the test of time. The strength beats all odds. Alira would never have been travelling to Valtoria if it wasn't for love. The only way that Damon could be open for love; was because of his father King Eric. Damon loves his father, and he saw a marriage without love between his parents, which he did not want for himself. He wanted to soften the kingdom.
" In my own life, I've often felt like an imposter and I wanted to use that for Alira. "Even when getting comfortable in a role, you still question yourself. When opening up and talking to other people, I realised that everybody has this kind of fear. 'You are not good enough to be here.' Whether it's a job or a friend group, there is this constant fear of being caught, discovered. "
"Sometimes people begin to change themselves a little, to fit into that mold, to be more accepted by other people, out of fear of being rejected, while most people don't feel that way about you.
Alira has the worst case of imposter syndrome because everybody around her does feel that way. Everybody around her doesn’t want Alira in that castle, in that role of Queen. She wants to be there as Damon´s wife. They marry for love as the first couple in Valtoria's history.
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What inspired the characters?
"Damon & Alira are inspired by Philip & Aurora, My favorite couple. They did not get what they deserved. Many fanfiction made love the problem again. I wanted to explore their love. The women in the forest who raised Alira, and the sorceress Velara, was the only little nod towards 'Sleeping Beauty'. It was hard to let go of them and move into an unknown, new couple."
Alira deals with different kind of villains. Physical, emotional en psychological ones. Alira finds strength in who she is, but she is unable to move forward in anything until she fights the demon in her mind, and accepts herself for who she is. She has to 'break the rules' to be herself.
It might look like Alira changed, but she is gaining confidence in who she is. When reading the things that happen; you feel her loneliness, but I did not want to make her as a damsel; to keep running to Damon for every single thing. " "Damon was Alira's only acknowledgement; and I had to humanize him. He was hard at first; without a personality of his own. In the middle of the night I wrote a scene about what he loves to do, and it moved me. 'Nice to meet you' I thought."
Where did the idea for light against steel come from?
"I needed Alira to go through something when coming into a new kingdom.
Being around people who do not want you, accept you, and make you feel as a total imposter. I want Alira to go through the worst possible case of imposter syndrome, of feeling like she doesn't belong, to give others the opportunity to know that most of us don't go through the worst situations. The most people around us support us, even though we don't feel that way".
"I wanted her to go through a point where nobody around her supports her, but she still fights it, still overcomes, and that will give other people hope. A way to see that this is something that I can do; I can be this strong."
"She comes from a beautiful light kingdom, going into the kingdom from hell, which will be the biggest struggle. If Valtoria was similar to the dawn, she probably would be more accepted and easier. that's why I wanted the stark contrast". I wanted to show the staff; standing there when Alira comes in(the book's cover) which is powerful and terrifying at the same time. Being kind is not accepted, the staff is the emotional villain, inside of her home. Everybody around you is pressing down on you, in a place where you should be comfortable and safe. She's treating the staff so kind, but Alira is the issue. The discovery that there are people supporting her, will be a little light for Alira. "
How did you approach the world-building?
"A Queen's heart is a modern fantasy, with whispers of magic, but not historical. I did some research on the 14th century, but it wasn't fitting with my characters at all. I had to research certain things to make sure it was correct. For example; the handle of a sword is called a hilt, I didn't know that! Do carriages have glass windows? Little things like that. What does the land look like?”
“I drew a map of Valtoria. Where the river runs through, where the city is, where the keep is, where the palace is, how high the cliffs were, so I could visualize the world so the continuity would be correct."
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"At one point in the story there's a ship; when I wrote that they were on a ship, I had to think about 'who commisioned this ship?' Is it from Valtoria? The Dawn? Did Damon do this? Who does it belong to? A lot of castles are build on stone. I wanted their castle to be luxurious, with black marble rather than having a 14th century style castle."
"I also had to research the feeling it gave off. Everything in the book has to provoke a feeling. I want people to feel something when they read the scenes. I want the readers to be in the story, with them, to leave their own life behind for a little while. When I read a book like that, it helps me to escape the real world, the worries, all the duties and obligations to dive into a completely different world.
" What message do you hope readers will take "Home"?
"There can be so many people around you that are against you, but the biggest villain you're ever going to fight is the one in your own mind. That's the biggest message I want to give. Never change who you are; you are never going to be able to conquer anything unless you conquer what's in here. *taps her temple* It's all in your head. "
Do you have rituals to get you into the writing process?
"I started writing fun scenes, made from little thoughts during the day. Little, fun scenes, for myself. I have millions of them. Damon galloping on his horse, Damon lighting a document on fire, small love scenes(non-sexual), and so on. Nothing too heavy, but to keep me in the world."
"I did deal with creative obsessions; I was up until 2 am because I kept going. I had to research methods to get out of that creative restless mind to be able to sleep. "
"Stephen King dealt with the same issue; and he used to say out loud: 'My characters are safe. My story is safe. I will revisit this tomorrow, and then closed the book." I also wrote scenes about characters that have nothing to do with this story, to separate me from my own storyline. "
Were you afraid to forget things?
"Not the huge things, but the small things, yes. Like tiny little things to add into the book to symbolize scenes, it would be 1 am and I had to go back to the chapter to put it in. I wrote notes in my phone but forgot I had it. Sometimes I quickly opened my laptop to write things down; maybe I still forgot some little things though.. I will know when I read it again; or not. I'm thinking about a novella with the little cute, fun scenes. I wanted a certain older character to be there as a ghost; but I still need him in another book; so he can't be dead yet. "
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
"Trust your instincts. If you feel like something is supposed to be in this book; put it in there. Trust your instincts, regardless what anybody says or thinks". "When something, even if it's the tiniest thing, looks off; change it. Work on it untill it is perfect. Readers might not notice it, but they can feel the energy, of something that's off. Even the smallest things. You have to feel 100% confident about every line you write. " "You have so much more in you then you think. When you start asking advice; sometimes you get some really good ideas.sometimes they say 'don't do this' and it feels wrong. If it doesn't feel comfortable, if it feels off; change it. even if it's just one word. Do not move forward untill you feel comfortable. You deserve to produce a book that you love. "
What book did you love the most?
"When me and my husband did not have very much money and were in this really bad living situation, I would read books as my only opportunity to go to another world. I remember reading a quote 'she reads to fill up and live' , this was the only way that I could live a life, by jumping into another world. " "My absolute favorite is a psychological thriller called ; The Last Time I lied by Riley Sager. I have read all his books. I felt like jumping into a whole new world, with a wow-factor."
My own photo: (https://instagram.com/beastie.reads)
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