Based in Auckland and Mt Maunganui, Kiwi YA fantasy author J.M. Goldie spends her time commuting creating sassy fantasy characters, inventing new fantastical beings and scheming how to overcome gruesome villains. Here she shares some details from her Broken Spell series and what inspires her writing.
What kind of books do you write?
I love to write fantasy books for young readers who are obsessed with magic, magical creatures and alternate worlds.
Tell us about your latest fantasy series.
With book 3, Guardians of the Spell now out in the world, I’m excited to say The Broken Spell series is well underway!
The Broken Spell is a magical fantasy series following Brave (a 13-year-old boy) into a captivating alternate world bursting with elemental magic. There he meets True, a 17-year-old student mage, with mysterious magical powers of her own. In the series starter, the two reluctant allies are forced to rely on each other to escape a powerful villain who puts a target on their backs. The books in the series are:
Book one: The Dangers of Being Brave & True
Book two: An Element of Magic
Book three: Guardians of the Spell
What is the latest release Guardians of the Spell about?
So much! But in a nutshell: trying hard, making mistakes and picking yourself up to try again. Plus, magic, love and the pressures of duty and family, and the expectations other people place upon you. Brave is inundated with mysterious reveals in this book as he tries to get his head around shocking new information. True is desperate to win the trust of the strangers helping her heal, while breathing in all the details of a whole new culture.
What are some of the important themes in the series?
Classic fantasy tropes of ‘good against evil’ and the ‘reluctant prince’ join strong action and adventure ideas like ‘determination in the face of terrible odds’. I like to lean into another important concept too: the resilience of friendship. The first three books in the Broken Spell series handle some serious ideas around family dysfunction, lies and omission, trauma and failure. Of course every challenge is brimming with magic, edged with quirky banter and a good dose of humour. But there are serious moments too, with our main characters growing emotionally alongside their evolving elemental powers.
Would you call any of your first three books a romantasy?
No. In books one and two, friendship is the emphasis, with Brave and True’s struggling friendship central to the storyline. Later as both gather allies around them, friendships are deeply important. This kind of fantasy, within the middle grade/junior fiction and young adult genre, is often referred to as ‘clean YA fantasy’ and I find a lot of people are searching for books like this for keen, younger readers.
Note: a hint of romance appears for the first time in book 3 Guardians of the Spell, with a very slow burn unfolding of True starting to fall for the alpine stranger, Fiddtan.
What age reader are your books best for?
I recommend them for readers aged 10+ but I’ve had adults read and enjoy my books too! If you enjoyed Harry Potter, The Rangers Apprentice series or The Wings of Fire series, you might enjoy The Dangers of Being Brave & True. The story starts in our world but quickly moves into the kingdom of Arvalonia, where the concept of using magic with balance and living at one with nature is a focus.
What books do you read and have influenced you or your writing? Do you have an author that you look up to or has inspired you?
I have so many authors who inspire me daily. As a child I loved the stories of Susan Cooper, the Narnia Chronicles and Watership Down and many others. New Zealand children’s book authors I admire are Brian Falkner, my favourite being middle grade novel Northwood. I admire Lee Murray, an NZ author who’s now an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to literature, particularly speculative fiction and won a Prime Minister’s award and for her services for writing last year. She’s always been a big support to me. I’ve also recently read and relished the Celtic influences in Rachael King’s The Grimmelings, a story that received a Storylines notable book award. I also love to read science fiction!
What are the perfect conditions for reading a good book?
A cosy bed or sofa, raining outside, food and coffee within reach. But actually I’ll read anywhere, everywhere!
When did you start writing? What’s your favourite part of writing?
I won an essay contest as a ten year old and it all began from there. Later, I remember being tasked with writing a novella at intermediate school and loving the process of delving into my imagination and creating a story on the page. I wrote a fantasy of course! Later, I enjoyed the writing part of every job I took on, until eventually I completed a Graduate Diploma in Journalism at AUT and began writing for a living, creating web content, marketing and UX writing.
When you write your books, what do you hope readers get out of it? Or how do you hope readers interact with your writing?
Since I write for young readers, I want them to feel something of what I felt as a child when I read a great book. Wonder and joy! I want to build a world where they can escape, immerse themselves in a character’s challenges, experience them overcoming some of them, making mistakes and feeling like they’re truly there alongside them.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on a shorter prequel story from the perspective of a mysterious desert dweller called Rat. In the first book, The Dangers of Being Brave & True, Rat befriends Brave and True in the vast, baking desert called the Inner Heat. Taking a trip into the past, the prequel novella will delve into his life as a young man at the time the cunning villain, Mallevia, begins her quest to rule Arvalonia. The working title is: The Enchanted Man. I’m also working on book 4 of The Broken Spell series. Title to be decided!
