Q&A: Michelle Schad on SMOKE AND STARS: “Fantasy offers so many possibilities.”
Check out our interview with the author of the latest novel in the fantasy Rise of the Phoenix series.
“The good guys don’t always get what they want.”
Revised June 2023
Michelle Schad has been writing stories—of the fantastic, the horrific, and the mysterious—for as long as she can remember. She has been on a blog tour to promote the novel Smoke and Stars, the latest book in her high fantasy Rise of the Phoenix series.
Her fiction also includes the horror novel Black Eyes: A Demon’s Curse, the superhero urban fantasy Beyond Human series, plus short stories in the zombie anthology Cold as Death, and the urban fantasy anthology Obscura.
In our interview with the author, Schad tells Monster Complex what drove her to write Smoke and Stars, explains her unique angle for writing fantasy, and reveals her pet peeves for others in the genre.
“I do not feel the need to have any sort of happy endings,” the author tells us. “I know that tends to set me apart because it’s usually what people want after a long adventure. The good guys don’t always get what they want.”
Find out more about Schad and her new novel Smoke and Stars below!
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About the book Smoke and Stars
Five years have been lost to a void in Reven Si’ahl’s mind.
Everything Reven was is barreling at him faster than he can process it. Family, love, enemies, demons, and nightmares he can’t control plague him at all hours. The more he learns about his previous life, the more he questions his sanity.
Stuck with the small handful of survivors from the Phoenix Empire, Reven finds himself offering advice to his nephew, asking advice of his son, Kaleo, and learning that sometimes family can be your biggest enemy.
Meanwhile, the Kormandi King, Demyan, finds himself in need of the bard’s aid again as he is left to sort out how to escape a nation hell bent on killing people with Power. By sheer luck, and with the help of Idris Acai—an assassin and Reven's other son—the miraculous is achieved until reaching Tierra Vida with the others.
What should be a warm family reunion turns into Reven’s greatest nightmare when Kaleo is taken by the Queen of Torment herself, Madhavi. Now Reven has to accept his new role, and go rescue his urchin before it’s too late.
Smoke and Stars: A Rise of the Phoenix Novel
Michelle Schad
Chaos Publications
Categories: Fantasy Adventure, Epic Fantasy, Fantasy Action & Adventure
About author Michelle Schad
From a young age, there have been voices inside of Michelle’s head. No, not those kinds of voices—or, maybe they are—who really knows? Rather than fear those voices, Michelle wrangled them like wild mustangs on the prairie, make each one bend to her will in its own time.
Michelle has been writing stories of the fantastic, the horrific, and the mysterious for as long as her little fingers have been able to hold a pen—and probably longer (but memory only goes back so far).
Her fiction includes the high fantasy Rise of the Phoenix series. the horror novel Black Eyes: A Demon’s Curse, the superhero urban fantasy Beyond Human series, plus short stories in the zombie anthology Cold as Death, the urban fantasy anthology Obscura, the steam punk anthology Smoke & Steam, and the horror anthology Tales of the Black Dog.
Interview: Michelle Schad on SMOKE AND STARS:
Q: What inspired Smoke and Stars? Was there a particular hook or angle driving you to write it?
The book initially started as a wild idea of merging two worlds together. The first inception of it didn’t go well so instead of a book, I turned it into a TTRPG.
That went wild but gave the world and characters so much more depth than I could have imagined it could have. I took all that wild and crazy and put it into a book (well, a few books, but still).
Q: What inspires your unique angle for writing in your genre? (How are you different or compare with others in this category?)
I do not feel the need to have any sort of happy endings. I know that tends to set me apart because it’s usually what people want after a long adventure. The good guys don’t always get what they want. 😉
Q: What are your favorite things about this kind of fiction?
The ability to do anything. New worlds, new races, magic, different ways to use science and technology. The possibilities are literally endless.
Q: What are some of your pet peeves with this genre that you’ve seen others do? (Books, movies, TV, wherever)
Recently, forced diversity bothers me. This is a genre where people are literally green or blue. It happens more in movies and TV, but the “need” to make this genre diverse is absurd to me.
Q: What are the best ways that readers can connect with you or keep up with your author news?
Follow me on social media
Or visit my website (TamingChaos.net) and sign up for my newsletter. I love chatting with people and making new friends.
More about Michelle Schad online
Horror and comedy both make us jump—which is why these elements work together so well together. Looking at books from authors like Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Tanya Huff, Kelley Armstrong, John Scalzi, Diana Rowland, and Kevin J. Anderson, plus many authors you should meet.