Miranda Owen: The description for THE WITCHES OF BONE HILL says that it’s a “romantic novel”. Without giving too much away, could you explain that? Do you try to balance all your elements – like suspense, the paranormal, character building – or does one element dominate this story?
Ava Morgyn: There is definitely a romantic interest for the main character of the novel, Cordelia Bone, which runs throughout the book. Romance doesn’t dominate the story—this novel is many things—but it plays an important role in Cordelia’s character arc and growth. I do try to balance elements in my work. This book, in particular, has a lot for readers to chew on. But I tend to lean into the supernatural and paranormal elements the hardest, I think.
How would you describe your setting?
Rural, isolated even. Beautiful but eerie. I want my settings, and this one in particular, to be enchanting and almost fantastical but with a dark edge, so the characters and the readers never feel entirely at ease there. This gives the setting an unpredictability and animism that adds another layer to the story.
What appeals to you about writing about magic? Some authors write about magic like it’s a completely separate character, and others describe it as an intrinsic part of their characters. What’s your perspective in THE WITCHES OF BONE HILL?
In this novel, the magic is very much a part of my characters and their heritage. It does not stand alone. And it’s inspired by the real practices of ancient Nordic seeresses, though I’ve certainly taken artistic license with that for the sake of fiction. I think what I love about writing about magic is that, for me, it’s synonymous with writing about personal power and agency. It’s very symbolic of learning to trust ourselves and be our own guides, and learning how to create a life we really want to live. That’s a powerful journey for any character to go on.
Your story involves sisters. I enjoy novels that explore the, often complicated, dynamic between siblings. How would you describe the relationship between these sisters?
When the novel opens, Cordelia and Eustace’s relationship is strained. They are estranged and have been for several years after a falling out they had following the death of their mother. But what’s apparent right away, is that these two women are close and essentially love each other very much. They have a history that’s really bonded them, one that no one else can understand. That bond is tested at Bone Hill, but it’s also healed and strengthened there.
Some authors have told me that the kind of books they enjoy reading are not the same genre of books that they enjoy writing. What types of things do you like to read? Favorite authors or titles?
I actually love the same kind of books I write. I love most anything dark—horror, thriller, gothic. I love supernatural and paranormal contemporary fiction. I love books about witches and complicated women. I enjoy fantasy as well. I read across genres, but typically everything I read has dark or heavy themes.
What are you currently working on?
I have another stand-alone witch novel coming out from St. Martin’s Griffin next year titled THE BANE WITCH. It’s set in the Adirondack Mountains and features an entirely new breed of witch that I am so excited to share with readers. And I am currently beginning a third adult novel, also about witches, set in the Pacific Northwest that I hope will be available the year after.
THE WITCHES OF BONE HILL by Ava Morgyn
Ava Morgyn’s The Witches of Bone Hill is a spellbinding, romantic novel about family secrets and two young women who discover they’re Nordic witches.
Cordelia Bone’s meticulously crafted life and career in Dallas are crashing down around her thanks to a philandering husband with criminal debts. When her older, carefree sister, Eustace—a cannabis grower in Boulder—calls to inform her that the great aunt they never met has died and they must travel to a small town in Connecticut to deal with the estate, she sees an opportunity to unload the house and save herself.
But once there, the sisters learn they are getting much more than they bargained for. The Victorian mansion they stand to inherit is bound in a dynasty trust controlled by their late aunt’s aging attorney, who insists they retain and inhabit the house but keeps them in the dark about the peculiar rituals of their ancestors. Not to mention a sexy, tattooed groundskeeper with a shrouded past who refuses to leave the carriage house and a crypt full of dead relatives looming at the property line.
As both women grapple with their current predicament, they come face to face with a haunting family secret, the truth of what happened to their mother, and the enemy that’s been stalking them from the shadows for generations. In a twisting torrent of terror and blood, the sisters must uncover the power within them to heal their fractured relationship, reverse their mysteriously declining health, and claim the lineage they wanted to escape but now must embrace if they are to survive at Bone Hill.
Paranormal | Fantasy Urban [St. Martin’s Griffin, On Sale: September 26, 2023, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781250835437 / eISBN: 9781250835444]
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About Ava Morgyn
Ava Morgyn is a native Texan who grew up falling in love with all the wrong characters in all the wrong stories. She is a lover of crystals, tarot, and powerful women with bad reputations. She studied English Writing & Rhetoric at St. Edward’s University in Austin and currently resides with her family in Houston, where she lives surrounded by antiques and dog hair and writes a blog on child loss. When she isn’t at her laptop spinning darkly hypnotic tales, she can be found reading, hunting for delicious vegan recipes, or wandering a forest.
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