1–What is the title of your latest release?
2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
A con artist must navigate the schemes of a criminal organization and burgeoning dark magic while facing demons, witches, and love.
3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I love fantasy stories and I love stories with characters and settings beyond the plethora of European-inspired ones. But as the child of immigrants, I ached for a character I could relate to. Someone who was born and raised away from their family’s homeland and has to navigate a place where she doesn’t fully belong, while longing for the homeland as some far-off place that exists in her dreams.
4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Probably not. Salome is a big rule-breaker while I am more of a rule follower. She’s trouble, and I’m cozy at home. She’s… so much that I’m not and that’s why I love writing her.
5–What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Bold, adventurous, passionate.
6–What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned just how much I longed to see the diaspora experience in a fantasy novel. It wasn’t a super conscious thing when I first started writing the story. I started noticing it later on and then I really dove into exploring it.
7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I mostly draft first, with minor edits. I’m awful when I start editing while I’m drafting. I nitpick too much and get stuck in the details.
8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Ice cream. I go to one-of-a-kind shops with small batch ice cream. It’s definitely more expensive but the flavors you can experience are incredible! In Toronto, there are some fantastic places, including ones that offer nostalgic flavors and even Filipino ones—like Milo or ube.
9–Describe your writing space/office!
I don’t have a set writing space! When I first drafted WTB, it was at the dining table in my first condo in Toronto. I also wrote during my classes in university. Sometimes I write on the couch at home or in bed.
10–Who is an author you admire?
June Hur. We became friends back in 2018 through Twitter. She’s a testament to hard work and perseverance. I love her passion, excitement, intelligence, and kindness. She was so determined to publish books and she’s churned out some incredible stories. I’m constantly in awe of her.
11–Is there a book that changed your life?
The Diary of a Princess series. They were these short books that read like diaries of historical royal figures. I distinctly remember the ones for Eleanor of Aquitane and Catherine the Great.
12–Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
Honestly, it was surreal. I wrote the first draft of WTB in 2016 and it had been on submission to publishing houses starting in late 2018. Leading up to the call, I’d had a request from City Owl Press to revise and resubmit the story months earlier and I’d worked on that for a while. It wasn’t the whole book but a significant portion of it. We sent it back to them and waited. It was 2022 and I thought I was just going to be shelving the book and moving on.
I got an email from my agent first that the editor wanted to make an offer! Because it had been YEARS and I was hesitant to get excited, I think I was more in shock than anything. I couldn’t believe it was happening. I cried a bit and I was shaking and just trying to wrap my head around it being real. I don’t think it properly hit me until the contract was signed, or even until I had my first round of edits with my editor at City Owl, Tee.
13–What’s your favorite genre to read?
I love romance. It’s my go-to.
14–What’s your favorite movie?
Tangled. I know every line. I can’t really spew them on the spot, but if you play the movie, I can mouth the words with the characters. Yes, I know all the songs too. I watched it in 3D in theatres and cried like a baby during the lantern scene.
15–What is your favorite season?
Fall. My birthday season! Perfect timing for WTB, which is publishing on October 3rd while my birthday is on the 1st! My book baby and I are both Libras. Amazing.
16–How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
A cake all to myself and lunch or dinner with my mom and sister. I’m terrible with accepting gifts; I’m so awkward but grateful for whatever I might get.
17–What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Happy Place by Emily Henry for fiction (romance). Toxic Positivity by Whitney Goodman for non-fiction. I actually don’t watch a lot of shows or movies, and I haven’t gotten hooked on a podcast yet.
18–What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
I also love Asian cuisine. That’s broad because it’s not a specific cuisine, but different dishes from different Asian cultures. I love my noodles: pho, ramen, and pancit. I also love pasta, so Italian food often hits the spot for me.
19–What do you do when you have free time?
I check out local markets and ice cream shops. I’ve lived in Toronto for 10 years now and I love exploring the city. I also like going to greenhouses and botanical gardens. I’m terrible with plants but I love, love, love flowers.
20–What can readers expect from you next?
Right after WTB releases, I have a short story in a Filipino-Canadian anthology, Magdaragat. In 2024, I’ll also have a short story in the horror anthology edited by Alex Brown, THE HOUSE WHERE DEATH LIVES, with piece involving a creature from Filipino folklore. Oh, and WTB is the first book in the series, so keep an eye out for updates on the next installments.
WHEN THEY BECKON by Kay Costales
Salome Visaya is nothing and no one—at least, that’s what the Alliance want her to think.A criminal organization that has trained her since childhood, the Alliance made her a creature of cunning and greed, and now offers Salome a shot at the con of a lifetime. All she has to do is assume the role of Rosalia d’Ilumias and play the blushing bride-to-be.And the target? King Vincent d’Allorias of the war-ravaged kingdom of Ilarya.Three months of her life—three months to charm the King and the nobles, to weasel her way into his confidence, and to rob him and his treasury blind. It should be an easy job, the kind that she was born to play, but when a witch approaches her in the dark and awakens something inside her, everything changes.The court is alive with demons made of shadows, and Salome might be the only one with power to save Ilarya—and the world—from the ancient forces that threaten them.
Romance Fantasy [City Owl Press, On Sale: October 3, 2023, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781648983719 / eISBN: 9781648983726]
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About Kay Costales
Kay Costales is a Toronto-based, queer Filipina author and poet represented by Lesley Sabga of the Seymour Agency. As a child of immigrants, it is important to her to always provide queer Filipino diaspora representation in her stories. She graduated from the University of Toronto with an Honours Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Criminology but doesn’t use her degree for anything. You can usually find her constantly daydreaming about dark but magical things, with a little bit of whimsy and romance.
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