Hey there, readers! Boy, do I have a treat for you! I was offered the opportunity to interview the New York Times bestselling author Lexi Ryan, author of the These Hollow Vows duology, and of course, I took it! So check out the interview below, and get a peek into Ryan’s mind and a little peek into Beneath These Cursed Stars, set in the same world as These Hollow Vows.
Happy reading!
Cyn’s Workshop: What inspired you to write These Hollow Vows & These Twisted Bonds?
Lexi Ryan: In 2018, I found myself struggling with . . . everything. The world was a dumpster fire (I’m fully aware it still is but was feeling it particularly acutely at the time), and my family was dealing with some heavy stuff as well. I found reprieve and hope in fantasy and found myself bingeing everything I could get my hands on. If it had magic and romance, I was in. If it had clever or devious fae, I was in love. It didn’t take long before the wheels started turning in my own head, and Brie was born—complete with her anger at the injustices in her world and her determination to protect those who mattered most to her.
CW: What sets Beneath These Cursed Stars apart from that duology?
Lexi Ryan: Beneath These Cursed Stars is set in the same world as the These Hollow Vows duology, but instead of featuring a single protagonist who is new to the world, it features two protagonists who are entrenched in it. Because their stories are told in parallel narratives from two different parts of the realm, we get to experience more of the world and the magic and see how much the politics in one fae court affect the others. Our protagonists probably make the biggest difference to the feel of the book, but we can talk more about that later.
CW: Describe Beneath These Cursed Stars in five words.
Lexi Ryan: Fae, Romance, Hope, Healing, and Self-Discovery
CW: Before these two series, you mostly wrote contemporary romance. What inspired you to step out of your usual genre?
Lexi Ryan: Like I said above, life circumstances necessitated it, but once the idea took hold, I think I just wanted to see if I could do it. I was a little intimidated by writing such a big world. In fact, at the time I was drafting, there was this idea going around Twitter that if you have writer’s block, you should write in the Comic Sans font. I didn’t have writer’s block. I knew my story. But I was intimidated by it. So I drafted the majority of These Hollow Vows in Comic Sans. You absolutely cannot take yourself seriously when writing in that font. It was my way of reminding myself that I’d started the project as a treat, and I should have fun with it.
CW: How is Jasalyn different from Brie?
Lexi Ryan: Unlike Brie, whose mission is driven by her love and devotion, Jas’s mission is driven by her trauma and her need for vengeance. Her story is quite a bit heavier because of what she experienced and how she’s healed—or not.
CW: When you write, how does the writing process flow? Do you plot and plan? Handwrite or type? Or just let the juices flow?
Lexi Ryan: My process is consistently bananas. I write scenes that come to me—in whatever order they come to me. I use Scrivener or Word, depending on how I’m feeling, or even WriteorDie, which is a software that makes you keep typing if you want to avoid horrible screeching sounds and a flashing screen. WriteorDie is great for making myself get scenes on the page and keeping myself from being precious about my words and sentence structure—that comes later. (There’s also a mode in this software that will start deleting your words if you stop typing for too long. Let it be known that I never use that mode.)

Sometimes I dictate into a recording app on my phone. I don’t use dictation software because I don’t have the patience to train it. Rather, I transcribe the recordings myself, using that as the first chance to get a second go at it.
Once I have a good chunk of content, I sit down and sort them out like puzzle pieces. I look for threads and missing beats and see what I need to fill in and what I need to rewrite to make it all come together. I’ve learned to keep my first draft of these scenes very sparse because the more fleshed out the scenes are the more rewriting I have to do. For me, the real magic of writing happens during revisions. I revise a lot. As a whole, my process is entirely inefficient but it’s the only way I know how to find my way inside a story.
CW: Fae romance has been on the rise for a while; if you had to pick one series that was your favorite, which one would you pick?
Lexi Ryan: Aaah! This is like asking me to pick a favorite child! I couldn’t possibly. I love reading fae for the same reason I love reading vampires—because there are so many different takes on the lore and I’m always excited to see how the author is going to build the rules of her world. My top three are probably: The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black, the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas, and the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning. These are probably three of the most popular as well, and for good reason.
CW: Who’s your favorite author?
Lexi Ryan: You are torturing me with the impossible questions! Since I cheated on the last one, I’ll behave here and say Christina Lauren (but know that in my heart there are like 5 others as well!). Christina Lauren is a duo writing contemporary romance, and they never disappoint.
CW: On a scale of 1 – 10, how spicy would you say this book is?
Lexi Ryan: “Spicy” is so relative. To me, it’s probably a 3, though to readers who don’t read much sexy romance it might be more like a 5. Book 2 heats up a bit, but I try to rein myself in a bit for these books, even though we call this “mature” YA.
CW: Any words of warning for your readers before they dive into Beneath These Cursed Stars?
Lexi Ryan: I’d like to say “Warning: Serious Swoon Ahead!” because it’s true—Kendrick and Misha bring ALL the swoon. However, in all seriousness, this book deals with some heavy subject matter, including anxiety, depression, and trauma from physical abuse. I encourage any reader triggered by these topics to read reviews and/or talk with another reader before diving in. Take care of yourselves.
Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me!
Pre-order Beneath These Cursed Stars today. Just click the link below 👇




