Send questions to hello@rhiannonhargadon.com
Featuring: Bloody Black
Tropes: Trauma and Healing, Obsessed Hero, SA Survivor, Only One Bed, Found Family
He stole her throne, she’s come back to reclaim it.
Bloody Black is romantic dark fantasy retelling of the pirate BLACKBEARD. Anne was a reckless, arrogant royal who had never tasted defeat. After a brutal betrayal on her wedding night, Anne vanishes from the kingdom she was meant to rule. Years later, she’s returns from the grave—no longer a princess but a terror of the seas.
Known only as Blackbeard, she’s hunting down the men who destroyed her, one by one.
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How long have you been writing?
Since always, but I started writing seriously in 2020. My cousin said I should try to write a book after we read “The Selection” together.
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What gets you in the mood to write?
Driving. I listen to music and think about other worlds, characters, things that would be interesting.
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What is your creative ‘process?’
Probably too long to describe; it takes me a really long time to write a book (about a year, end to end!). It’s changed over time, but nowdays I start with a VERY detailed outline and then create “scene cards”. Then I write and write and write. Sometimes I do voice transcribing, like if I’m driving or in a rush, I’ll make a voice file describing the scene so that I can listen to it later.
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Who do you look up to most?
Karina Halle. She is so unapologetically herself, and I fucking love that. She’s not putting on a show, she’s not pretending she has it altogether. It takes a lot of bravery to put yourself out there, and amongst authors she’s probably the most public about who she is and her life and I find her very inspiring.
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What’s your most recent 5 star read?
The Legacy Series by Melissa Roehrich
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What is the most surprising thing about being an author?
People loving your book. For me, I had all kinds of visions of doom. People will hate it, people will say it’s boring, people won’t get it… etc. What I was NOT prepared for was for someone to message me and send videos of her and her friends cosplaying it. Or, a woman posting on tiktok kissing the book, getting teary eyed, and saying it was one of her favorites she’d ever read. I was truly not expecting that, and even now after years of having a core group of fans, I’m still so surprised when someone says “Oh! I ordered all your books and the preorder because I’ll buy everything you ever write!” It’s wild.
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What’s something unique about you?
I write DARK dark fantasy about real world issues. In my books you’ll find toxic mothers, infertility, older FMCs, assault survivors, infidelity… and then healing. It’s pretty uncommon in romantasy, but most readers find it cathartic and are glad to see the issues they’ve lived through represented in a fantastical way.
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What is your favorite candy?
Watermelon Sour Patch Kids
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Finish this sentence: “When she reached forward towards the doorknob ….
she didn’t know what she’d find. Would he be inside? It was only this morning that they stood side by side, elbows brushing… this morning that he’d tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. He won’t, she thought. It’ll be someone else’s husband fallen. Not mine.
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What is one of your exciting upcoming ideas/themes for a project you haven’t started yet?
A woman’s betrothed goes missing, and instead of accepting it, she goes looking for him.
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Who is one of your favorite heroines and why?
Inej from Six of Crows. I love her quiet strength, her stealth, and her unwavering loyalty.
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Who is one of your favorite villains and why?
Lachesis, from my series DESCENDANTS OF THE FATES. She’s been betrayed by the only man she ever loved, and as such, loses all rationality. We’ve all been there, I think (well. hopefully not ALL of us…) where we’re in a relationship with a man who finds someone else. It’s specific and terrible sort of heartbreak, and most women do go a little crazy. She goes *a lot* crazy, and gets revenge not only on him, but his future wife, and their child.
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Cassie Swindon conducted this interview. Check out one of her nine published books. The Wicked Blue is a standalone (modern) fantasy romance that some would categorize as PNR. It’s a little mermaid gender swap retelling.
