The Inspiration Behind My Standalone Cozy Romantasy Novel, To Sway a Flame
If you’ve been around a while, you’ll have probably heard me talk about my struggle to write romance despite enjoying romance subgenres as reader. Like me when I first set out to write my standalone cozy romantasy novel To Sway a Flame, you’ve probably wondered “how did this happen?” Well, it’s a sort of funny, coincidental story.
Over Christmas, I was binge-reading as I usually do that time of year, when I was struck by the idea of two characters in a precarious situation. It’s nothing short of a crazed moment of inspiration, like a bolt of lightning. The desire to write this scene was so strong that I had to draft it right then and there. So I did just that. From the comfort of my favorite chair, I whipped out my phone and frantically typed out the scene that all but had me in a chokehold.
In it, my two characters were clearly in denial. The tension between the two was palpable and I was hooked. The male main character (MMC) seemed to have had enough and was giving my female main character (FMC) an ultimatum. But for reasons unknown, my FMC couldn’t allow herself to listen to her heart. I knew immediately that there was more between these two than met the eye. Clearly, they were both involved in some seedy dealings and couldn’t act on their own free will—or at least, my FMC couldn’t.
So now this new WIP had my complete and total attention. I needed to know what brought them to this point, to the MMC pinning the FMC to the bed, both wanting the other after longing for what felt like a lifetime and the MMC finally confessing his feelings, but for whatever reason, the FMC had to turn away. My heart broke for her. I knew she didn’t want to (because the scene was from POV and the emotions she was sorting through were heart wrenching), but I couldn’t figure out why. Why was she turning away despite her heart begging her to kiss him?
And then another scene came to me, this one between the FMC and another character I immediately decided was a villain. And the villain wanted the MMC’s heart—literally.
I made some haphazard notes and decided that my other WIP had to take precedence (mainly due to well-intended and lighthearted “pressure” from my mom to put my money where my mouth is and finish it) and tried my best to put this new idea from my mind.
It didn’t work.
More fuel was only added to the metaphorical fire when about a week later, I woke up in the middle of the night one night and couldn’t fall back asleep. So I did what any other person would do during a sleepless night and went to social media. Call it fate, coincidence, divine intervention, or whatever you want because I don’t usually scroll through Stories but on this night I did. And I happened upon Angela J. Ford’s Story calling for authors to take part in a multi-author collaboration. I’d always wondered how authors teamed up for series and had seen a few collabs and desperately wanted to find out how to get into one. I have never hit the “link-in-bio” link so fast!
It didn’t matter that it was sometime in the wee hours of the early morning, I read through all the information on the interest form and filled it out without a second thought (or a series of “what-ifs” from my tendency to overthink that would talk me out of it). With a wish and a churning mind, I submitted my application and went back to sleep.
And the rest, as they say, is history. I eagerly accepted the invitation to join the Tempting Thieves collaboration hosted by Angela J. Ford and Stephanie BwaBwa of Multi Author Collabs and spent the better part of 2024 and this year drafting, editing, formatting, and gearing up to publish To Sway a Flame.
It’s kind of weird how it all worked out, and yes, the original concept for TSAF seemed to be darker than the standalone cozy romantasy it became, but I couldn’t be happier with it. It brought me back to the Barbie and Disney movies I grew up and the feeling of wonder they instilled me, but also that little bit of hopeless romantic I often forget lives inside me. It was such a joy to explore this part of my storytelling and craft, and a new adventure for me as an author.
I’m so excited to share it with readers and honored to be part of such an amazing collection. I’m so grateful for the chance to meet and work with an awesome group of authors, many of whom I’ve admired for a long time now! And of course, the chance to connect with new readers💜
Find more details about the Tempting Thieves collection here and shop the whole collection!
