Stephanie Garber’s debut novel Caraval was published in 2016 and continues to be a huge hit with readers, with the author’s latest book, Alchemy of Secrets, out now
If you’re a regular on BookTok, chances are you’ve stumbled upon Stephanie Garber’s novels. Her debut novel, Caraval, published in 2016, continues to be a hot topic of discussion and recommendation among book enthusiasts nearly a decade later.
In addition to the Caraval series, Stephanie is also known for her Once Upon a Broken Heart series. Her latest novel, Alchemy of Secrets, marks her first foray into adult fantasy.
The story revolves around Holland, a postgraduate student with a fascination for myths and legends who suddenly discovers that all the stories she loves are real. After being warned that she will die the next day unless she locates an ancient magical relic, she finds herself thrust into a world beyond her wildest imagination.
She races through Los Angeles, crossing paths with a captivating stranger who insists he’s there to save her life. As she deciphers clues and seeks the truth, she struggles to distinguish friend from foe.
In a recent interview with the Express, Stephanie attributed her passion for reading to paranormal and urban fantasy.
Discussing how this love translated into Alchemy of Secrets, she explained: “I really wanted something in the vein of The Da Vinci Code meets A Discovery of Witches, because I love the accessibility of a paranormal romance. I also love the way, to me, it feels like the most escapist, because it feels the most likely that it could happen.”
When it came to mapping out the novel, Stephanie revealed she began with the world and the folklore before simply allowing her characters to take control.
“I read a lot of urban fantasy and I know what I love in it. I had these things that I knew I wanted to put in the book, but then there was a lot of space in between to kind of play with them and see how it would all shake out.
“I think when you have a clear idea of the world and a clear idea of who your characters are, for the first book in a series, you don’t have to plot as much, because they kind of are going to take you on the course. You have a clear goal, and so I had those things and I knew that were certain benchmarks that I wanted to hit.
“I knew that I wanted to write a story where it wasn’t clear who the love interest was. I wanted to throw a lot of characters at my main character and make it not a clear love story, not even really a true love triangle, but more of like, wait, who can she trust? And who is the love interest? Is this the bad guy or the love interest?”
Stephanie also offered some guidance for any aspiring writers hoping to pen their own bestselling novel one day, suggesting they pick up John Truby’s The Anatomy of A Story.
“You want to have one core idea, and that is your seed and you’re planting it, and this is the seed that grows like a tree,” she explained. “So I think when you’re figuring out this seed that you’re centring this whole story around, it has to be something that you absolutely love that keeps you up at night, that makes you write notes on your phone when you’re out and about or on receipts when you’re at a restaurant.
“It has to be this big enough idea because it has to carry you through the whole story. And I think that if it’s true for you, if you feel this, readers are going to feel it too.”
When she’s not writing stories and dreaming up magical new worlds, Stephanie is also an avid reader herself. She revealed Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor as her ultimate favourite fantasy novel, confessing that she revisits it almost every year.
“If you’ve never read Laini Taylor, her writing is just gorgeous,” she said. “She’s just, I think, one of the best writers out there and the storytelling in this book is just incredible and thought provoking, but really fantastical.”
Other Stephanie recommends include Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson, as well as The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith.
“I felt like that book was like The Bachelor meets The Cruel Prince and I just loved it. It was just a really fun book and it was really, really clever.
“There are these fantastic fairy bargains and there’s a really good romance, and then there’s really awesome female friendships in this book, which were unexpected, given that it is like a competition for marriage, and I love the way she did it. So that book is just, I flew through that book.”
You can buy Stephanie’s new book, Alchemy of Secrets, now.