Juliet Brooks is joining us today to talk about her novel, A Far in Finance. Here’s the publisher’s description:
When investment banker Miri is purposely trapped in Faerie by her client, the Princeling of the Faerie realm, she does what any normal 20-something would do: cries, makes jokes in denial, and worries loudly about her cat, Doctor Kitten. Instead of rescuing her, her boss simply confirms she has solid internet access, leaving Miri stranded in a strange land with only a warning that the quality of her work should not decrease because of a change of address.
But Miri grew up reading fantasy, and she knows there are always ways to work around magic–she just needs to find them. In order to make her daring escape, Miri must navigate Faerie political drama, lies by omission, faerie seduction tactics, deteriorating mental health, and a mother who never hangs up the phone.
What’s Juliet’s favorite bit?
I want to talk about Schubert.
I always want to talk about Schubert. Schubert is perhaps my favorite character I’ve ever written in my entire life. Does Schubert have any lines in A Fae in Finance? I’m actually not totally sure. It doesn’t matter. Schubert is a sweet baby angel. Schubert is a hero. Schubert is aspirational and inspirational.
So who, you’re wondering, is Schubert?
Well, let’s back up a bit. When my main character, Miri, eats faerie food at a client dinner and gets trapped in Faerie, she’s introduced to the magical world of universal healthcare, community-provided food, and social housing. Miri, who grew up in New Jersey and works in New York City, doesn’t understand these complicated concepts. In a Faerie realm faux pas, she asks her new Fae housemates what they do for a living. The Fae, who don’t have to work unless they want to, are baffled by the question.
Enter: Schubert.
Schubert is a cicada-adjacent faerie who chooses to spend his almost limitless free time wandering around screaming at irregular intervals. Schubert’s friends love and support him, and follow him around while he does this.
I love Schubert because the idea of a person wandering around and shouting whenever you don’t expect it cracks me up every time I think about it. But I also love Schubert because he helps me pack world-building into a tight space.
Schubert’s passion is, in a word, annoying. There’s no other way to say it. While we can all relate to the desire to scream in a courtyard at irregular intervals, we don’t do it, because the sound of someone screaming wordlessly is jarring to the public at large. And yet, Schubert’s hobby is not only tolerated, but loved and welcomed by his friends. At one point, Miri is frustrated because while dozens of people followed Schubert around as he screamed irregularly for a chunk of time, nobody has showed up to her class on how to interact with humans.
This tells the reader few things about the Princeling’s Court – the place in Faerie where we spend most of A Fae in Finance. First, it indicates that physical needs are met for people, so they have time to explore wants. Second, it implies that in the Princeling’s Court there is a deep acceptance for your neighbors; not just when you find them convenient and understandable, but also when they are objectively inconvenient. Third, it emphasizes that beyond tolerance there is support, whether or not there is understanding. And finally, it demonstrates that there is community – the community shows up for Schubert, who is an in-member, but not Miri, who is an outsider. I love Schubert because he let me pack so much into a single joke. I love him because in addition to being a punch line, he’s also an indicator of how the community at the Princeling’s Court behaves. There is a level of physical and psychological safety that’s required before you can start doing weird performance art for your entire community. And perhaps most importantly, I love him because I too want to scream in the woods sometimes, and it’s kinda cool to write someone who not only owns that but also makes all of his loved ones experience it too.
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BIO:
Juliet Brooks lives with her spouse, two cats, and a lot of plants. In her free time, she plays board games with her friends while the Pride and Prejudice BBC miniseries plays on loop in the background. She’s been informed that someday, they may move on to the Lord of the Rings (extended editions).
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