P.S.C. Willis is joining us today to talk about their novel, Crying out for Magic. Here’s the publisher’s description:
A meet-cute across worlds!
Draven Montrose’s world, Galdorsfarne, is like a soggy firework: so much potential, so little sparkle. Magic is running out, and so are his dating options. Whilst he should be grateful for a cruelty-free world, he’s never known anything else. His (entirely realistic and modest) goals for the year are to solve the magical energy crisis…and get a proper boyfriend.
Niall Silverstein lives in Northern England, wishing fantasy stories were real and he had the guts to talk to cute boys. He isn’t out to his parents, he’s never kissed anyone, and he’s convinced he’ll die alone in a corner of the library, a spotty and unloved nerd.
A magical portal between worlds and a chance meeting might be all that’s needed to fix both their broken worlds. But does Draven’s world contain enough magic to keep their meetings going?
What’s P.S.C’s favorite bit?
‘Crying Out for Magic’ takes place across two different worlds—North-East England, and a quirky fantasy dimension, where magic is generated by kindness. It may be surprising to some that the world I’m most fond of isn’t the one I made up.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Galdorsfarne, and I’m very proud of the idea of magic being like renewable energy, created by doing good, which I haven’t come across anywhere else. But my query letter described the book as ‘a love-letter to North-East England.’ It’s where I went to university, and lived for a number of years afterwards, and it deserves to be seen, known, and admired.
The peak of this for me is when Draven and Niall go on a date to Tynemouth Market. Niall describes is as “One of the places that always made me believe in [magic].” I had so much fun writing this scene—strolling down memory lane, trying to pin down the right details to pull out the essence of the place. The photo stall they browse was introduced to me by a friend as his favourite. One of the market vendors is someone I know who really did have a stall there after uni, and really did make prints of the local vampire rabbit statue. The scene covers both Niall’s cosy familiarity with the place, and Draven’s wide-eyed wonder at exploring somewhere new. Alongside them, I hope readers who’ve been there feel I’ve done it justice, and those who haven’t want to go there—or better yet, feel like they have been.
I love contemporary fantasy because I want to believe the adventure can happen to me. And while the recent increase in queer books lets me see facets of my identity in ways that mainstream publishing denied me growing up, the default is often American. While I can transpose myself into those adventures, there’s something special about seeing evidence of magic on your own doorstep. Or at least, your former doorstep.
In my day job, I work in a school, and we often talk about providing the students with ‘mirrors, windows, and doors’—books in which they see themselves, in which they see others, and in which they step into someone else’s shoes and cultivate their empathy for them. As a reader, I enjoy having access to all three, and actively diversify my reading to explore myriad worlds, not just in terms of fantasy but also culture. As a writer, I made a mirror that I didn’t yet have for myself—a story that was queer and joyful in a place where part of my heart still lives. I hope it will be a window or a door through which others can enjoy it too.
The book is peppered with things that are my story in that place. I love it when a book makes me so curious about something that I have to Google it, and I love the idea of art supporting other art. I hope the bands mentioned in the book or the mentions of the local myths and sayings get people searching and exploring beyond the world I’ve put into the pages. Because even though I wrote a love letter to North-East England, I can easily list half a dozen stunning or iconic or silly personal things about it that didn’t make it into the story.
So, start with the book, look up the music, deep dive the references, and fall down a vampire rabbit hole.
LINKS:
BIO:
P.S.C. Willis is a queer British author living abroad, where they are an active member of the local writing scene and the LGBTQIA+ community. They have previously been published in DreamForge Magazine and multiple short story anthologies—most recently ‘Cursed Cooking’ by Cat Eye Press. They like to create stories that allow others to believe in good people, in magic, or both.