Interviewing Shona Kinsella
Helloo!!
This week i had the pleasure of reviewing the entrancing The Heart of Winter by Shona Kinsella a great fantasy story using Scottish myth and history to deliver a fresh take on the idea of magical bargains It was a pleasure to welcome Shona back to the blog to discuss how this book came about.
How do you like to booktempt The Heart of Winter?
It’s the story of the seasons in Scotland, and the gods who control them. It’s about finding our place in the world and balancing our own needs against the needs of others.
Brigit is a central character as a normal young woman who says no to the Gods. How did she evolve into this story?
In the version of the original myth that this book is reimagining, Bride (also known as Brigit or Brighid) was really quite passive. She was kidnapped by the Cailleach and held prisoner over the winter, and she just does as she’s told, and weeps, until Aengus comes to rescue her. So one of my key concepts for this version was that she would be very active in taking her fate into her own hands.
Two key immortal characters are Aengus and Cailleach representing Summer and Winter. What are their histories and what did you want to do differently for your own tale?
In the myth that I’ve drawn from, The Cailleach is an old hag who is jealous of Bride’s youth and beauty, so kidnaps her and holds her prisoner over the winter. Aengus dreams of Bride and falls in love with her. He borrows three days from summer, putting the Cailleach to sleep, and rescues Bride. They flee together across Scotland, bringing spring in their wake, followed by the Cailleach when she awakes, and that is why we often have a false spring, followed by very blustery weather in March and April.
I wanted to explore what the story would look like if the two female characters were not placed in opposition to each other, and to think about the Cailleach in different terms. Many of her myths talk about how she grows younger over the course of winter, only to age again in the warmer part of the year, so it didn’t make sense to me that she’d be so jealous of someone else’s youth and beauty. So the story became an exploration of the friendship that grows between these two women, and how they find ways to relate to each other.
This felt a tale more of characters refreshingly learning to understand one another rather than a simple case of good and evil. Was that something you wanted to explore?
That was actually one of the most difficult things to negotiate when I was writing the book. There isn’t really a villain, or any bad people, it’s all about competing needs and priorities and how the characters negotiate that conflict to find a solution that works for everyone. I think in life, most of us will spend a lot more time trying to negotiate this kind of conflict than fighting against a villain, and it’s useful to think about how we can balance competing needs, and see things from another’s perspective.
The tale avoids a specific time and place but where any key pieces of Scottish history and myth key to your writing of the story?
In my mind while I wrote, this took place in 5th/6th century Scotland in the Argyll and Bute area, but there really wasn’t anything more specific than that. Various myths about the gods and Nicnevin played a role in how I understood the characters.
The Scottish SF and fantasy scene is very lively at the moment! How has that community developed and whose stories should we be reading?
It’s so wonderful to see such a strong community around SFFH in Scotland! I think it’s in part because of the influence of strong writing groups like the Glasgow SF Writers Circle, and Edinburgh SFF. Everyone I’ve met through these groups has been so enthusiastic and supportive of other writers, it’s lovely. And of course, Cymera Festival gives a focus to SFFH in Scotland’s literary calendar.
You should definitely be reading Neil Williamson, EM Faulds, Cameron Johnston, Justin Lee Anderson, Lorraine Wilson, Annabel Campbell and Cat Hellisen (who also writes as CL Hellisen).
What else can we look forward to from you in the future and where can we find out more in this weird world of social media?
I’m currently working on something very different, a secondary world fantasy novel about a disabled woman who has to find her missing daughter and overcome a hostile environment to get back to her other children. I also have plans for some historical fantasy, one set in Scotland during the 1745 Jacobite uprising, about the women left behind when the men went off to fight, and what they had to do to protect themselves.
You can find me at:
www.facebook.com/ShonaKinsellaAuthor
www.twitter.com/shona_kinsella
www.instagram.com/shona.kinsella
https://bsky.app/profile/shonak.bsky.social
What great books have you read recently?
I’m currently reading Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey and loving it so far.
Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan is brilliant and has so much heart.
Talonsister by Jen Williams has great worldbuilding and I love her use of folklore.
The Skin by JE Hannaford is clever and great fun.
City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky is really different and exciting.
