Hello everyone!

Today we’re welcoming Allison Anderson to the blog to celebrate her brand new book, The Shadow Lord! It’s the 2nd book in her Cartographer’s War series, a Young Adult Fantasy series that’s a fresh take on the story of Persephone and Hades.

Welcome! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what got you into writing?

I’m a wife, a mom, a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and I really like to write fantasy books. While I had dabbled in writing as a kid, I hit a critical point in my life a few years ago where I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I “grew up”. I woke up one morning with a crazy story idea and called my dad to tell him about it. When he heard it, he said, “That would be a great book! You should join my writing group.” While that crazy story didn’t work out, I totally became addicted to writing. There’s something so rewarding about adding to the cauldron of book magic that I’ve been drawing from all my life. I love being able to contribute something to the magic and having the opportunity to give people good stories they can find themselves in.

What inspired you to start writing YA Fantasy?

I love YA Fantasy. There’s so much you can do in that genre. I particularly enjoy the coming-of-age stories, first romances, and that switch from childhood to adulthood. There is so much growth that happens for people—and characters—in that time. I feel it’s one of the greatest adventures we as human beings go on, and telling a story like that is one of my favorite things. And don’t forget about magic. Everything is better with a touch of magic.

You can say that again!

So what influenced you to dive into Penny’s story in particular?

I am obsessed with an unfinished webtoon about Hades and Persephone. When I came up with the idea for The Cartographer’s War, I had finished what the artist had put up to that point and went searching for a book that could give me that same level of excitement. Let me tell you, there was nothing. I probably started over a dozen Hades and Persephone retellings before I stopped the search and decided that if no one else could give me what I wanted, it was up to me to put what I was looking for into the world.

And what is it like to finally have your books out in the world?

Oh, man. Surreal? Bizarre? Elating and absolutely terrifying? There are so many emotions. The only thing I’ve ever found remotely similar is sending your first kid to kindergarten. You’ve been looking at this beautiful thing you’ve created and kept alive for years. Then, you have to give it over to someone else and all you can do is pray they love it as much as you do.

How did writing the second book in the series differ from the first?

It was completely different. The Shadow Lord was the first sequel I’d ever written, and it was actually really nice! Having an already established world with characters that I had grown to know over the course of the first book made it so much easier. There were definitely growing pains and a lot of revisions, but I drafted The Shadow Lord faster than I have any other book I’ve written up to this point. It was super fun.

Do you have any favorite tropes to write? Any you just can’t stand?

I can’t say that I love or hate any certain tropes, but I will tell you that I will always recognize them in a story, and I will always applaud a writer who uses them well. They have their place in storytelling, which is why they are a trope. It’s up to the writer to use them in the best ways.

Are there any other authors that have influenced your writing?

Absolutely! Writing a book takes a village! Jeff Wheeler is at the top of the list. He was the first author that ever made me feel like maybe I could be an author too. Aside from writing such amazing books that have impacted me in the best way, he has also been a constant support to me throughout my author journey. Another author that had a large influence on this series is Sarah M. Eden. I was devouring one of her regency romance series when I realized I wanted my political system in The Cartographer’s War books to be similar to regency era systems. Readers will notice a heavy dose of regency like protocols and fashions when they get into the book—though, I will say, I took a lot of liberties with it. I could name dozens more authors that had a hand in my writing, but I think we’d run out of room!

We hear you had a big hand in getting a little something called Authors in the Dungeon together. Can you tell us a little about that?

Authors in the Dungeon is what I like to call “The Anderson Brainchild”. Last year, I approached my husband (who is a professional Dungeon Master) about getting a book signing together with a few of my author friends at our local gaming store. Instead, we created an entire event around sci-fi/fantasy books and tabletop roleplaying games. We had fifteen amazing authors agree to come and talk about the big elements of story and how to apply them to both writing and gaming. We also partnered with Operation Literacy, a nonprofit foundation that promotes children’s literacy and creative writing. It ended up being a huge event with over 1200 attendees and is by far one of the coolest things I’ve ever been a part of.

Without spoilers, who is your favorite character to write in your series and why?

…I can’t tell you! Ha! I love all of my characters so much, but there’s one character readers haven’t met yet that I had the best time writing. They were actually one of the first characters to really take form in my head and it is so sad to me that no one has even met them yet. But they’re coming!

And lastly, what can readers look forward to seeing from you/the series next?

Aside from favorite characters, we’ve got some really fun things coming in the rest of The Cartographer’s War books. Magic, mayhem, love, war. You know, all the good stuff! I’m so excited for everyone to get to see Penny grow and become the amazing woman I got to know her as. After The Shadow Lord, we have The Unseen King slotted to release in August, and then the big finale at the beginning of 2025. It’s going to be a wild ride!

Allison Anderson lives her best life as a wife, a mom, a dedicated member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and a fantasy writer. As a lifelong fantasy nerd, she finds it natural to create stories of her own and you can often find her jotting down new story ideas or talking about dragons. She’s spent most of her life across the southwestern United States.

You can find her on her website, Facebook, Instagram, BookBub, TikTok, and X.