Today we welcome Caitlyn McFarland to answer a few questions alongside the release of Echoes of the Night, book 1 in the Daughters of the Shattered Moon series.

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

Of course! I’m not someone who grew up knowing I wanted to be a writer—I was a reader. I consumed books voraciously from the time I was a kid, but writing one felt like it was for people much smarter than me. Though, I toyed with the idea a few times in college.

When I was about to graduate from college, a friend of mine handed me a book and told me to read it. I did, and I didn’t love it. Like a fool, I thought, “If this is doing so well, maybe I can write a novel after all.” By the time I realized how vastly I’d underestimated the difficulty of writing a book, let alone a book that was coherent, interesting, and popular (as that author’s was), I was in too deep.

Three years later, I finished my first (terrible) manuscript. It took me three more years, two more novels, and one massive revision of that first book to write anything worthwhile. I often think about that book and that author and apologize to them in my mind for underestimating them. In the end, they’re a big part of the reason I am where I am today.

Are there any books that have really influenced you as a writer?

Anne McCaffery’s Dragonriders of Pern was a huge influence on me, starting with the book Dragonsinger when I was probably 13. Cimorene, Kazul, and Morwen from Patricia C. Wrede’s Enchanted Forest Chroniclesare still influencing me to this day. I consumed every Redwall book in my school library, and there was, of course, The Hobbit. When I was a little older, I would sneak into my mom’s room and steal books off of her shelf of Harlequin Romance novels. Eventually, smashing those two things together—fantasy and romance—would become the thing that I love most in the world.

What do you enjoy most about writing fantasy/paranormal romance?

I love that you can have all the character melodrama of a contemporary book and the life-or-death stakes of fantasy. I can have the love interest’s evil mother dump wine on the main character’s dress in front of everyone at the ball and have her attacked by a cursed monster when she goes into the dark hallway alone to try and clean up the stain. Does that happen in Echoes of Night? Perhaps.

What inspired this book/series?

I wanted to write something angsty and epic that felt beautiful and was fun to read. I knew I wanted it to be as rich and vibrant as the setting in A Court of Thorns and Roses with the relentless pacing and danger of Fourth Wing, as well as set in my favorite place in the world: the Ozarks. So I took all of that and mashed it up with 2010’s paranormal romance series like Mercy Thompson **and Kate Daniels, and here we are.

Can you tell us a little bit about the Ozarks?

Yes! My family has been vacationing and retiring to the Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri since 1970, and every single one of my childhood 4th of Julys was celebrated at the lake. The Ozarks are an ancient landscape of woods, caves, bluffs, and hollers that in my (totally unbiased) opinion is one of the most beautiful places on earth. A lot like Appalachia, but hills instead of mountains. I’ve always been enchanted by the feeling being here evokes. History, mystery, and wildness. There’s a weighty sort of magic to the air. And as rugged and isolated as the Ozarks can be, they’re the perfect place for werewolves. The location of the Shattered Moon pack house, in particular, is inspired by the ruins of a “castle” that sits on a cliff above where a natural spring flows into the Lake of the Ozarks in Ha Ha Tonka State Park. I was able to visit it in person recently, and it’s gorgeous. My pictures can’t do it justice. I can’t wait to visit again in the summer and fall.

What is your favorite aspect of the romance between Killian and Selene?

I love the home that Killian and Selene find in each other. They’ve both suffered so much throughout their lives and suffer even more over the course of the book. But despite that, they’re able to find a deep comfort and understanding in each other that I think is the core of what humans crave when we get into relationships. One person who knows you, sees you, and makes you a priority, and you do the same for them.

What about the fantasy/paranormal aspects of your story? What kind of world have you built for readers to lose themselves in?

My world is this one, except that magic returned 100 years before the story begins and messed everything up. Monsters returned, eldritch beasts and old gods from folklore roam the land, wild places took on a mind of their own. Many familiar places—like cities—remain, and there are many modern comforts, but society is ruled over by werewolf Alpha Lords and Ladies, human warlords, High Witches, and others like them.

What are some things you are really enjoying right now? Books, TV, foods, etc.?

I am always extremely into my single (large) daily mug of coffee, gardening, learning about edible wild plants, and my six-year long addiction to Dungeons & Dragons. Lately my reading list has been a little random, but current favorites are The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells, the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman, and Lights Out, which is a contemporary dark stalker romance by Navessa Allen that somehow also manages to be fun and hilarious. I usually don’t watch a lot of TV, but in the last couple of weeks my brain has decided it’s time for an anime binge, so I’ve watched all of Dandadan, Solo Leveling, and most recently, The Apothecary Diaries.

Want to know more about Echoes of Night?

She didn’t expect to survive the night…

To satisfy the terms of a treaty between her pack and the Alpha who murdered her brother, twenty-four-year-old Selene Beaumont finds herself taking the place of her spoiled sister as a sacrificial bride. Powerless as a wolfless pack servant, what chance does she stand against a monster like Killian Darrow, the only living heir of the depraved Alpha King?

But something happens when he touches her, something that echoes in her soul. Changed from monster to a man, a mysterious transformation is revealed, throwing all that is known about the murderous Alpha into doubt.

He’s looking to break a monstrous curse…

Killian prefers to keep others at a safe distance, but after Selene unlocks the mystery of his affliction, he has no choice but to keep her close. Skin-to-skin close. Or risk the monster rearing its ugly head.

But soon it becomes clear that not everyone wants him to be free, or see a wolfless woman married to the most powerful Alpha in a generation. As allies turn to enemies and old secrets stir, they will learn that nothing and no one is what it seems.

After spending most of her adult life in UT, Caitlyn McFarland has returned to the Midwest and currently lives by a lake in Missouri with her husband and three daughters. She has a Bachelor’s degree in linguistics from Brigham Young University. When she’s not writing romantic fantasy, Caitlyn can be found wandering the woods, crafting, or playing TTRPGs.

You can find her at her website, as well as on TikTok, Instagram, and Bookbub