We welcome author Kristina Elyse Butke here today to answer some questions for the release of her brand new book, Son of the Siren.

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

I’m a writer based in Ohio (originally from Flushing, Queens), and I focus mostly on YA Fantasy for my writing, because it’s a genre I love to read.  I read all the time, and reading is what got me into writing. I would write adaptations of the classics, of fairy tales, and works inspired by movies and TV, and I would tweak the story the way I wanted to, before I got into my own original writings. My first works were for the theater, mostly plays and musicals, but I always knew I wanted to write novels ever since I was little.

How does it feel to be publishing your first novel?

I have to pinch myself constantly. I’m overjoyed but I also feel like it isn’t real. I’ve always wanted to be published and I just felt like I would be in a permanent state of “almost there, but not quite” for the rest of my life. So when my agent said Oliver-Heber Books was interested in Son of the Siren, I practically started crying. My heart felt so full. It still does.

What do you enjoy most about writing YA fantasy?

Writing with care for my audience. It’s a challenge. I just think of all the times I was vulnerable growing up, when I experienced things for the first time, and how I sometimes had to brave it alone through some serious situations. I try to think of young readers going through those times, too, and try to have my books be there for them so they don’t feel alone.

What inspired you to write Son of the Siren?

It first started out as a comic I was writing and illustrating myself! I wanted to make a story that combined all sorts of different fairy tales, and I sourced the character designs from many artists on Deviant Art though adoptable sets. I made the cover and the first page, and then had a talk with myself: at the rate I was going, the comic would take years to produce…along the lines of a decade or so. I shelved the comic for ages, but the story kept calling out to me, so I thought I’d finally remake it into a novel. Besides fairy tales serving as a major inspiration, my time living abroad in Japan really influenced a lot of the book as well, with settings, characters, and some pieces of folklore making their way into the book.

Can you talk about the influence of fairy tales in writing Son of the Siren?

I relied on three fairy tales for this story: Allerleirauh, The Wild Swans, and The Little Mermaid. I’m a big fan of fairy tales, and I always wanted to combine several of them into a single story. I took three major motifs from each tale: in Allerleirauh, a King decides to marry his daughter after his wife the Queen dies; in The Wild Swans, a girl must restore her six brothers, transformed into swans, by weaving together nettle shirts and must do so in silence; in The Little Mermaid, a mermaid’s beautiful voice is given up to a sea witch. All of this made its way into Son of the Siren, except I gender-swapped the main characters and made some alterations of my own to make the story work cohesively.

How does your love of anime and manga influence your writing and your creative process?

I’m a very visual person. When I first imagine characters in my mind, they come across like the character design sheets used for anime—showing the character’s profile, front, and three-quarter view, then a variety of facial expressions. So, all my characters as I write are in my head as anime! I also like to think of how anime and manga utilize arcs to tell stories, how they emphasize community and friendship, and how they show characters moving forward in the face of adversity. Manga and anime also continually keep me on my toes with how creative they are. Magical worlds are treated nonchalantly; worldbuilding is often soft. That’s how I tried to make my world in *Son of the Siren.*

Who was your favorite character to write in Son of the Siren?

Oh, Lirien, I love you so much, but I’m going to have to go with Kitra for this one. She’s a bouncy sort of character, flitting from one emotion to the next. She can be serious, and then in the next minute she’ll be trying to kill you, and in another minute, she’ll tell you a riddle to pass the time. Kitra was inspired by aspects of the kitsune in Japanese folklore, as well as (visually, anyway) fox girls in anime.

What can we expect next from you?

I’m working on a trilogy: The Name and the Key, The Step and the Walk, and The Fear and the Flame. It’s about a girl named Lily who discovers her mother’s body in the marshes, and since that moment, she sees her mother’s rotting corpse in every reflective surface, begging to be let out. Her best friend Andresh seems to know the key to breaking the curse on Lily, but he has dangerous secrets of his own. The books are all about confronting death, defining love, and…they have demons in them, which have been so much fun to write!

What are some books, manga, or anime you are enjoying right now? Do you have any recommendations?

I’m a multitasker with reading! I’m always reading a manga and balancing it (slowly) with a novel. Right now I’m working through Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek as well as reading the cute manga series A Kiss With A Cat by Miko Senri. On top of that, I always read BL, and I’m getting through Moto Hagio’s *The Heart of Thomas.* If you’re looking for fantasy manga recommendations, I’d say go with Fullmetal Alchemist and Witch Hat Atelier. If you want fantasy BL, I recommend Meguru Hinohara’s *The Dragon’s Betrothed.* As far as anime goes, I’m doing a rewatch of the series Chaika the Coffin Princess, and currently streaming Delicious in Dungeon on Netflix. I recommend both shows.

Thank you so much for having me! I appreciate it!

Kristina Elyse Butke writes fantasy filled with magic, dark curses, and true love. Her time living abroad in Wales and Japan inspires her writing through the fantastical settings and creatures she creates.

She has an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University and is an experienced speaker at various conventions in the state of Ohio. She has published with ExFic, First Class Literary, and Synaeresis magazine, and is currently a writer at Comics Beat covering manga and anime. When she isn’t geeking out with cosplay or manga and webtoons, she enjoys her time forest bathing and traveling.

You can find out more about Kristina on her website, and you can find her on Facebook, X/Twitter, and Instagram