After reviewing Queen of Faces earlier this year, we at OFM had the pleasure of interviewing the New York Times best-selling fantasy author herself, Petra Lord.
Queen of Faces is about Annabelle Gage, a young woman trapped in a man’s body who becomes a mercenary for the head mage of an elite academy called Paragon. She embarks on a quest of heists, found family, and revealing secrets. If you desire a more detailed review and look into the story, please refer to our review of Queen of Faces.
The interview contains no spoilers for this spectacular debut, but hints at potential events in the book. Please keep that in mind as you read ahead, and we hope you enjoy our interview with Petra Lord.
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Hi Petra, thank you so much for responding to my questions in this interview with OFM. I’m very grateful for your time. How are you doing today?
I’m doing great! Thank you so much for having me! As of this writing, I’m about to hop on a train down to San Diego for my first-ever Comic-Con (so excited!) and am also sprinting after a deadline as I pound out the first draft of book three in this series. Writing a first draft on deadline always feels like being chased by a swarm of bees, but I think the story is coming together nicely! Can’t wait for you guys to read the (revised, polished, less bee-stung) version!
Now, it’s been six months since Queen of Faces was released to the public. How has
your journey been from manuscript to publication?
It’s been absolutely wild in the best way! Last year feels like a lifetime ago, and that’s saying a lot, considering that writing this book took me around eight years from idea to publication. I started writing this book in 2017 as a fun passion project on the side when I was in film school. I saw it as a creative playground of sorts, where I could be unique and weird and crazy and not worry about making it a commercially viable screenplay. But the more time I spent on it, the more engrossing it became, and when the pandemic hit, it became an all-consuming passion.
I ended up typing so much I gave myself a serious nerve injury, one I’m still recovering from. As
a result, I had to use dictation software to write, speaking all the sentences and periods and
made-up words into a headset. The first draft, which I was posting online for free, was around
half a million words (about 2000 pages), and to publish it, I had to cut it down by about 80%,
using my voice. It was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
But now, the book is done, and it’s out, and it’s real. Launching your debut is equal parts elation
and terror, but there have been some serious highlights. My favorite part is hearing from readers
who’ve read the story, loving the characters, being shocked by the twists, clicking with the
themes and emotions. I’ve gotten messages from as far as the U.K. and Brazil, from trans teens in the U.S., and it’s always such a joy and a privilege to see it resonating, that people find meaning in it. It’s really the highest honor as an artist.
I listened to the audiobook, and Chapter 17 had my jaw on the floor with what
happened to a certain character. Throughout writing your debut, what was the hardest
scene to write?
Thank you so much! That chapter was pretty hard to write, but the hardest scene by far was the opening. I rewrote that first chapter more times than I can count. Openings are the bane of a fantasist’s existence, and are usually the most difficult part of any sci-fi or fantasy. You have so much exposition and worldbuilding to get out of the way, and you can’t throw it all at the reader right away, or they’ll get overwhelmed. You can’t take too long, either, or info dump, or it’ll be boring. You need to weave worldbuilding into your drama in a way that feels seamless and invisible.
I’m a big fan of a writing tip from Andy Weir, the author of Project Hail Mary. You have one
sentence to make your audience read the first paragraph, one paragraph to make them read the
first page, one page to make them read the first chapter, and one chapter to make them try out the
rest.
Please tell me, what led you to write that twist of an ending? Seriously, my weave was in another realm when the protagonist, Ana, did all that.
I love twists so much, and that particular twist had been cooking in the back of my mind for a long time, since I came up with the idea for the world. I love characters being backed into
corners, and thinking of intelligent and creative ways to claw their way out of situations, and I
love worldbuilding elements used in unique ways.
The best advice I’ve heard about twists is that they should feel surprising but inevitable.
Surprising is obvious, but a twist feeling inevitable is even more important. It has to feel
perfectly set up, like the final piece of a puzzle falling into place, and utterly truthful to the
characters and world. If it doesn’t, the reader can always tell, and it usually comes off as fake and
cheap.
Something I’m hoping for in future installments is exploring more of the side
characters like Nima and Ori. Will we get more of them in the future? Maybe as a
POV?
For sure! Earlier this week, I actually just finished writing up a Nima POV for book three! Both Nima and Ori will feature prominently in the sequels.
In another interview, you mentioned weaving your personal experiences into Ana’s story. Despite doing that, what is one key difference between you and Ana?
There’s a lot of differences. Ana is a lot sharper on her feet than I am, a lot less chronically
forgetful, more powerfully driven by an incessant need to belong. But really, the biggest
difference between us is our personality. I love writing dark, edgy books, but in real life, I’m a
generally silly person who eats bougie chocolate and makes a lot of bad puns. I’m like Niles
Crane from Frasier. Anabelle Gage is many things, but silly is not one of them.
What is something you plan to accomplish in the next six months?
To finish this draft of book three, even if it kills me. Then, I will accomplish a long nap and some pasta.
This isn’t a question, but thank you so much for writing this story. I, personally, have always wanted a story like this. The representation, the story, the characters—utter perfection. My only hope is that we get more of Ori in the sequel. Periodt.
Thank you so, so much!!! That means the absolute world to me, and thanks again for having me! For sure, Ori will be all over the sequel!
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You can find more information about Petra Lord on her author website. If you have already read Queen of Faces, be on the lookout for King of Masks, releasing January 26, 2027, by Macmillan.
Thank you, Petra, for a wonderful interview. Also, a big thank-you to her publicist for making this happen. It was a pleasure!
