5(ish) Questions with Shelby Mahurin, Author of Serpent & Dove
Aurora: What was your inspiration behind your most recent novel?
Shelby: My inspiration for Serpent & Dove came from Outlander Season Two, Episode Four, “La Dame Blanche.” In the episode, Jamie refers to Claire as a dame blanche, or white lady, and the term immediately intrigued me. I did little research about these infamous women—sometimes thought to be witches, other times spirits—but there just wasn’t a lot of information easily accessible. And there definitely weren’t any novels about them, which is what I really wanted. So I decided to write one!
Aurora: What character do you most relate to and why?
Shelby: I relate most with Lou, probably because we share a sense of humor. Hers might skew a little cruder than mine, but we essentially think the same things are funny. Beyond that, she strives to understand each side of a situation—even if she doesn’t agree—and that’s something I’m always trying to emulate. That said, I relate to Reid’s obstinacy more than I’d like to admit.
Aurora: Why do you feel books with powerful and relatable characters are so popular and have such a voice right now?
Shelby: It’s easy to feel powerless against all the bad in the world. Books can provide both the vehicle we need to enact change and the vehicle we need to escape. Powerful and relatable characters, whether they’re protesting in Garden Heights or battling at Hogwarts, do both. They give us their voice. They help us find our voice. And—if sometimes the change is slower than we’d like—they keep us believing in a world where good can triumph over evil.
Aurora: Please describe the content of your latest book and what can readers expect from the read.
Shelby: Serpent & Dove is a YA fantasy about a witch, Lou, and a witch hunter, Reid, who inadvertently find themselves married—and he doesn’t know she’s a witch. But she’s hiding from someone bigger and badder than her husband, and the fate of the kingdom is tangled up with her secret(s). There are witches, huntsmen, magic, religion, forbidden romance, ritual sacrifice, secret identities, arranged marriage, and—my favorite—French patisseries.
Aurora: What’s next for you in the book world?
Shelby: Serpent & Dove’s sequel! I can’t reveal much about it—not even the title because it still doesn’t have one!—but it takes place immediately after the events of Serpent & Dove. We’ll meet lots of new characters and travel to lots of new places, but as with S&D, Lou and Reid are still our protagonists. It’s a continuation of their story…and dare I say their relationship?
Aurora: Who is your favorite writer right now and why?
Shelby: I have too many favorites to narrow them down: Sarah J. Maas for her characters, Naomi Novik for her stories, Adrienne Young for her world-building. I recently discovered Madeline Miller via Circe, and she’s now an auto-buy author for me. Libba Bray was incredibly influential to me as a teenager, and to this day, she remains one of my favorites. As a child, Gail Carson Levine and Lloyd Alexander were my favorites, as Ella Enchanted and The Arkadians were (and also remain) some of the best books I’ve ever read.