Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Leslie Vedder. We’ll be talking about her YA debut novel The Bone Spindle.
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In this episode Leslie Vedder and I discuss:
- What genre inspired her and helped her keep a fast pace throughout her novel.
- Why she loved blending science and magic and how her characters approached each.
- How she approached varying levels of character relationships—both romantic and friendship.
Plus, her #1 tip for writers.
About Leslie Vedder
Leslie Vedder is a queer ace author who loves fairytale retellings with girl adventurers and heroes! She grew up on fantasy books, anime, fanfiction, and the Lord of the Rings movies and met her true love in high school choir. She graduated from San Francisco State University with a B.A. in creative writing and currently lives in Colorado with her wife and two spoiled house cats.
When she’s not reading or writing, you can find her watching anime and sci-fi shows, walking in the woods and pretending they’re enchanted forests, or playing old video games. She always collects all the Skulltulas in Zelda and all the Dalmation puppies in Kingdom Hearts.
Her debut YA novel The Bone Spindle released in January 2022 from Penguin / Razorbill.
You can find Leslie on her website or follow her on Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads.
The Bone Spindle
The Bone Spindle is a genderflipped Sleeping Beauty meets Indiana Jones fantasy, starring two girl treasure hunters!
Fi is a bookish historian under a dark curse. Shane is a fierce, queer, ax-wielding warrior with a past she’s left firmly in the dust. They team up to take on a lost ruin, looking for the score of a lifetime, but get a lot more than they bargained for when Fi pricks her finger on a bone spindle and finds herself face to face with the spirit of the sleeping prince, Briar Rose. Now she’s stuck with him—literally forever!—unless she and Shane can break the ancient curse on his kingdom.
Traps, ruins, riddles, curses, and bad exes all stand in their way, not to mention a mysterious Witch who might just steal Shane’s heart along with whatever else she’s after!
Set in a lush world inspired by beloved fairytales, The Bone Spindle is a fast-paced young adult fantasy for fans of Sorcery of Thorns and All the Stars and Teeth.
If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!
Link to Episode 392
(Right-click to download.)
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