This week, I sat down with author Gabrielle Wanek to talk about her latest release, Songs of Ash and Dawn.

Wanek explores themes of isolation and grief as her main character, Aidan, navigates the grief of losing her grandmother in the face of an evil hunting down magic users like her.

Gabrielle and I talked about her writing process and her inspiration – like deciding “I can do better than that,” while watching Game of Thrones – and the ways that covid lockdown influenced the theme of isolation into Songs of Ash and Dawn. We explored some of the seeds that grew into Aidan and Cora, the main point of views in the first book of this series, and how her relationship with her own grandmother helped shape Aidan’s arc. Throughout the conversation, we discussed what influenced the building of this world, and how Wanek’s ba ...