Author Interview: Dawn Ford

Even though I write romance, I love a good fantasy novel every now and then. And Dawn Ford writes a good fantasy novel (or six). She has two different series for different age groups, and they're both wonderful. I can't wait for you to learn more about them as we chat with my friend Dawn in the monthly author interview today.

---

How do you find a balance between the light and dark in your fantasy stories?

The balance between light and dark was the central theme to my current series’ overarching story and character arcs. Our heroes are charged with the mission to balance good and evil—light and dark, in their story world that is being besieged by an evil pied-piper character. Each book in the Band of Unlikely Heroes four-book series focuses on one hero/heroine and their struggles to overcome both their own shortcomings and fears. In the end, it will take them all, working against the big bad, to set the balance of good back into place and dispatch the evil that has been plaguing their kingdom for generations. I kept the ending in mind as I wrote the darkest scenes, pulling the guts out of my characters and then helping them learn invaluable lessons along the way—becoming an indomitable force when they finally come together. Light always wins over the dark, good triumphs over evil.

What made you decide to make a troll the heroine of your story? With her green skin and tusks, she's not necessarily what we'd expect in that position.

​I chose unlikely types to be a hero on purpose. A smallish, warty troll princess who has no magic in a magical world. A newly unrooted brilliant woodgoblin druid who is bereft of emotional and social intelligence. A disfigured fairy princess dealing with no longer having the one thing she loves most in life—her beauty. Each of these characters struggle against the odds to grow and become the heroes they were meant to be. These are the characters middle-grade readers can identify with and root for. I want the readers to be invested in their story, not because they're already perfect and capable. But because they have to find a path around their own failings to become the heroes they were meant to be. Kind of like real life.
 
Your two series are very different, and both existing in made-up worlds. How do you keep them separated in your head?
 
I started the Firebird series years ago with a vivid image in my mind. Though it took some time to perfect the story world, the characters and the universe I built were already pretty well established in my mind. When I began putting together the Band of Unlikely Heroes series, again, the characters and world I wanted for the story were very well-defined in my mind and differed from the other series. With the Firebird series, I pictured more sophisticated spaces, either beautiful and breathtaking or dangerous and deadly. In the Band series, I wanted more of a playground type of world that children would want to go explore. There are poisoned forests, disgusting swamps, mountains with tunnels, a castle with hidden passages, and a hypnotic maze forest that you could fall into and never return from. It’s the stuff of Alice in Wonderland or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory where you can’t trust anything fully, but you long to explore, anyway.
 
What is one of the hardest parts of creating your own story worlds?
 
Setting the boundaries of magic and being consistent with it. Magic is a wonderful tool, but it can’t be the end-all-be-all that resolves everything with a snap of the fingers. It has to be challenged and have clear limits so the struggle is real.
 
You write for slightly different age audiences with your two series. Do you find it harder to write for one than the other? Do you have a favorite?
 
The Firebird series started out with the character being 16 and we shifted the age so the relationship with Tambrynn, the main character heroine and her love interest who would’ve been older than she wouldn’t be inappropriate. So, though it was a teen novel, and a bit more sophisticated, it still held a note of innocence. Middle-grade was more challenging for me to make sure I’m keeping the word usage in the MG range without making the text too simplistic. I also struggled with making some of the terms like the Hall of Monstrosity or catterwump too cutesy or ghoulish. I do love the Addam’s Family, though, so the Band of Unlikely Heroes has just a taste of it throughout the series.
 
 Which one of your characters is most like you and why?
 
That’s a hard one. I put a lot of myself into every character. I think Horra is much like me in that I was a petite, teeny girl growing up—I’m only 5’2 on a good day. Growing up on a farm and the only girl with three older brothers, I was a huge tomboy. I loved bugs and climbing trees. I mucked things out, helped farrow pigs, and played in mud. I never fit in neatly with any of my peers, and so I struggled with belonging—which many children do. But I also have a certain defiance in my spirit, thanks to my mother. So Horra is much like me in her sarcastic, take-no-guff kind of personality.
 
Can you give us a sneak peek into what you're working on next? 
 
I’m working on book four of the Band of Unlikely Heroes series. It’s the last book in this series, titled Shadowcape. In it, the giantess Grendel is the newest heroine to step onto the stage. I took a thread from the Beauty and the Beast fable and turned a quiet, bookish giant girl into a raging beast. She’s more terrified of herself than others are of her, so Grendel will rage against the curse that changed her to a monster and forced her to exile herself from her family.
 
Can you please tell us one thing about yourself that very few people already know about you?
 
I’m not a foot person and I can’t stand it when people wear dress or tennis shoes without socks. It grosses me out. 

---

Well, I know I'm intrigued by the new stories! But don't look too closely at my feet! I don't always promise to be wearing socks. ;)

Readers, keep going because there's more information about Dawn's latest release as well as how you can keep up with her. It's definitely worth it because, again, I highly recommend her stories.

---

Tatterhood

Troll Princess Horra Fyd and young druid Rowan team up to reverse the evil Erlking’s spells and save the creatures across the Wilden Lands. However, Fairy Princess Glory Toppenbottom is still a thorn in Horra’s side. After Horra and Glory have a heated fight, Glory sneaks out of the castle. She is bent on finding the Erlking to reverse the hex he cast on her. This creates a political disaster when the Glory’s sister announces she’s coming to retrieve Glory.
Angered by Horra’s treatment of a royal guest, King Fyd proclaims Horra to be Queen Bearer. She becomes the ad hoc ruler, freeing her father from the scandal. Shocked, Horra assents. Her first move is to find the missing fairy princess before it becomes an interkingdom war. They form a search party and leave.
The Erlking stalks their every move. When the only choice points them toward the Riven, a cursed hidden land, they don’t hesitate. They find Glory is already there, but are immediately separated. The trio find the Riven is nothing like anyone imagined. Will they survive the Erlking’s magical traps, or will they, like everyone else, perish within its borders?
 ​

---

---

​Winner of the 2016 ACFW Genesis Award and Finalist in the 2023 Carol awards and 2024 Realm Makers Realm awards, Dawn has been recognized for her published and non-published works.
 
As a child, Dawn often had her head in the clouds creating scenes and stories for anything and everything she came across. She believed there was magic everywhere, a sentiment she has never outgrown. Nature inspires her, and her love for the underdog and the unlikely hero colors much of what she writes.
 
Dawn adores anything Steampunk, is often distracted by shiny, pretty things, and her obsession with purses and shoes borders on hoarding. Dawn lives in Iowa with her husband, a chef and food service business owner.