Fellowship & Fairydust

How many books Hope Bolinger has written is hard to say. She reports that she’s written books in anywhere from five to 45 days. As of this writing, her website states that “twenty-six of her books are under contract or out now with traditional publishers, and she hopes more of her stories will find a home soon. She has also contributed to sixteen other books.”

The published books so far that she’s written herself include the Blaze trilogy (Young Adult thrillers modeled on the Biblical life of Daniel) and the middle grade fantasy The Cassandra Curse. The books she’s contributed to include at least seven co-written with Alyssa Roat—the comedic Dear series and the Roseville Romances tetralogy.

Bolinger has also published at least 1500 articles in various places, from Writer’s Digest to Crosswalk.com. Oh, and she has worked as a model and literary agent. And she has won awards for plays and poems. Currently, she is the Managing & Acquisitions Editor for End Game Press. She originated the publisher’s Generation Hope imprint, which publishes books by authors 10-24 years old.

I became aware of Hope’s work when we were both students at Taylor University’s Professional Writing Program. She edited my work for a period when we were both contributing to The Odyssey Online alongside many other projects—she met Alyssa Roat through the program, and they were writing books and speaking at publishing conferences by our senior year. Some of this was not unusual: the program was geared to give students experience doing freelance work and help them meet publishing professionals. Many students accomplished unexpected things.

However, there was a clear high mark: every other generation of students would have one person with a book contracted for publication by the time they graduated. By the time Hope graduated in 2019, she already had one book published. Taylor University Press released The Quiet and the Storm, a WWII biography she co-wrote with Rachel Pfeiffer, in 2017. Two weeks after graduation, her novel Blaze arrived on bookshelves.

Interview Questions

You’ve said that Blaze was your first traditionally published novel, but your fourteenth book. What helped you persevere to that point?

Oh goodness, it was a lot. Technically, the WWII memoir I ghostwrote for a veteran—published by a university press—technically counted as the first. But in terms of fiction…this was the one that ultimately got published first. I honestly give an hour-long class on this question, so distilling it can be hard. Let’s just say, there’s a lot of ageism and gatekeeping in the industry. People on the pub board weren’t super thrilled with my concept, and it took a lot of me going back and forth in the revise and resubmits before they gave me the green light. But I’m happy they did! 

Unless I’m mistaken, The Cassandra Curse was your first published fantasy book. Do you find writing fantasy harder or easier than other genres you’ve explored?

I guess it’s technically speculative since it doesn’t have a magic system and has portals to another dimension, which is something you’d see more in a sci-fi book. But in terms of speculative, it’s the most “high” speculative book to date. I think what made it more difficult was I needed to know the worldbuilding rules of the new world that the characters explore. My coauthor Alyssa will tell you she’s a stickler on proper worldbuilding. I tend to do best in contemporary with slight speculative elements (think Back to the Future).

This may be less true today, but certainly in recent memory, romance fiction was treated like the healthy child of Christian publishing, while anything speculative (science fiction, horror, any fantasy unless it had C.S. Lewis’ name on it) was treated like the problem child. What’s been your experience writing for both audiences?

I will say that it’s probably still the case that Christian readers are more apt to read a contemporary romance than a fantasy. Some people can get skittish if the word “magic” even appears in a book. I will say, in general, writing for both requires me to write as clean as possible. I got some people mad at me that in one of my books, the characters said, “This sucks.” Keep in mind, they were teenagers.

I think the question really more is, what’s the difference in writing for the Christian market versus the general market? Because the general market lets you get away with almost anything—but they don’t want any religious elements in the book at all. The Christian market is the opposite. They love religious elements but are very strict in what you can include. 

Some books fare better in one market or the other. But it’s crucial that authors know the differences. Some will say, “Oh, my book is for everyone.” It is not. The two markets are so different now, that you almost have to pick and choose. 

One thing that struck me when we were both students is how wide your interests are. You were studying philosophy and writing, not to mention acting in plays. You were already publishing enough to be the most published person in our year. Do you think doing various things has helped you become a better writer?

Haha, well you are catching up to me on bylines, so I don’t think I’ll have that title for long. 

But I agree. I think it’s super important for writers to have hobbies that aren’t, well, just writing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to flex your writing muscles. But real-world experience is going to help shape your books.

I often talk about how theater and writing have a synergy. Because I do theater, I know characters more. I know what makes a three-dimensional person in a book. I know what fast-paced dialogue sounds like.

I’m not going to dictate what your hobbies should be, but it does help to branch out and embrace other interests. 

The first two Dear books spoofed a now very popular kind of speculative fiction: superheroes. Was it challenging to spoof superhero tropes, knowing the genre has become a million-dollar movie juggernaut that fans love to dissect?

Well, it’s funny, because we wrote it at the height of the superhero craze. Now, it seems that audience members are a lot more critical of the movies and tropes—kind of like what the Dear series was trying to attempt.

To be honest, Alyssa and I wrote it when we were working a million internships and dealing with interpersonal problems at home…so I don’t think there was time to really think about the implications of going toe-to-toe with some popular franchises.

I will say that in the editing process, we did have to take out some names and references for fear that certain large companies would come after us. Thankfully, we haven’t seen any lawsuits. 

Dear Hades, the third book in the Dear series, is coming out in October 2023. It’s a surprising change of scene: instead of a superhero comedy, it’s a fantasy work inspired by Greek mythology. What inspired the shift?

Alyssa and I had figured the Dear series was done after Dear Henchman. We’d tied it up in a bow, and that was that. Our publisher went under during COVID—as so many others had. So, when a new publisher picked us up, it makes business sense that they’d want a title that was unique to their house.

Alyssa and I had played around with the idea of other Dear spinoffs. We still may do those down the road. But we did have a Dear Hades we’d always wanted to write.

We figured that demigods and superheroes weren’t all that different and that there probably was some crossover. So, we penned the standalone spinoff with that in mind. 

I was intrigued to see you had a short story in the horror collection Anthology of the Damned. What was it like exploring scarier territory than your fiction usually explores?

Hahahaha, oh goodness, yes. I actually like writing horror. I have a few middle grade horror books in mind that I’d love to do someday. I think I had an easy time with this because I once worked in a haunted maze and have a very low sense of self-preservation. I’ll see a haunted looking mansion and say things such as, “Let’s go in there.” I will say that the story in that anthology explores a really deep theme of self-sacrifice and suicide. Having gone toe to toe with suicidal thoughts in the past, it was a pretty easy story for me to pen. 

To be honest, some of my books go creepy anyway. The Cassandra Curse has zombies, Pendulum (a book releasing next year) literally has a science museum trying to kill children. The Blaze trilogy gets creepy at times, especially in Vision. I don’t think it’s hard for me to go creepy. I’ve actually be called “the token creepy girl” in photoshoots. Probably because I’m ghostly pale and have wiry, spindly arms. I look like a Coraline creature or something. 

You had a particular milestone in July 2023, when Publisher’s Weekly ran a two-page ad for the first Generation Hope book, Brynn and Amir and the Magic Map by Anna Cook. What motivates you to see younger authors get their work out there?

Again, I’ve taught a lot of classes on this…so let me try to distill this. In short, I’ve dealt with a ton of ageism. And I don’t want it to come off as, “Oh my goodness, she’s another snowflake who can’t take a bit of criticism.” I mean blatant, awful, ridiculous ageism. Whenever I tell someone who is skeptical some examples of the things I’ve been through, it always raises a brow. They say, “Oh, that bad, huh?” All to say, ageism happens both ways, but the kind that happens to younger people often gets overlooked because people figure we’ll age out of it eventually. 

What motivates me is that I believe every generation has something to say, and generations are really bad at listening to one another. Young writers can write in the same age bracket as their audiences. And people are more inclined to hear from their peers. I think that’s astronomically important. 

Greek mythology seems to interest you especially—it figures in The Cassandra Curse, in Dear Hades, and I believe in the upcoming Sparrow’s Curse series. What appeals to you about it?

I’ve always had a fascination with it. Call it the Percy Jackson craze that took place in middle school, but I’ve just always loved Ancient Greece. It probably plays into the fact that I was a philosophy minor who also participated in theater—things that originated (for the most part) in Greece. At least, from what we have in writing, I know this is disputed. 

Alyssa has talked about how you were her literary agent for her first fantasy book, Wraithwood, and persevered when seemingly no press would take it. Today, it’s part one of a trilogy where each book has acquired awards or nominations. How has it felt seeing that dream become fulfilled? 

I will say, first of all, agents are extremely misunderstood. The industry villainizes them, so I want to get out of the way, they want to see your book published as much as you do. In terms of this book, I will say fantasy placement is hard. Alyssa is so talented, and she deserves to be published at the big houses. The big houses gatekeep pretty hard on agents too. I can’t blame them. They have tons of incoming submissions.

But I will say that when I see Alyssa get another award for this series, or get a major national review, I’m swelling with pride. She worked tirelessly on this series, and it deserves so much more press than what it’s gotten.

You and Alyssa have announced at least a temporary break from co-writing books together. You produced some great work together—and kept working together in your post-college period when many collaborators who met in school would drift apart. What do you think made the partnership so fruitful?

First of all, I do hope we write together again someday. She was a brilliant partner, and it was so fun penning books with her.

I think with any coauthoring relationship, it’s so important that people are flexible and adaptable. So many people think of coauthoring as “I have an idea. Now write half of it for me.” That’s a really toxic coauthoring relationship. It should be seen as a symbiotic relationship. Of both of you contributing to the story and discovering it together.

I think of coauthoring as an improv game. You say, “Yes,” and when your coauthor offers an idea. You kill darlings, and both tee each other up for zingers and plot twists. 

You’ve experienced great successes and great disappointments—for example, you mentioned INtense Publications going under, which released the first two Dear books. How do you handle those moments when disappointment comes from unexpected places? 

I think this is where faith comes into play. Some of my biggest disappointments happened with Big Five* publishers who were so close to saying yes (I mean, we’re talking an email away) and pulled back at the last minute. Or when movie companies almost optioned a book (I am again talking one email away) and then ghosted. Having the beliefs that I do, I know that God has it. With the INtense situation, he provided a publisher that same day INtense went under. So when I get depressed about disappointment, I trust he has my back. 

To my knowledge, science fiction is the only speculative genre you haven’t explored. Any plans on exploring that territory?

Actually, Pendulum, releasing next year, is pretty science fiction. So honestly, the only genres I haven’t done at this point are screenplays. Not for lack of effort—I’m just really bad at them. 

I will say I also have not done high fantasy. That genre scares me, so maybe someday, but it is not this day that I will be doing that genre. 

Dear Hades by Hope Bolinger and Alyssa Roat is available for preorder.

* Interviewer’s Note: The Big Five is a common name for the five major publishers—Penguin/Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and Macmillan. Each of the Big Five has various imprints—for example, HarperCollins’ website states it currently has “more than 120 branded imprints around the word,” ranging from HarperOne to Zondervan.