Exclusive Interview
Callie Hart Has Received Your Threats About Carrion in the ‘Quicksilver’ Sequel
Quicksilver is the latest BookTok sensation and is already on its way to becoming a Netflix movie. The dark romantasy book, which is the first in Callie Hart’s planned Fae & Alchemy series, came out this year and became a huge success on the social media app, thanks to Hart’s early hustling. The author made the transition from dark academia to romantasy with Quicksilver and reached out to her favorite BookTokers early in the year to get them on board with her book — and it worked.
“I reached out and said, ‘Hey, you don’t know me, but I wrote this book, and I think you might like it based on your other content. Would you be interested in receiving a special edition? I’ll send you a paperback, and in the meantime, here’s a digital copy if you feel like getting started on it,” she told Swooon.
“Probably half of those people got back to me and said, ‘Sure, I have time.’ A lot of people are busy, but about half of them got back to me and were really kind and started reading the book, then immediately started posting about it.”
From there, Hart noticed an immediate change in support for the book. The wave of support for the novel propelled Hart into the Top 20 of Amazon’s book charts, which led her to be at the center of a 10-bidder publishing auction. She landed at Forever Publishing in the United States, which did an official physical release for Quicksilver on December 3.
Hart has been on a whirlwind tour promoting the physical release, but she’s also putting the finishing touches on the sequel, which will be released next fall.
“It’s been such a joy and a rollercoaster. I have big plans for the series as a whole, and getting to implement some of the scenes and the moments that I’ve been thinking about since before I started Book 1 has been so much fun for me,” Hart teased. “I’m spending a lot of time with side characters as well, but really just deepening the connection between Kingfisher and Saeris now that they’ve come together and had their moment. I’m focusing on not losing that momentum with their relationship and just strengthening the ties between them.”
The author is constantly being asked questions about what’s next for Saeris, Kingfisher and the people of Yveria and Zilvaren. However, the thing she hears the most is not a question: It’s a threat. Fans are adamant that she not harm a hair on the head of Quicksilver‘s favored sarcastic sidekick, Carrion.
“He is so much fun in every moment that he’s in,” she said. “I really wanted him to bring a moment of levity, especially in the really dark scenarios. There is nothing more fun than playing with people’s emotions a bit. They’re in this really tense, emotional scene and then suddenly they’re pulled out of it by this moment of ridiculousness from Carrion. It changes the atmosphere of a scene, which is really fun.”
When Swooon didn’t threaten but did offer an earnest plea that Carrion be saved in the next book, Hart ominously laughed. She can’t confirm nor deny what will happen to Carrion in the next book, but she is relieved to know that people have formed such an attachment to him.
“I spent a lot of time developing the side characters in this story. I knew that family was going to be such a huge theme throughout the book. I really wanted the side characters to not just be vehicles, to move the story forward, but to have their own emphasis in the story, have their own stories, and have relationships with each other,” she said. “I love writing characters like Carrion…He’s just a joy to write. The sass and the banter is always fun.”
Our fingers and toes are crossed that joy means he’s going to make it through the saga. In the meantime, there’s a lot on our protagonist Saeris’ plate. She went through a life-altering transformation at the end of the first novel and now has to worry about uniting two kingdoms while also trying to save the world she escaped from when she initially met her fated mate, Kingfisher.
“Saeris is in this very unusual situation now. She has a lot of things to figure out. She’s investigating and exploring this new magic that she’s in possession,” Hart teased. “That has been so fun for me, because there’s so many fun elements and aspects to her and her magic.” She also teases that the next book will also give us more of Kingfisher’s history. “People are really curious about Kingfisher as a whole. They want to know his name, why I chose it, and what it means. That’s a huge spoiler that I cannot currently share.”
There are still several months before we’ll get to return to Ylveria and check in with Saeris, Kingfisher, and, of course, Carrion, but Hart wanted to remind readers that there are bonus Kingfisher POV chapters on her website that you can read right now. And there’s no shame in returning for a re-read so you can ensure those details stay fresh before the next adventure is ready.
Right now, you can find Quicksilver wherever you buy books
