A.L. Hawke - Paranormal Romantic Urban Fantasy With Spunk

Posted on 2nd of June, 2023 by Naomi Bolton

A.L. Hawke is the author of the internationally bestselling Hawthorne University Witch series. The author lives in Southern California torching the midnight candle over lovers against a backdrop of machines, nymphs, magic, spice and mayhem. A.L. Hawke writes fantasy and romance spanning four thousand years, from pre-civilization to contemporary and beyond. As our Author of the Day, Hawke tells us all about Nectar of Ambrosia.

Please give us a short introduction to what Nectar of Ambrosia is about.

Medusa’s returned from vacationing in Portofino, Italy, (The Guardian), to her home in Sunland, Florida, USA. She’s attempting to return to her simple life as a college librarian, when she and her boyfriend are chased by bad guys searching for Pandora’s Jar. The jar contains the last drops of nectar from Mount Olympus. Nectar is a magic elixir that can impart immortality on mortals. And lots of Medusa’s enemies, like all the Olympian Greek gods and goddesses, are hunting for it.

Tell us more about Medusa. What makes her tick?

Medusa’s a cross between Adrian from the movie Rocky and the Incredible Hulk. In her typical day, she goes by the name Gorgiana and she’s a shy, polite, librarian wearing thick granny glasses and a sweater, wheeling her cart of books down aisles and using all her precious moments of spare time devouring trashy romance novels. But if people she loves are threatened, watch out.

Why did you make Medusa a wedding planner?

Well, we’re talking about Medusa. I thought that was already funny. She’s a total romantic, loves weddings and loves love. But she also only comes out at night. When under sunlight, her vipers slither out of her hair. That ruins any planned daytime wedding venues. She also doesn’t get along with the future bride, Sandra, her boyfriend’s sister. But Sandra needs help paying for the event and Medusa has money (she’s been accruing money for centuries).

Why do you like to weave mythology and fantasy into your stories?

Greek mythology is full of symbols. Their gods and goddesses represented all the magical aspects of their day everyday life. That provides a special depth.

In both my Azure and Furies series, I focus on Cora, the goddess Persephone. Not only is Cora a big part of Greek mythology, she also had a lot of drama in her life. She was abandoned by her mother, Demeter. According to the myth, her mother Demeter raged over Cora’s disappearance and we have the winter season to show for it, but… I mean, come on, are you telling me Demeter couldn’t rescue her daughter? Maybe it had more to do with her father, Zeus, setting her up? There’s abandonment here which scars her. My book Cora: Rise of the Fallen Goddess is all about this origin myth. And the other books follow her life from there mixing fantasy with real Greek mythology.

Your Hawthorne University Witch series is wildly popular - what surprised you most to fans' reactions to the books?

Well, I never expected my witch series to take off like it did. I suppose witches are very popular now. And my cover artist, Regina Wamba, did such an amazing job with Broomstick conveying mystery, shadows, and evil with Alondra burning on a pyre holding a memorial candle. It’s a simple cover but has a lot going on. Funny thing is, I probably personally prefer my prequel novel Alondra. Alondra is often overlooked. It could be because Alondra is narrated by Alondra’s boyfriend instead of Cadence.

Many readers surprise me claiming that the witch series is young adult. Some say Cadence seems too innocent for college. Well, I was a lot like her back when I was in college, so... And the books has some pretty heavy adult themes: satanism, occultism, and sex. Still there are similar other themes as in YA like coming of age, very close best friends, and innocent newfound love. All in all, I think readers like the books because they can identify with Cadence Hawthorne. That connection makes the series special. Cadence is a charming character and she’s a lot of fun to write about.

Interesting cover. Please tell us more about how it came about.

That’s a martini garnished with a snake on ice. It’s chock full of symbolism. Cora is the red martini (see my original CORA cover), the green snake is Medusa, the blue hand is Engel, and the spider (did you catch it?) is another special friend. The ice has to do with a surprise character who I’m not going to unveil because it’s a major spoiler alert. Anyway, using symbols was a way to put all these characters on one cover. And it’s totally fun, right? I wanted to write something fun and I wanted my cover to represent it. Brosedesignz fulfilled my dreams by creating such an awesome piece of artwork!

What did you have the most fun with when writing this book?

The action scenes are super zany. I also enjoyed writing in character as Gorgiana/Medusa. One of the comments from my beta reader was that this was the best depiction of her inner struggle with her two alter egos. It’s fun, and funny, to watch her argue with herself. We all have that animal side of us that wants to tear everything apart. The thing about Medusa in these stories is she’s thought of as a monster. She’s really, shh… a hero.

This book forms part of the Furies series. Can it be read as a standalone? How do the other books in the series tie in with this one?

Absolutely. Every book in the Furies series is a standalone. In fact, every book I write is. I run books in chronological order related to time (though CORA takes place before the other books in Furies), but they are all interconnected independent stories that can be enjoyed on their own.

My Evil Eye, The Guardian and Nectar of Ambrosia are all narrated by Medusa. But Cora pops up frequently as Medusa’s best friend. CORA is different. CORA was my second book published back in 2019. CORA doesn’t have Medusa in it at all and it’s all about her struggles living in Malibu, California, over the recent murder of her husband. But all the books in series are related to Greek mythology, Cora and Medusa, taking place in modern times.

Do any of your characters ever go off on their own tangent, refusing to do what you had planned for them?

I never outline. So absolutely, the direction is literally driven by my characters. My characters and their response to their environment directs their fate. For example, I didn’t know the ending to this story until three-quarters through the book. This enables loads of twists and turns and makes it more fun.

When starting on a new book, what is the first thing you do?

I start on page one. Sometimes a scene is vivid in my mind or, perhaps, it’s a particular character. Shades, another recent paranormal book I wrote about angels and devils, starts with just a guy in a dark leather jacket wearing sunglasses and standing on a cliff looking out over an endless desert horizon. I can totally picture it and it helped me move forward for the rest of the story.

Most of the time in my writing process the first thirty to forty pages get thrown out because I’m often figuring out what I want to write in the beginning. Nectar of Ambrosia was different. From the get-go I knew where this book was heading as it started with an exciting action scene.

gif — *Be sure to check out the trailer for My Evil Eye here.*

What are you working on right now?

I’m writing Harmonia a prequel to my Azure Series. Harmonia is the founding Amazon nymph queen of my fantasy world of Azure Blue (Harmonia is actually, in Greek myth, the founder of the Amazons). The novel’s going to tell the story about how the nymphs came to possess their power with a crystal palace and gardens matching the beauty of Olympus. And it’s going to be all about their war waged with man. When you think about it, this story is gonna be a prequel of a prequel of a prequel because both of these series and all the books are connected to this same fantasy world four thousand years ago.

Also, coming off the excitement of turning my witch series to audio this month, I’m dabbling with possibly writing a fourth witch book for my Hawthorne University Witch series. I’ve written seventy pages. But I’m unsure. I might scrap the whole thing. I want to make sure that if I move forward for a fourth witch book, it’s something very special. But I’ve had fun writing as Cadence again.

In the far future, I’m considering wrapping up my Furies series with a final book. There are hints of prophecy by Cora over something big coming (ever since Azure), but I haven’t written it yet. Maybe I won’t. On the other hand, it’s kind of fun throwing Medusa on vacation in places like Portofino Italy. Or preparing weddings. There’s no reason to stop the series at all, I suppose.