We chat with Colleen Oakes, author of Queen of Hearts: The Crown, about the book’s sequel and what project she’s working on now.

Written as an origin story for the villainous Queen of Hearts, The Crown takes an interesting look at the queen’s life while she was still a princess, before she had any blood on her hands. Read our review.

Author interview with Colleen Oakes

Tell us five interesting facts about yourself.

One, I once got a tattoo under duress. Two, I am a huge Game of Thrones nut, and love the books even more. Three, I have a consuming love for ridiculous musicals of the early nineties. Four, Caribou Coffee is my jam, and five, I am married to a Lutheran pastor.

What inspired you to write a story from the Queen of Hearts’ perspective?

I was driving to meet a friend at the mall (honestly, I only go there like once a year, just so this doesn’t sound ridiculous) and the idea just popped into my head. I had been thinking about Alice in Wonderland, and the Queen, and I think the thought that started it all was, “Why is the Queen of Hearts so angry all the time?” I had wanted to venture into fantasy and a more serious story than the Elly in Bloom series was giving me, and once the idea hit I couldn’t stop thinking about it. By the time I made it to California Pizza Kitchen, I had already figured out the characters. I grabbed a napkin and began mapping out a plot. When I actually started researching, I stumbled across a quote from Lewis Carroll describing The Queen as “an embodiment of blind fury.” At that moment, I knew I would write it and when I did, it would be a story of love denied on an epic scale.

How much did you pull from the original text, and how much did you make up yourself?

Before I wrote the book, I took a long hard read of the original. What struck me at first was how political it was. The movie, which most people are more familiar with, definitely ups the magical aspects of Wonderland and washes over the political. I pulled inspiration from the original text, especially those parts involving the Queen. Readers who have read the book, or even just seen the films, will have fun picking up tiny Easter Eggs sprinkled throughout the books that refer back to the original text – a line here, a scene here. Dinah’s character journey mirrors Alice’s in many ways, and that was fun to interpret as well.

What was it like taking well-known characters like the Rabbit or Cheshire and twisting them into new iterations of themselves?

That was one of the most enjoyable parts of writing the story, taking these existing magical animals and turning them into people. When I laid out my Wonderland, I wanted a realistic and brutal place, and I came to the conclusion that I couldn’t have talking animals in that. Therefore, they became people, and their animal tendencies turned into very interesting characters traits. Cheshire is my favorite. Obviously.

Was this always destined to be a series, or did it grow into something more as you were writing The Crown?

Actually, the first incarnation of Queen of Hearts was one single book. It was quite long, as you can imagine, but I wrote the entire thing from beginning to end. When Sparkpress, my incredible publisher, took a look at the books, they decided that it would be best read as a series because of its length and the fact that it was YA. All three books in the series are already written and finished. It was strange, however, that I had separated the first massive book into three distinct parts – it’s almost like I knew somewhere in my subconscious that the book would be broken apart.

Queen of Hearts was your first fantasy series. How different was it writing this versus some of your previous work?

It was different and exhilarating and terrifying. Let’s be honest – they are very different books in very different genres. As a reader I enjoy many genres, so my hope is that I’m not alone. However, I think that if you are a dedicated chick-lit reader, then Queen of Hearts might be a bit dark for you, seeing how the height of trauma is vastly different: Elly in Bloom’s most stressful situation is a wedding, where in Queen of Hearts its people getting beheaded. One has a lot of flowers, and the other has a lot of blood, so ultimately it comes down to a matter of taste. I hope that the more adventurous readers will roll the dice and be pleasantly surprised. Until I really started reading fantasy, I thought I was just a women’s fiction kind of gal. Reading retains its power to transform anyone.

Can you tell us anything about the sequel to The Crown?

Happily! Volume Two in the series is called The Wonder, and it picks up right where the last book left off. We will see a lot of wondrous places in Wonderland as we see Dinah struggling with her vast change in, er, circumstances, and we will see the dark root of rage beginning its climb within her.

What about your next project, Wendy Darling?

Currently I am working on another YA series called Wendy Darling, a Peter Pan retelling.

I can tell you that writing Wendy has been a completely different experience than writing The Queen of Hearts. One is a stick of dynamite and the other is a calm sea. Wendy’s story is important because I think there are so many important ideas floating around Neverland regarding women and their place in that world.

Here is a sneak peek (from a book in progress):

The arms tightened and for a moment, Wendy was confused at how the voices making such melodic, enchanting sounds could feel so strong, like a skin made of stone. The voice rose several octaves just before she was yanked underwater without warning. Her arms flailed above her, suddenly terrified, reaching, reaching back for the sky that was rapidly becoming smaller. The water around her had become luminescent, lighting up from within itself, a thousand diamonds floating in her vision. The arms stayed strong around her waist, pulling, pulling and the song was back, so lulling, the waves cradling her under their crushing power. Wendy felt her body stop fighting the water that was flowing into her mouth, her lungs. She had resigned herself to the underwater song, the arms around her waist pulling her lower and lower into the shimmery darkness when she heard a strange whistling sound, and a shadow passed overhead…

Peter sliced through the water like a bird of prey.

What’s harder to write, the first line or the last line?

The last. It needs to be just perfect, a line that closes the story in just the right way and leaves your reader thinking about it long after they have closed the book.

What’s one YA novel you wish you had when you were a teenager?

The Harry Potter series! I was so envious seeing all these teens at the movie premieres and thinking, I wish I had something this magical to participate in when I was a teenager! My magic consisted of a crush on a kid named Brock and Crystal Pepsi.

Find out more about Colleen Oakes and The Queen of Hearts Saga

Colleen Oakes is the author of the Elly in Bloom series and the YA fantasy Queen of Hearts series, both published via SparkPress. She lives in North Denver with her husband and son. When not writing, Colleen enjoys swimming, traveling, and immersing herself in nerdy pop culture. She is currently at work on the last Elly novel and another YA fantasy series, Wendy Darling.