Three Dark Crowns is set to release this fall. Learn how Kendare Blake came up with idea and get your first look at the cover.

Three Dark Crowns is a dark fantasy about three sisters — triplets — each with her own magic, who were separated when young but will meet again on their 16th birthday, when they will fight to the death to be Queen. Mirabella is the most powerful but with alliances being formed, betrayals taking shape, and ruthless revenge haunting the queens’ every move, one thing is certain: the last queen standing might not be the strongest…but she may be the darkest.

As an added bonus, here is a very cool map that shows the world of Fennbirn where the story takes place. The details of the land and the names of the places give us an idea of what the land looks like and where the princesses are located in relation to each other.

Map design by Virginia Allyn

Tell us 5 random facts about yourself.
1. I get a big thrill when I trim my nails short in the hard part of a manuscript. My fingers fly across the keys!
2. I have two pet-sons: Obi-Dog Kenobi (Doberman dog) and Tyrion Cattister (Siamese Tabby cat), and two pet-daughters: Agent Scully (Rottie mix dog) and Lassie (not a dog, actually a horse).
3. I put mayo on everything. EVERYTHING.
4. I name all my vehicles. My current car’s name is Blastoise, because she’s roughly the same color as the pokemon.
5. Favorite muppets: Gonzo and Pepe the prawn. Favorite Sesame Street muppet: Cookie Monster. Favorite Labyrinth muppet: Whatever was in David Bowie’s pants. That should count.

Describe your novel in five words.

Three sisters vie for crown.

Where did the idea for Three Dark Crowns come from?

So glad you asked. I’ve never had a good answer for this before. It came from a conversation about a bee swarm. How the queen bee will leave her hive and lay some queen eggs, and whichever queen hatches first kills the others and gets to take over the old hive. And I thought…rad. How can I make people do that?

Three Dark Crowns is different from your other novels. Will it still have elements like Anna Dressed in Blood or the Goddess War series?

Elements…yes? But they all feel very different to me. There are no f-words in this one. No swearing at all. So weird. Wait, wait…I think someone says “damn.”

What is the writing process like for you?

Enjoyable for the first half, then dragging myself across the floor moaning for like sixty pages, then lots of fun until the end. Then I like it for a night, wake up in the morning wanting to bury it in my backyard, and eventually come to terms with it while revising.

What one YA novel do you wish you had when you were a teen?

I don’t know, actually. I read so much it’s hard to think of something that I wished had been there. My teen years were really rewarding, reading-wise. Although, there are some horse books out now that my pre-teen self would have died for. Like The Scorpio Races.

What are you working on now?

Three Dark Crowns 2!

If I weren’t a writer I would be…………living in my parents’ guest room hugging a box of Bugles and putting on some pretty decent Bugle-finger puppet shows.

If I could have one supernatural power it would be………………the power to develop more superpowers. Cheating!

My hollywood crush is…………………………Mads Mikkelson. When I saw him in Casino Royale I thought he was disgusting. Like, oh dear god, what is that thing kind of ugly. Then Hannibal happened, and he started wearing those fun suits and cooking people up all fancy and I was like, MEOW.

‘Three Dark Crowns’ synopsis

Fans of acclaimed author Kendare Blake’s Anna Dressed in Blood will devour her latest novel, a dark and inventive fantasy about three sisters who must fight to the death to become queen.

In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born: three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins.

The last queen standing gets the crown.

About Kendare Blake

Kendare Blake holds an MA in creative writing from Middlesex University in northern London. She is the author of Anna Dressed in Blood, a Cybils Award finalist; Girl of Nightmares; Antigoddess; Mortal Gods; and Ungodly. Her books have been translated into 18 languages, have been featured on multiple best-of-year lists, and have received many regional and librarian awards. Kendare lives and writes in Kent, Washington. Visit her online or on Twitter @KendareBlake.