A Conversation with Alice Hanov, a Sci-Fi & Fantasy Author

Alice Hanov has been dreaming up stories since she was seven, only recently deciding to commit them to paper after enthralling her children for years with wild tales of sorcerers and fearless girls who take on the world. Alice is the author of the novel The Head, the Heart, and the Heir and its prequel short story collection The Spare Who Became the Heir and Other Stories with many more books planned in the series.

She graduated from the University of Waterloo with a degree in rhetoric and professional writing. When she’s not writing or reading, Alice runs a software company or can be found painting, knitting, and chasing after her super busy artistic children. Alice lives in Ontario with her husband of over fifteen years and their three kids.

Let’s get started with a quick rapid fire.

Q1. If you could be transformed into one mythological creature, which one would you choose?

A unicorn. Fabulous, and hard to catch.

Q2. What time do you usually go to bed at night?

Between 10:30 and midnight. Depends how many books I’m reading.

Q3. What are the least-likely three words someone would use to describe you?

Quiet. Normal. Boring.

Q4. Where did you go on your last vacation?

Montreal for my 15^th wedding anniversary.

Q5. Would you rather find your dream job or win the lottery? You can’t do both.

I already do my dream job so lottery!

Q6. What is one thing you regret spending money on?

My engagement ring that I never wear anymore.

Q7. What object do you misplace or lose the most?

My phone. The case is black and we have a lot of black furniture.

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Q8. If you were a spy, what would be your codename?

Know it all.

Q9. What secret about the universe would you most want to learn?

What comes after death.

Q10. What never fails to make you laugh?

My kids. They have the best jokes.

Q11. What was one “before” and “after” in your life?

Before I quit my job and after. 🙂

Q12. What do you think people misunderstand about you?

Why I am so pessimistic and sceptical.

It’s time for a more detailed conversation, Alice.

You’ve answered our rapid fire brilliantly, Alice. Now, it’s time for our readers to know more about the person behind the book.

Q. Tell us something about yourself that’s going to keep us wanting more.

I grew up on a small island with 36 kids in my school, spending my free time running wild in the woods and creating worlds and adventures in my mind. I was allowed to let my imagination roam free and wild, and that comes out into my work now. My overactive imagination has never gone away so I use it when creating my fantasy worlds for my books. I love world building so much.

Q. Well, that’s just…memorable for sure. So, what books have you read more than once in your life? 

I don’t reread books anymore but before I stopped doing that, I read a few multiple times. Here are the top 4 in order of most read.

1. Little Women – the first book I read more than once and still my favourite today.

2. The Shining – I love Stephen King and this was my favourite I ever read from him.

3. Frankenstein – I got my copy at 12 and loved it, and read it again in university.

4. Dracula – it was in the same book as Frankenstein, so I read them together.

Q. Interesting. Who has been the biggest supporter of your writing? 

My husband. He not only encouraged me to quit my job to be able to write more, but he is my first editor after I finish a book, and he helps my male POV be as accurate as possible so that the men sound like men. He also reminds me how proud of me he is and believes in me on the days I don’t. Not to mention he allows me to use our house money to pay for my edits and publishing endeavors.

Q. Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

Of course. I have easter eggs in the prequel book that won’t come out until book 5 or 6 in the series. I call it a spider web in that I have threads and twists hinted and running through multiple things and am never worried about how many people see them or not. Eventually they’ll come out and people will love them.

I also snuck a few inside joes. An example? My husband is a huge star trek fan, so I have a horrible character named Wesley just so someone can tell him to shut up.

Q. Now comes the most anticipated question that every author must answer. How do you process and deal with negative book reviews?

I just don’t care. I have 2 and 1 star reviews and that’s fine. I don’t love every book I read so I can’t expect everyone to love my book. Sometimes the characters or the story just don’t work for you and that’s okay.

Q. What comes first for you — the plot or the characters — and why?

I usually come up with one or two characters first. Then they tell me what sort of adventure they want to go on and from that the worldbuilding begins. Then when I have the main characters, the world, and the adventure idea, the rest of the stories and the adventure fall into place. I like to write so that parts are decided and the rest just comes to me.

Q. How do you develop your plot and characters?

Characters come to me in little pieces. I dream a face, and then quirks or personality traits come together. I see something on a show, or hear a story and together I make it real. Then based on the character I do the world (since I write fantasy world building it a bit part of it) and the rules and everything. Once there is an image of my main character in their world in my head, the story starts to unravel and I figure out what they are going to do and what their journey will be.

Q. You got 100 points. You need to divide them on the basis of how relevant and important they are to you as a reader and a writer for your book or someone else’s as a reader. Your options are Plot/Story, Dialogues, Book Cover, Marketing, and, Reviews.

I would say 35 Plot/Story, 35 Dialogue, 10 for Marketing, Reviews and Book Cover. I am not someone who gives a lot of focus on book covers. When I am picking a book to read a picky cover will not sway me to purchase a book, and since I don’t agree with many reviews they won’t sway me either. I care about the characters and the story.

Q. So, now, about your book. Talk to us about it. No major spoilers.

My elevator pitch is Royal Medieval Europe meets mythology with sorcerers.

The Head, the Heart, and the Heir is book one of what will be a series or seven or eight books. It’s dual POV told by both Alex (Princess Elizabeth) and Aaron (Prince Aaron).

It’s full of themes/tropes as follows: Found family, Chosen one, Found heir, Reluctant royal, Friends to lovers, Medieval-ism, Magic, All powerful artifact, Older mentor.

Below is my official blurb.

Princess Elizabeth wants nothing more than to be reunited with her father, her kingdom, and her people. Instead, she’s spent the last twelve years in the forest, hiding from her grandfather, who killed her mother while she looked on.

Then the only heir to the Kingdom of Warren is discovered by her childhood playmate and crush, now the Crown Prince of the allied Kingdom of Datten, and everything changes. Her grandfather has died, which means it’s safe for her to return to her kingdom in advance of her seventeenth birthday…when sorcerers like her manifest their powers.

But the girl who now calls herself Alex is nothing like the lost princess the kingdom remembers. She’s headstrong, fearless—and already wields powers beyond everyone’s wildest imaginations. She can predict the future, control the weather, make plants magically grow, and manipulate fire, abilities which cause unusual things to happen when her emotions are heightened.

As she struggles to gain control of her powers, Alex causes chaos in the castle where she’s never quite the princess they want her to be. When she uncovers the secret behind her lineage and the murder of her mother, Alex’s powers threaten to destroy everyone around her, including her father, who hid the truth from her for so long.

Alex doesn’t want to be feared or controlled. She’s not the type to stand by and let someone else decide her fate—but is she strong enough to turn her back on the only family and friends she has left?

Q. What part of the book did you enjoy the most while writing?

I love writing banter. My main character has two older pseudo brothers and the banter between the three of them makes me laugh, especially Michael who serves as my comic relief. They aren’t blood but they are siblings in every other way imaginable. My own older sister died when I was only three so I get to give the character experiences that I wish I could have with my sister but won’t get to or didn’t get to.

Q. What is your kryptonite as a writer?

I struggled a lot with Show vs Tell before at the start and trying to figure out the specifics of grammar is still something that I work with. I’m thankful I have my husband to read over everything and help with my grammar since he’s amazing with it.

Q. What risks have you taken with your writing that have paid off?

I quit my job in September of 2021 after 15 years at the same institution. I left to work for our software company and write. The amount of joy and peace it has brought me is unreal and I love being able to be home more after years of not being home in the with my kids. And being able to write during daylight hours in amazing. I no longer have to limit my writing to early morning hours, and late night. I still write at those times but because I want to, and not because I have to.

Q. Let’s talk about the process of writing. Do you do research while writing a book to add more authenticity? What kind and how far do you go – ever traveled to a foreign place just for the sake of your book?

I write fantasy so I research as I go. Things such as how far a horse can travel in a day vs a horse loaded with a knight, what animal milk can make cheese, terms for castles, etc… My story is based in a world similar to various medieval European countries, and my family is originally from Germany. I spent my summers with my grandparents walking through the old part of our hometown, and when I say old, I mean the town was founded in 755 BC, so it is very old. The old part of the town and the way the houses are built is the basis for one of my kingdoms, and the surrounding areas are the basis for another, and the mountain nearby with the fortress for a third. I take little bits of all these things and use them in ways that work for the specific things I’m writing at the time.

Q. What was your hardest scene to write?

There is a scene in book 3 that I sobbed through writing, and then through editing and everything.

In general, while I love writing the banter between my characters the hardest part is the love and protection between the sibling like characters. I never got to have these moments with my sister so while I love giving them to my character I can’t help but remember that I never got them and never will.

Q. Well, this has been great. Now, before we wrap this up, do you have any suggestions to help someone become a better writer? If so, what are they?

The best advice I have is to just write. There is a famous quote from Jodi Picoult “You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.”

So many people focus on getting things perfect but the truth is no story will ever be perfect. Even books written by professionals are never perfect, so for a new writer to expect perfection is asking for disappointment. You need to write your story for you first, and then start the editing process to make it better. Some people only need a few editing round and some will need dozens. Either way is okay, and your journey should never be compared to someone else’s. Write from the heart and you can’t go wrong.

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