Nothing Short of Incredible: A Guest Post by Hafsah Faizal
It’s a heist story with vampires from Hafsah Faizal, and if that isn’t enough to get you hooked, consider that it’s just the first in a duology that promises all the stakes and tension set on a stage populated by characters you’ll quickly learn to love. Read on for an exclusive essay from Our Monthly Pick author Hafsah Faizal on writing A Tempest of Tea.
Paperback
$11.99
$14.99
A Tempest of Tea (B&N Exclusive Edition)
A Tempest of Tea (B&N Exclusive Edition)
In Stock Online
Paperback
$11.99
$14.99
From the New York Times–bestselling author of We Hunt the Flame comes the first book in a hotly-anticipated fantasy duology teeming with romance and revenge, led by an orphan girl willing to do whatever it takes to save her self-made kingdom.
From the New York Times–bestselling author of We Hunt the Flame comes the first book in a hotly-anticipated fantasy duology teeming with romance and revenge, led by an orphan girl willing to do whatever it takes to save her self-made kingdom.
Why save the world when you can have tea? That’s what Arthie tells her crew, unknowingly putting into words her jaded belief that she’s only capable of so much. She gets that from me—not because I have any absurd notions of saving the world, but because I tend to think small. Even when the pieces are before me, even when the trajectory promises and swears to go a certain way, my cynical brain says, quite simply: nah.
So when I began writing A Tempest of Tea, throwing in a teapot or three of tea, a heaping of vampires, a whole lot of cunning because of my love for Peaky Blinders, and a dash of King Arthur because, well, why not, I was surprised by my hope for the book. Until I finished writing it and realized that what began as an undercurrent of colonialism had morphed into a theme that was loud and angry and refused to be anything else.
I didn’t want it to be anything else.
It scared me. Colonialism isn’t a thing of the past. It’s alive and well, unfortunately, and despite its blatant cruelty, a thing of debate, too. Would people want to read a book about a brown girl going up against the government? Would they listen to her commentary on what it was like to be underprivileged and underestimated at every turn?
Dear friends, it’s been a year since A Tempest of Tea released, and the answer is yes.
If I had to choose a favorite moment in the publication process, it would be release week. I was on tour the day the book released, traveling with my husband, who also happened to be my conversation partner at each stop—his presence made it easier on me, and it didn’t hurt that the audience loved him, too—and amid the chaos of travel and preparing for nightly events, I didn’t have much time to sit and stress over how the book was being perceived. I suppose I didn’t have to, really. Readers were spilling in from hours away, some catching flights from as far as Canada, showing their support for Arthie and me, dressing up as characters, hauling stacks of books, tagging me in photos of sightings around the country. Booksellers were shelving her front and center. And once the tour came to an end and I returned home to recover from jet lag, I learned Arthie was topping lists here and abroad, from the New York Times to an Indie Bestseller. Messages were pouring in from readers who had never read a fantasy novel with a brown girl lead, nor one where colonialism was called out so unapologetically.
It was nothing short of incredible—then and since.
I don’t say any of this to gloat or boast. The reception of A Tempest of Tea really has been an eye-opening moment for me. To see people welcome my angry brown girl with open arms has made me a tad less cynical and a little more hopeful.
So as we welcome the paperback release of the book, renewing this vampire book’s life once more, I just want to say:
Thank you.
