A conversation with author erin cotter
When I asked author Erin Cotter to be the special guest artist at this year’s Fall Creative Commitment, I mentioned that her work feels very autumnal to me, particularly as it relates to our theme for FCC: Creating in the Liminal. Erin’s work beautifully weaves together the dark and the light, the seen and the unseen. Her latest novel, A Dangerous Bargain, promises magic, angels, desperate artists and deadly bargains. I mean.
Plus, it’s arriving this autumn. You can RSVP for the September 29 launch at BookPeople if you’re local to ATX or need an excuse to visit. I’ll be there!
You’ll notice from her bio that Erin reimagines the past through a queer lens and always has a happy ending. More of this, please. So what’s this latest novel about?
Artists and angels in the golden city of Florence at the height of the Italian Renaissance. Need we say more? Preorder your copy here!
It’s the height of the Italian Renaissance. In the golden city of Florence, art is equal to holiness, and angels walk among us, bestowing their talents . . . for a price.
Seventeen-year-old artist Virgil is in trouble. To support his family, he’s bargained most of his life away to an angel—only to discover that his missing brother is in danger, and nothing but magic can rescue him. Now, with just a few months left to live, Virgil is desperate enough to try the one thing he swore he would never, ever do—team up with the infuriating, annoyingly talented, and most notorious playboy in all of Florence, the charming Leonardo da Vinci….
Intrigued? I thought you’d be. Get your copy here.
Our convo…
CLAIRE: Do you recall the kernel of inspiration that sparked this new novel? I love asking this [sly grin] because I don't always remember that kernel for myself and I am so curious what other novelists experience.
ERIN: Yes, I was really angry about generative AI, because I had just learned my second book had been pirated to train a model a few weeks after its release. I wondered what other, more famous writers and artists would think of AI, and Leonardo da Vinci came to mind.
Then the idea clicked: What if there was an AI-like magic system in renaissance Italy? Would the bygone masters have used it?
CLAIRE: This is a brilliant example of alchemizing artist-anger and weaving it into story! Was the writing of DANGEROUS BARGAIN new/different for you as an author? What about this book felt either more challenging or more organic (or both!)?
ERIN: It was very different for me, because it was my first historical fantasy! And let me tell you, it was hard. I’ve read and loved fantasy my entire life and I didn’t think it would be easy to write, per se, but I did think the fact that my book was so grounded in real history (a genre I’d written before) would make it easier to write. But nope! I think I rewrote the last 20% where everything comes together like four times before I was happy with it.
ATX locals can meet the author at BookPeople on September 29. I’ll be there!
CLAIRE: Speaking of reading and loving fantasy all your life, what is your desert island book (and let’s just bend the rules and say you get two)?
ERIN: Haha, thank you for giving me two. We all know one isn’t enough!
The first one I’d take is Sabriel by Garth Nix. It’s a YA historical fantasy from the 90s and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since I discovered it in eighth grade. It’s about an 18-year-old necromancer who needs to travel into Death to find her missing necromancer father before a powerful undead being crosses a magical wall and destroys her school. It’s awesome.
I’m actually struggling with the second book, because I have so many favorites! I could bring V.E. Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic, but bringing the first book of a trilogy might be dangerous, or Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence because it’s my favorite literary novel and I could study it for months without getting bored.
We better leave it at Sabriel since I can’t decide!
CLAIRE: Fair. And speaking of writing and researching history, what era would you love to visit regularly if you had a time machine (and no concerns re: Back to the Future rules, disrupting the space-time contiuum, etc.)?
ERIN: I think Queen Elizabeth I’s court would be a fascinating place to visit. The way she handled her power has interested me. She did some really cool things, but also some terrible things, and I think being a fly on the fly would be fascinating. And who wouldn’t want to see one of Shakespeare’s plays in the Globe theater while he was alive?
CLAIRE: I might be asking dreamy questions because I find summer in Austin to be (when I’m not lucky enough to be in a pool), a stifling hibernation period, and because I’m outside less, I’m living in my head more. I’ve shared with you how I see autumn as this fresh, magic, liminal time that can actually be really productive creatively (one reason I'm so excited for Fall Creative Commitment and your guest-author visit). What season energizes you most as a writer? And what season(s) is favored by Virgil (throw in a cheeky one for Leonardo as well, if you feel inspired)?
ERIN: Fall energizes me the most as a writer.
Autumn Statue by Giovanni Caccini on Ponte Santa Trinita in Florence, Italy
It’s odd because on the one hand fall is a time of things changing, slowing down, and dying, but I’ve always seen that as a beginning as well.
It’s funny you ask this question about my book, because there’s a famous bridge in Florence, the Ponte Santa Trinita, decorated with four statues depicting the seasons. One my favorite memories of living in Florence is walking past the statues. I even included them in the book, even though it’s a an anachronism, but hey, sometimes it’s worth bending the historical record for joy! Virgil is definitely a winter person. He prefers to detach himself from things and people, and the grey, cold season where there’s less to look at allows him to withdraw into himself more fully. Leonardo is spring for sure, and I love the way his own zest for life and creativity pulls Virgil out of his own darkness. There’s no way these two couldn’t be seasons that follow each other!
CLAIRE: The perfect pairing. Cannot wait for this book! And cannot wait for your guest-author talk at this year’s FCC. It’s going to be so good.