Episode Details

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where royal bargains come with deadly consequences, dancers make unexpectedly brilliant spies, and the most dangerous person at court may also be the one holding your heart.

This week, host Bethany Amanda and Mythic Mic Team Member Britt sit down with bestselling fantasy author Brittney Arena to discuss her debut novel, A Dance of Lies, and its highly anticipated sequel, To Dance with Death.

Brittney shares how reading and writing helped her survive two years of being bedbound with undiagnosed chronic illnesses, and how that experience inspired Vasalie, a former royal dancer whose body no longer works as it once did. She also opens up about writing chronically ill heroines who are allowed to be clever, flawed, romantic, and centered in sweeping fantasy adventures rather than reduced to stories of pity or inspiration.

We also dive into Vasalie’s transformation from the king’s prized dancer to his imprisoned enemy, and the deadly bargain that forces her to become his spy. Brittney discusses political intrigue, morally complicated choices, multiple potential love interests, and the agonizing slow burn at the heart of the duology. She also teases the underworld, death magic, second-chance romance, and emotional healing awaiting readers in To Dance with Death.

💃 What happens when the king who destroyed your life becomes your only path to freedom?
🗡️ Can a dancer survive a royal court where everyone is hiding something?
🖤 And what if the person you are destined to love is the one you initially trust the least?

This is a must-listen for fantasy romance readers, lovers of political intrigue, chronic illness and disability representation, agonizing slow burns, and stories that break your heart before carefully putting it back together.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ How chronic illness and two years of being bedbound led Brittney back to books, and how A Dance of Lies was part of her grief and healing process.
✨ Creating a chronically ill heroine who survives through intelligence, artistry, and determination.
✨ Why disabled characters deserve adventure, romance, whimsy, and morally complicated choices.
✨ Brittney’s love of drafting and allowing characters to disrupt her carefully planned stories.
✨ Spending two years on submission before the book finally found its publishing home.
✨ How FairyLoot interest sparked UK and US publishing auctions.
✨ Vasalie’s journey from royal dancer and prisoner to reluctant spy.
✨ Murder accusations, deadly bargains, political schemes, and dangerous betrayals.
✨ Multiple love interests and discovering the true romantic direction while drafting.
✨ The willow-tree scene that changed everything.
✨ Why To Dance with Death places romance at the center of the story.
✨ Hate-to-love banter, second chances, yearning, waterfalls, and an earned love story.
✨ Exploring the underworld, death magic, and whether the gods are real.
✨ Brittney’s upcoming dream-world romantasy, Prince of Night.
✨ Unhinged love interests, K-dramas, impossible book questions, and rapid-fire chaos.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 Brittney Arena – @Brittney.Arena

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