Episode Details

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where political marriages end in bloodshed, enemies make dangerously tempting allies, and some oaths are sealed with knives instead of kisses.

This week, host Sara Santillan sits down with acclaimed fantasy author Nia Davenport to discuss her dark standalone romantasy, Our Vicious Oaths.

Nia shares her unconventional path from studying biology and teaching for seven years to building a career across science fantasy, YA, romance, and dark fantasy. She opens up about teaching herself to write full-length novels, surviving shelved manuscripts and publishing rejection, and why BIPOC and queer authors should never question whether their voices belong in fantasy.

We also dive into Our Vicious Oaths, where dragon-riding warrior princess Kadesha refuses to become a political pawn and spends the night before her wedding with a mysterious stranger. The next day, she discovers he is an enemy Fae king who engineered their meeting and the slaughter that destroys both courts. Nia discusses Black Fae, knives-to-throat enemies-to-lovers tension, unapologetically powerful heroines, and the political bargain that leaves Kadesha and Malachi plotting to kill their mutual enemy before turning on each other.

🐉 What happens when the stranger from your one-night stand destroys your wedding the next morning?
👑 Can a warrior princess protect her kingdom without surrendering her freedom?
🗡️ And what if the enemy whose heart you plan to carve out becomes the one person who truly sees you?

This is a must-listen for dark romantasy readers, enemies-to-lovers fans, lovers of political intrigue and Black fantasy, and anyone who supports women’s rights—and women’s wrongs.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ How anime, Sailor Moon, theater, and oral storytelling shaped Nia’s writing.
✨ Moving from biology and teaching into a full-time publishing career.
✨ Writing several practice novels before finding her voice and process.
✨ Querying too early and receiving a full request within forty-eight hours.
✨ Shelved manuscripts, systemic publishing barriers, and refusing to stop.
✨ How The Blood Trials launched Nia’s traditional publishing career.
✨ Writing across adult fantasy, YA thrillers, romantic comedies, and dark romantasy.
✨ Why writers should consume widely and trust the stories they most want to tell.
✨ The importance of BIPOC and queer voices in speculative fiction.
✨ Kadesha’s fight to become her father’s heir instead of his political pawn.
✨ A one-night stand, an enemy Fae king, and wedding-day carnage.
✨ Knives-to-throat tension, political bargains, mutual vengeance, and catching feelings.
✨ Creating Black Fae courts infused with Black American culture.
✨ Writing bold heroines who own their power, sexuality, brilliance, and mistakes.
✨ Why Our Vicious Oaths became a standalone instead of a longer series.
✨ The realities of traditional publishing, author marketing, and Nia’s interest in going hybrid.
✨ Gilded Veins, murderous vampire families, and Nia’s upcoming dark romantasy.
✨ Favorite princesses, alternate titles, sacred promises, and rapid-fire chaos.

CONNECT WITH US

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

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.