Fighting for Happily Ever After, a guest post by Erica Ivy Rodgers

All I wanted to do as a kid was transport myself into the worlds I found in the books I read. Islands governed by magic. Frontiers full of stars where every stop was a new discovery. Pieces of the past so vivid I could imagine the terror of a rogue wave bearing down on a ship. 

To be clear, I didn’t want to disappear into story because my childhood made me want to hide—I had a wonderful home growing up—but my imagination has always demanded the other. Something brighter and, in a way, simpler. As an adult, this has shifted into a constant desire to travel. But back then, the only real path of exploration open for me was through the pages of story. 

As adolescence crept up on me, so did the realization that the world around us is not always clearly defined as good and evil. There is gray, which can be confusing. Exhausting, even. So, when that wonderful home showed signs of stress and fracture—when there was nothing I could do to fix it—I dove into books and movies where, though it seemed impossible, the heroes always found their happy ending. Where characters knew how to challenge the world around them and were brave enough to do it. 

After reading Lord of the Rings, I added honey to my grandma’s communion bread recipe, wrapped it in leaves, then explored the trails of South Lake Tahoe with my lembas bread. I was an elf, a sister of Legolas, ruling the wood. 

I checked every wardrobe for a passage to another world (I still do this, by the way) and I stared hard at every lamppost in the snow, thinking “What if…”

I was Maid Marion from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, except I knocked Robin of Locksley on his backside and took on the Sheriff of Nottingham myself (Alan Rickman forever!). All, of course, to the backdrop of the best French horn part ever written into a movie score. 

More than anything, I wanted to adventure with loyal friends. To help and protect others. To be so confident in who I was that the road ahead of me was clear. I didn’t just want to READ a happily ever after. 

I wanted to FIGHT for it. 

In my debut novel, Lady of Steel and Straw, spirits who die in anger or fear remain anchored to their bones, becoming wraiths instead of moving on to the afterlife. Two kinds of magic hold power over these wraiths—one settles the spirit into their bones, offering peace and rest. The other wields the spirit like a weapon against the minds of the living. A clear good vs. evil…on the surface.

While writing Lady of Steel and Straw, I knew I wanted to explore this idea of fighting toward a happily ever after. I LOVE a happy ending. There are authors and screenwriters I don’t enjoy often because of their determination to give me the opposite. But I knew that before the characters in my story found any kind of peace they were going to have to traverse the dark. 

Fight external monsters? Of course. Confront the villain and her minions? Always. But these characters also face less obvious foes. The misconceptions and labels placed on them by others as they fail, over and over. Weaknesses known and newly discovered.

Darkness knocks at the door with teeth and knives, but that same darkness can be found within. And, just like in real life, sometimes our own darkness is the tougher villain to overcome. 

The part of us, no matter how small, that is tempted to smile at the downfall or humiliation of another. The inner voice telling us, you’re not worth it. 

You’re a screw up. 

Everyone else has everything together, and you’re a HOT MESS. 

The constant second-guessing. Fear that even our successes are false. We aren’t good enough. Our dreams and goals will never be reached because, how dare we have them in the first place? Nothing will launch imposter syndrome like finally achieving a goal. 

Imagine what brilliant things would never see the light if we listened?

EVERY character in Lady of Steel and Straw has reason to believe they aren’t good enough. My characters all struggle with the voice telling them they are defined by their past. By their mistakes and darkest deeds. In life, we will either confront that voice or risk embracing the version of ourselves that is nowhere near who we know we could be. 

We have to discover, instead, the voice that says, of COURSE we’re worthy. Of love. Of kindness. We deserve family that loves us, whether born or found. We have strength to fight the darkness, whether that strength comes from the divine, or somewhere deep within ourselves. 

Every Happily Ever After is going to look a little different. Stories, in any form, can be an escape. But within unfamiliar settings and struggles we see the truth of the world around us. Those truths can be tough but, like many of our favorite characters, we can work toward a better ending. We can carry those we love on our shoulders when they aren’t strong enough to stand on their own, just like freaking Samwise Gamgee.

It’s work. But the world will be better for it. Promise. 

6 books I’ve recently read that are full of the FIGHT (I won’t spoil by promising happily ever after!): Death’s Country by R.M. Romero, The Chaperone, by M. Hendrix, Last Boyfriends’ Rules for Revenge by Matthew Hubbard,  A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal, The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste.

Meet the author

Erica Ivy Rodgers lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband, two children, and one very lovable, frenetic pit bull mix. When she isn’t writing or driving kids around, you can usually find her starting another DIY home project in the woods, rock climbing, or beneath an ever-growing pile of bookish quilting fabric. Visit her on the web at EricaIvyRodgers.com and follow her on Instagram @ericaivyrodgers.

About Lady of Steel and Straw

Star-crossed lovers grapple with forbidden attraction and a growing army of ghostly dead in this swashbuckling YA fantasy debut.

After ten years of exile, following regicide in the House of Tristain, an alarming royal edict is delivered to the immortal scarecrow Guardians who once defended the crown: surrender themselves to the church of the Silent Gods, or stand accused of further treason. But with a puppet prince set to take the throne and vengeful wraiths appearing with alarming frequency, something foul and sinister is at work in the kingdom of Niveaux.

Lady Charlotte Sand was born to calm the restless dead. A headstrong heroine, she refuses to relinquish her family’s lavender Guardian to the Cardinal’s Watch—a rash misstep that costs her brother his life and sets her on a path for revenge.

For pious and handsome Captain Luc de Montaigne, it’s an excruciating predicament. His long-lost, childhood love has triggered a faction war that could tear the realm asunder. Now Charlotte and Luc must choose between killing one another and stepping closer to victory—or yielding to the electricity between them.

Heartily inspired by The Three Musketeers, this multiple-perspective narrative features a unique system of bone and herbal magic, sultry banter, and a feisty cast of well-rounded supporting characters. This rousing first entry in the Waking Hearts fantasy duology is a gorgeous read and an excellent pick for fans of Rin Chupeco and Margaret Rogerson.

ISBN-13: 9781682636657
Publisher: Holiday House
Publication date: 06/04/2024
Age Range: 14 – 17 Years

Filed under: Guest Post