🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where outlawed witches, hidden identities, and forbidden love make going to war significantly more complicated.

This week, host Bethany Amanda sits down with debut fantasy author Bethan Croome to discuss Reign, a dark, British folklore-inspired romantic fantasy filled with secret magic, medieval politics, dangerous creatures, slow-burn romance, and a heroine who disguises herself as a man only to accidentally get conscripted into a war.

Before diving into Reign, Bethan shares the unconventional road to her debut, from studying English literature and creative writing and earning a master's degree in writing to walking away from an early agent opportunity that didn't feel right.

Then we enter a kingdom where magic is outlawed and being a witch could cost you everything. Inspired by British history, folklore, Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and the darker corners of Britain's past, Reign blends medieval and Tudor atmosphere with court politics, magical creatures, hidden identities, and enemies-to-lovers.

🗡️ What happens when a secret witch disguises herself as a man and accidentally gets sent to war?
✨ How do you fight for a kingdom that has outlawed what you are?
🖤 And what happens when forbidden love becomes even more dangerous because no one knows who you really are?

If you love secret witches, women disguised as men, British folklore, medieval and Tudor-inspired fantasy, forbidden magic, and deliciously slow-burn romance, this episode is for you.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ Bethan's journey from studying creative writing and working in theatre to pursuing her dream of becoming a novelist.
✨ Why she walked away from an early opportunity with an agent even though she feared another opportunity might never come. And why she now considers it one of the best decisions she made.
✨ Finding her eventual literary agent through Instagram and writing Reign in roughly four months.
✨ Why Bethan chose Cosmo Reads and Sourcebooks for her debut, and the surreal experience of publishing through an imprint connected to a magazine she grew up reading.
✨ Creating Reign's showstopping deluxe edition, from the mood boards and visual references Bethan provided to the pink sprayed edges destined for fantasy readers' bookshelves.
✨ The impossible choice at the heart of Reign: fight for the kingdom that outlawed her magic or turn against it and help set magic free.
✨ Why Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, rather than Mulan, originally inspired Reign.
✨ Building a fantasy world from British history, folklore, mythology, medieval and Tudor influences, and the castles, libraries, manuscripts, and historical places Bethan loves exploring.
✨ Why British folklore's gruesome, macabre stories helped shape the darker and more melancholic atmosphere of Reign.
✨ Bethan's biggest advice for aspiring authors: stop jumping to the next shiny idea, finish the book, and be brave enough to put your work into the world.
✨ Plus: learning how to polish swords for research, the ideal amount of spice in romantasy, why Bethan would choose time travel as her magical power, and a mutual appreciation for the greatest song in Mulan.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 Bethan Croome – @BethFiit

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