Years before romantic fantasy had its name and dominated bookshelves, Poison Study was ahead of its time. Released in 2005, it combines the adventure of a classic fantasy with a swoon-worthy romance. Now, 20 years and 24 novels later, the Study series continues to remain a fan-favorite for many and serves as an introduction to the fantasy series for many others. With Poison Study’s 20th anniversary coming this October, now is the perfect time to not only reflect on the series and the revisitation of the series through the eyes of a fan-favorite character, but also to dive into the writing process and the changes the romantasy genre has undergone in the last 20 years.
About Maria V. Snyder
Meteorologist turned novelist, Maria V. Snyder’s has been writing since she was bored at work and needed something creative to do. Twenty-four published novels and two short story collections later, Maria’s learned a thing or three about writing. She’s been on the New York Times bestseller list, won a dozen awards, and has earned her MA degree in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, where she’s been happily sharing her knowledge with the current crop of MFA students. She’s also been featured in outlets like The Guardian, discussing Shadow Study and on Calico Writes for their In Conversation series.
When she’s not writing, she’s either playing pickleball, traveling, taking pictures, or zonked out on the couch due to all of the above. Maria welcomes readers to learn more about her and her books at https://www.MariaVSnyder.com.
Thank you for talking with us, Maria. Let’s get started!
For any readers unfamiliar with it, can you give us a brief introduction to Poison Study?
Poison Study is about Yelena. She begins the novel in the dungeon, awaiting execution, when she is offered the job of the food taster for the Commander, a military dictator. She accepts and learns how to taste foods for poisons. Her boss, Valek, the chief of security, trains her. It doesn’t take long before the Commander is targeted, and she and Valek must work together to figure it out. Complicating matters is Yelena’s magic, which only appears when she’s in grave danger and is also forbidden by the Commander.
You recently released The Study of Fire, the third book of the Study series, told from the point of view of Valek, the fan-favorite assassin and love interest. What has it been like revisiting the Study world after 20 years?
Writing Valek’s books was a fun challenge! I learned so much about what he, the Commander, and the power twins were up to while Yelena had her own adventures. They were also more difficult to write than I expected. Plus, in the three Study books, Yelena and Valek don’t spend much time together. They’re apart for half of Magic Study. I am very proud of these books and also surprised by how much they are their own stories.
As a follow-up, you’ve described yourself as a pantser, or a writer who develops the story as it goes. Did you encounter any challenges with revisiting a story in which you already knew how events would play out?
Matching up the timeline perfectly was the biggest challenge. Also in Fire Study, Valek appears in the story already knowing about what’s been going on with the Southern Council. How did he know all that? There wasn’t much time for him to discover everything.
Here’s a fun story. Before I wrote each companion novel, I would re-read Yelena’s story and make notes. When I was writing The Study of Magic, I reached the part where Valek was in an impossible situation, but somehow managed to escape. And I remembered, I’d made a note about that. Excited to see what Past Maria had figured out, I flipped through my notebook and found this: “V escaped at dusk. Hmmm…how?” Let’s just say Present Maria was not happy with Past Maria. Not at all!
Poison Study was part of the earliest wave of contemporary romantasy novels to enter the market. In the last few years, there’s been a noticeable resurgence of romantasy novels. What do you believe was the catalyst for this rise, and what changes have you noticed in the romantasy landscape?
That early wave didn’t quite build as much momentum as later books. My publisher, LUNA Books, which was an imprint of Harlequin, had a great idea to publish fantasy stories with strong female protagonists and romantic subplots. I think, at that time, genre fiction kept to its expected tropes and conventions and didn’t stray too far out of its lanes. However, readers of some of the early YA romantasy wanted more. And they grew up and wanted more adult themes and spice.
In your interview with the Nerd Daily, you shared that reading in the genre you want to write in is important for new writers. What were some of the books that drew you to writing fantasy or helped you understand how to craft a fantasy story? Did any directly influence your development of Poison Study?
There are so many books that I could mention! Every single fantasy I read influenced me. As you mentioned, I’m a pantser, and when I started writing novels, it wasn’t a how-to book or a writing class that guided me; it was my instincts (honed by reading all those books).
Having said that, there are a few authors I was inspired by. They are Barbara Hambly, Kate Elliott, Mercedes Lackey, Anne McCaffery, and Sherri S. Tepper. And I must mention Dick Francis. He wrote mysteries with his wife, but their books taught me how to write first-person POV and how to end a chapter so the readers can’t stop. I’ve received many emails late at night, yelling at me because the person couldn’t put my book down.
When you write, you like to conduct extensive research into various topics to ensure they are accurately portrayed in your novels. Where did your love of research originate, and what was the most interesting piece of research you conducted for the Study series?
Even though I’m writing fiction, I wanted to ensure that everything that is not my fictional creation is accurate. For example, horses. I know several horse people, and if I get something wrong, they’ll be texting me. Over the years, I found that doing hands-on research is the best way for me to translate an experience to my readers. For example, a cauldron of melted glass is hot and bright. But how bright? How hot? Only when I stood at the open door of a glass kiln and felt the heat on my face and squinted into the bowl did I really understand. It’s as if someone had broken off a piece of the sun and shoved it inside.
The most interesting research was learning how to work with and blow glass. Glass is an amazingly versatile substance. The scariest research was taking a tour of a men’s correctional facility for Spy Glass.
Lastly, to celebrate 20 years of Poison Study, and in honor of the beloved poison-tasting protagonist Yelena, what would your ideal fantasy-world career be?
A magical healer! Yelena has some healing ability, but I would want strong healing powers like Avry in my Healer series.
As Poison Study celebrates its 20th anniversary, it’s clear that Maria V. Snyder’s work has left an enchanting mark on romantasy for two decades, as her dedication to rich storytelling continues to inspire old and new readers. Huge thanks to Maria for sharing her wonderful work of art with us! Now is the perfect time to revisit the Study world, or experience it for the very first time. Keep up with Maria’s latest adventures through her books and updates on Facebook, Instagram, and on her website!
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To explore more magical worlds like this, check out our Fantasy Lovers Paradise: Epics, Romances, and More! Bookshelf at Bookstr’s Bookshop.
