Valerie Valdes is co-editor of the award-winning Escape Pod science fiction podcast, as well as the author of the Chilling Effect trilogy and space fantasy novel Where Peace Is Lost. Her short fiction and poetry have appeared in Uncanny Magazine, Nightmare Magazine, and several anthologies. She lives in an elaborate meme palace in Georgia with her husband, children, and cats. “A Magical Correspondence, to the Tune of Heartstrings” is her sixth appearance in Uncanny, a heartwarming story of finding romance, running the family business, and still somehow making time for magic.

Uncanny Magazine: Lissa struggles to carve out personal time from a schedule that is packed with other obligations and distractions, a challenge that is all too relatable to modern life. What drew you to write about this theme?

Valerie Valdes: A couple of related things combined to lead me in this direction. For many years, I’ve participated in and facilitated events in which large groups of people simultaneously attempt to finish lengthy creative projects, like novels, in a short period of time. The demands are rigorous, the events tend to occur during months in which people already have a lot of work and family obligations, and the only real reward is having done the thing. Figuring out the logistics of how and when and where to write was a constant challenge, and not just for me. Some years when I did this, I was literally typing into my phone with one hand while nursing a baby with the other. Or I’d drag my husband or mom with me to a café so they could babysit while I chugged soda and wrote.

And for what? Why did I put myself through that? I, personally, started participating in the events hoping to eventually end up where I am today—writing professionally—and I’m not alone in this goal. But many other people were just looking to have a good time, to tell a story for their own edification and entertainment, to write their memoirs or add chapters to their fanfic or complete a project they’d been setting aside in favor of more pressing responsibilities. However, over the years, it began to feel like a sense of commercialization overtook the organization running the events, like even though they still welcomed and supported writers who just wanted to write, they were pushing people along the path to publication, often self-publishing specifically. (This is not a criticism of self-pub, only an observation of the changing climate.)

This sense of the shifting core principles of a group originally simply trying to do something daring and difficult felt symptomatic of a larger societal trend toward monetizing hobbies. In a world where we’re repeatedly told that time is money, spare time becomes equated with wasted earning potential. We’re supposed to ABH, always be hustling, turning our every knitted scarf or hand-poured soy candle into an online business. If we want to make something, it had better be so we can turn around and sell it to someone, otherwise what’s the point? If we want to learn something new, it must be so we can use that knowledge to turn a profit, because our bills won’t pay themselves. Some of us quite literally can’t afford to do anything just for the fun of it, even if we want to, because there’s a barrier to entry in the form of cost or time or physical demands.

So with all that in mind, I wanted to write about someone dealing with having to over-schedule their already-stressful life to accommodate a hobby that is, essentially, useless, but that she’s committed to doing—not because she can sell it, or parlay it into some future career path, but because she wants to do it, for herself, just because.

Uncanny Magazine: What was the most challenging part of writing this story? What was the easiest thing?

Valerie Valdes: I feel like the answer to these questions is the same: it was both easy and challenging to dig into my own experiences, and those of the people around me in a similar position, to reflect them within the story. Forcing myself to list the various things I’ve been told or heard secondhand over the years regarding the goals of writing and other crafts was an unpleasant retrospective exercise; so many of those random questions and unsolicited advice offerings were not particularly deeply buried. Conversations about the endless churn of capitalism’s demands are also occurring over and over again in public and private spheres, and there’s no easy resolution because life isn’t easy. We all make choices about how to spend our time, but sometimes our choices are constrained by life circumstances until they’re barely choices at all. And sometimes giving up on a goal or hobby is the happiest and healthiest thing we can do for ourselves, yet we’re taught from childhood not to be quitters, so dealing with the shame and guilt that comes along with that choice can be its own challenge.

Uncanny Magazine: “A Magical Correspondence, to the Tune of Heartstrings” has a lovely cast of characters, and I enjoyed seeing the different relationship dynamics that Lissa has with her family members and with Dev. How do you come up with your characters? Do they ever do things that surprise you?

Valerie Valdes: I often reach for people I know as my primary inspiration for characters, even if by the time I’ve finished constructing my figurative or literal character sheets, they only vaguely resemble their progenitors. Sometimes I also pull elements from other media, like books and TV and movies and video games. There are these flip books where you can mix and match heads, torsos, and legs to create a lot of random combinations, some more strange or funny than others, and sometimes that feels similar to what I do. But that’s maybe giving myself less credit than I deserve, because I think a lot about why my characters are the way they are, how they relate to each other and the world, what their goals and dreams are, what they’re afraid of… I build character and plot and world more or less simultaneously, shaping them all so they fit together as a cohesive whole. I ask a lot of questions, why this and why that, if this then what else, and so on. And they still can surprise me, yes! As much as I tend to overplan, there will always be details that emerge as I’m writing, and that sometimes makes me go back in the story and change things I’ve already written to accommodate the new hotness.

Uncanny Magazine: If you were taking the magical correspondence class, which element do you think would give you the most trouble and why?

Valerie Valdes: I feel like air is probably the one I’d struggle with the most. Earth is straightforward, easy to dig your hands into and work with. Water can be slippery but it’s still tangible, it flows, it moves, it adjusts to fit its container. Fire can get out of control if you’re not careful, but it provides warmth and light. Air, though, it’s everywhere! How do you really wrap your head around that? You can feel it when it moves, but otherwise it’s intangible beyond temperature. You can’t grab it, shape it, see it… I’d just be waving my arms around trying to figure out where to even start. I’m too grounded, I think, not flexible enough.

Uncanny Magazine: This story has elements of fantasy and romance, and the setting has a historical fantasy feel. Are these genres that you enjoy reading? What are some of your literary influences (in these genres or otherwise)?

Valerie Valdes: I do enjoy a good romance and a good fantasy and a good overlap between the two! I’m not sure I have any particular influences, but I grew up reading Robin McKinley, Patricia McKillip, and Tamora Pierce among others, all of whom tended to have integral romance plots within larger-scale situations. Terry Pratchett is also a perennial favorite, and Diana Wynne Jones, for their humor and hijinks and deep affection for—and frustration with—humanity and all our foibles. Some more contemporary options: C. L. Polk’s Kingston Cycle as well as The Midnight Bargain; Tasha Suri’s The Books of Ambha and The Burning Kingdoms; C. L. Clark’s The Magic of the Lost; Mia Tsai’s Bitter Medicine; Shelley Parker-Chan’s Radiant Emperor duology; India Holton’s Dangerous Damsels; Hanna F. Whitten’s Wilderwood; Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate; Deanna Raybourn’s Veronica Speedwell books; Lana Harper’s Witches of Thistle Grove; Ilona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy series; Seanan McGuire’s October Daye books…I could probably go on for a very long time, honestly! Romantasy being ascendant right now means we’re getting more and more spoiled for choice, which is a good thing.

Uncanny Magazine: What are you working on next?

Valerie Valdes: Speaking of romantasy, that is in fact what I’m writing next! I have two contemporary romantasy novels on deck, the first of which should be published in 2025. Mage You Look is about a magic shop technician in Miami who has to win a spellcasting competition reality show before she’s unemployed, broke, and evicted…except she ends up partnered with a celebrity who’s best known for his spectacular spell fails! Shenanigans ensue, naturally. And smooching.

Uncanny Magazine: Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us!