Book Fox Chit Chat: Kenneth Baldwin on The Onyx Door
The third and final installment of the Luella Winthrop trilogy—The Onyx Door—just dropped on Amazon! To celebrate, we sat down with author Kenneth A. Baldwin to get the insider scoop about the book. Check out the interview below, and don’t forget to order your copy of The Onyx Door!
Q: Tell us a little about your new book
A: The Onyx Door is the last book in a trilogy that follows Luella Winthrop. She’s a writer trying to carve a life for her and her sister in 19th century England. But when she ventures into the competitive world of journalism, she topples over more than she bargained for and gets mixed up with some unsettling magic. Soon she struggles desperately to manage the unintended consequences of interfering with forces beyond her control. But the heart is a complicated affair, and she will have to make choices that cannot be undone.
Q: What was it like to write the final book of a series?
A: It was exhausting. It’s difficult to ensure that separate plotlines get enough satisfactory closure, that characters get the outros they deserve, and that the momentum keeps up. I really wanted to pay it back to readers who had invested so much time reading the series, and the only way to do that is to make sure the final installment delivers in a big way. Apart from all of that, it was just difficult for me to say goodbye to characters I’ve spent years building and developing. I put a lot of myself into these creations, and I’m a bit of an introvert, so it felt like saying goodbye to good friends.
Q: How is this third installment different and/or similar to the other two books in the series?
A: I think writing a trilogy, in some respects, feels like setting up a ton of dominoes. In the last book, you finally get to topple them over. So, I think the final book feels more epic in that sense. Something that has always bothered me about the fantasy genre is that later in a series, there’s almost this inevitable “chosen one” plotline where the whole world is at stake or something. I wanted to build the stakes up as much as I could but within the scope of a few individuals. This final book also has the closure that some readers feel was missing in the previous two. What can you expect? More magic. More delightful side characters. More difficult introspective questions.
Q: This book has some legal drama elements. Did you have to do a lot of research for those elements, and what inspired you to go in that direction?
A: So I’m an attorney in the US, and I was so afraid that my interest in the law jaded my storytelling. I mean, not everyone finds legal proceedings exciting. It was really fun for me to research and discover how 19th Century England handled criminal legal proceedings. There are big shifts in legal theory between our world now and back then, and I wanted to put some of what I consider unfortunate deficiencies in criminal justice in the spotlight, deficiencies that exist even now, despite all of the reform since the 19th century.
After the second book, some people asked me: could someone really be arrested for murder on such paltry evidence? The answer yes. It’s happened a thousand times over and continues to happen today. A government’s arm is at its strongest when it takes a human being and locks them behind bars or takes a life. Because of that, I think it’s appropriate to be constantly critical of that process.
Q: Are you satisfied with the way the trilogy wraps up?
A: I think so. It’s always fun to discover surprises as you write, and there were some things that just kind of happened that had me rewriting and adjusting outlines until almost the last chapter. This third book has more of myself in it than the previous two, which is really frightening when you think about publishing it. I’m happy that I’ve been able to hold to my beliefs on storytelling and put out a narrative that proves those beliefs have some strength to them.
Q: Are there other novels or series that you drew inspiration from while writing the Luella Winthrop trilogy?
A: Yes! Of course. I’m a huge Jane Austen fan. I think her characterization remains unmatched. I simply love how interesting she managed to make her plots when really all that ever happened was people going to one another’s houses, receiving distressing letters, hearing about neighbors going on vacation, etc. I also took a lot of inspiration from Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. I loved the way Susanna Clarke approaches magic in how she approaches world-building in that novel.
Q: Now that you’ve finished this series, what’s next?
A: Uff. I wish I could say vacation, but I’ve had my next projects simmering in the background for the past little while. I’m not sure I’m quite ready to reveal it just yet, but I will say it’s more historical fantasy, and I’ve long been fascinated with meaty historical intersections. In the late 19th century, for example, the world seemed obsessed not just magic and the occult, but scientific progress. Those two competing forces on the mind of the public creates such wonderful conflict for stories. I’ve got another historical intersection lined up right now that I think will make for an absolute page-turning series. Hopefully, I can pull it off.
