An Interview with Author duo Kate Hyers & J.C. Smith about "The Courtesan's Eye"
- Apollo Imperium
- Sep 28
- 8 min read
We were lucky enough to be able to interview author duo Kate Hyers and J.C. Smith about their mystery slash fantasy novel "The Courtesan's Eye" that they've co-written over the span of five years. We've asked them about their inspiration, important themes and hidden easter eggs––and they've told us about how they met thanks to Dungeons and Dragons, who wrote what and their beginnings as authors.
It's been a pleasure getting to know these women over the course of this interview, and are so happy we get to introduce them to you. Without further ado, let's get into the interview.
Q: Tell us a bit about yourself! Who are you, how did you get into writing, which work of yours are you most proud of?
K: I’m Kate, I live on the Maine coast, and when I was in second grade, I wrote a murder mystery based on the boardgame Clue. My teacher printed it into a little hardcover book, slapped a fake call number label on it, and put it on the school library shelf. I’ve been chasing that high ever since.
J: I’m J.C., a nontraditional Southern “lady,” and you’ll typically find me listening to music while playing aggressive video games (current obsession: Warhammer). I wrote my first novel for a middle school English class. It was angsty and tragic, and at one point it made my English teacher concerned—but it was my first attempt. It's hard not to take pride in starting and finishing something new.
Q: What’s the book about? Tell us where the story takes us.
K: It’s a fusion between our great literary loves. Jess grew up immersed in fantasy universes, and (as demonstrated above) I’ve always been drawn to a good murder mystery. So our debut, The Courtesan’s Eye, is a murder mystery wrapped up in a beautiful, immersive fantasy world. I write Cordè, a spitfire sex worker caught in the middle of a political conspiracy much bigger than herself.
J.C.: As Kate said, The Courtesan’s Eye is an ode to her love of mysteries and my love of Lord of the Rings. I primarily write Aelus, a cursed warrior-priest with a soft heart and a fierce desire to prove himself to his Order. After a tragic event, Aelus is assigned to protect Cordè (which forces him to confront his prejudices) while simultaneously hunting a killer who seems to be targeting his Order. Needless to say, things get quite…complicated.
Q: What are the most important themes you wanted to get out into the world with this book? Did you struggle to incorporate them into the writing?
K: Beyond the typical fantasy tropes that are, frankly, a ton of fun to write, I think both J.C. and I wanted to use the platform to explore themes that interest us. Cordè is my way of digging into gender roles and purity culture: she’s a brash, confident, act-first-think-later type of character that I’ve more often seen reflected in fictional men. She also enjoys sex and doesn’t allow herself to be shamed for it.
J: Aelus gave me room to explore the consequences of blind devotion and organized religion. I wanted his journey to be a discovery of faith: when his loyalty to his Order (not his god) starts to waver, he begins to have doubts and ultimately has to reconcile his own religious trauma. This isn’t a concept I often see in fantasy novels, especially novels that also include a sex worker.
Q: How long did it take you to write this book? Did you grow in your writing during this time?
K: The story itself was born from a virtual Dungeons & Dragons one-shot we played during the pandemic. (In fact, D&D is how J.C. and I met in the first place.) It’s a debut nearly five years in the making, interrupted by multiple cross-country moves—initially we both lived in Pennsylvania, and now we’re half-a-country apart. But we’ve mastered the art of long-distance communication and have a cosigned publishing contract to prove it!
J: What Kate said! There were, of course, certain chapters and characters that took several drafts to iron out. But really, what was hardest was how to craft a story. Specifically, how to craft a multi-layered, multi-POV, murder-mystery fantasy novel as a two-person team separated by hundreds of miles. It’s a miracle it only took us five years and not twenty!
Q: The usual question is, of course, why people should read your book. We’ll get to that later, but why would you read your book, if you hadn’t written it?
K: I’m not going to lie…I’d read it because the cover looks saucy. And I’ve always loved a good femme-fatale-uses-her-wiles-to-take-men-down-a-peg-or-two type of heroine. Combine that with the inclusion of some of my personal favorite tropes (enemies to lovers, touch her and die, forced proximity), and you have the makings of the exact book I’d reach for on the shelf.
J: I’m also drawn in by a good cover. But I’m a sucker for sweet, quietly humorous, tormented warrior men that are fiercely protective of people they care about. I also love a gritty fantasy with a heavy political atmosphere—and angst! I want books that aren’t afraid to put their characters through hell.
Q: So… Why should people read your book?
K: Because it’s a wild ride! Because it has something for (almost) everyone. Because the characters are funny and unique and flawed and interesting. And because we worked really, really hard on it!
J: I mean, have you seen Cordè? If there’s anyone that could convince our warrior-priest to break his chastity vow, it’s her (you’ll have to read our book to see if she’s successful or not).
Q: Are there any characters that you wrote parts of yourself into? Or did you detach yourself from the story to write from an entirely different perspective?
K: I’m definitely not Cordè, but when we ask friends and family who they think wrote which POV, they do tend to guess correctly. I think Cordè is the embodiment of my worst impulses shoved into a mind that is both cleverer and funnier than my own. (I’m able to give her off-the-cuff one-liners that in fact took me hours to think up.)
J: I give a of bit myself into all characters I write, mostly because I’m the one writing them. Aelus’s internal monologue is very similar to mine. I also gave another character my sense of humor. Our healer character represents my “counselor” persona, which is a softer, more empathetic version of my usual dry, witty self.
Q: Are there any scenes or plot points you cut out because they just didn’t work?
K: We cut so many characters. Our cast is already quite stacked, but you should have seen its first iteration. Combining roles into a single person absolutely helped streamline a plot that, without effort and discipline, could have spiraled into something entirely unwieldy. We even reduced the number of sex scenes (which made me a bit sad, but at the end of the day, helped streamline the plot).
J: YES. I’m a very big overwrite-now-edit-later person, so there were a lot of bits and pieces that got cut. But there wasn’t anything we deleted I wish had made it to the final version.
Q: Where did you draw inspiration from, when you were looking for outside inspiration? Did you do a lot of research? Did you look for pictures with the right vibe?
K: This is very much a J.C. question! She’s the queen of Pinterest boards. My contribution on that front is sort of silly: I’m big into actors, so I started a document of “face claims” that assigned famous people to each of the characters. I like to pretend I did it so that J.C. and I always describe our cast the same way, but really, it’s just something I enjoy doing.
J: Is “everywhere” an answer? I am a very visual person, though, so I used a lot of Pinterest to help get a feel for the world, the characters, the details. It’s the little things that help a book feel real to me, so I like to research everything (which is probably why I’m a notoriously slow writer). Our lore document is over forty pages and is still growing!
Q: Did you have alpha/beta readers? If so, what was the advice or comment that stuck out most to you, and helped you develop your story better?
K: We have an incredible critique group that was with us basically every step of the way through this process. Not only are they three of the best writers either of us know, but they also have a huge vault of knowledge in regards to the publishing industry itself. They contributed to so many aspects of the final product, though my favorite is probably their collective suggestion to send two wholly opposing characters on a side quest together when, in the original draft, they barely shared a page.
J: Like Kate said, our critique group was (and still is) incredible. Without their suggestions, I doubt we would have made it as far as we have. The advice that stuck with me? Don’t use epithets, watch your adverbs, and less is more. Truthfully…I broke all three of those rules. But our critique group made me think critically about what I was writing and how best to write it. I wouldn’t be half the writer I am without their suggestions.
Q: Are there any easter eggs in your story, or things that you’d only see if you read the book a second time?
K: Referencing the aforementioned side quest, our critique group ended up calling that combination of characters “The Scooby Gang,” as they were working through a little mystery of their own. As a nod to this inside joke, we named Aelus’s horse Daphne.
J: A lot of our easter eggs tend to be Dungeons and Dragons related. For example, my druid, Il’anna, had an owlbear companion named Karnath. Both of those names are places in our novel!
Q: Rapid fire word association. One word (yes, you’re allowed more for titles) to describe your book for different topics. Here we go. 1: song, 2: different book, 3: color, 4: meal or food, 5: weather type, 6: environment (forest, cinema, kitchen, etc.), 7: mood.
K: 1. “Take Me to Church” by Hozier
2. Kushiel’s Dart
3. gold
4. honey
5. springtime
6. bedroom
7. devious
J: 1. “Losing My Religion” (the cover version by BELLSAINT)
2. The Witcher
3. mauve
4. red wine
5. thunderstorm
6. garden
7. dangerous
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about you or your book?
K: Our most consistent piece of feedback is that the ending is mindblowing. We’ve been told the last third of the book is a complete rollercoaster that’s basically impossible to put down. So if you choose to read The Courtesan’s Eye and you find yourself around the chapter 24 mark, you’ll probably want to clear your calendar for the rest of the day.
J: Only that we’re so proud of it, and are currently working on its sequel, The Sinner’s Gambit. If you want updates, follow our socials!
Q: Lastly, where can people find you and your book? (Paste links, we’ll turn it into a “click here”.)
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