On Wednesday, 12 February, Jervis Bay writer Kell Woods, author of the Sunday Times bestseller After the Forest, will launch her new novel Upon a Starlit Tide in Huskisson.

Kell’s debut novel, After the Forest, was a gritty reimagining of Hansel and Gretel set in Germany's Black Forest in 1650. Now, with her highly anticipated follow-up she transports readers to a new historical setting and reimagines not one, but two classic fairytales.

Upon a Starlit Tide weaves together the tales of The Little Mermaid and Cinderella, set in Saint-Malo, Brittany, in 1758.

The story follows Lucinde "Luce" Leon, the youngest daughter of one of Saint-Malo’s wealthiest shipowners. While Luce dreams of escaping her privileged yet stifling life to join a ship’s crew, her plans are derailed when she rescues a near-drowned man from the sea.

Kell was offered a two-book deal with US publishers TOR Books who released her debut in 2023. She was then given 18 months to write her follow-up.

"Writing went from being my weird little hobby that no one cared about to suddenly being my job. It was incredibly exciting and wonderful, but at the same time, it was terrifying and filled with self-doubt," says Kell. 

"I thought, They’re going to realise they've chosen the wrong person. I had to work through all the impostor syndrome and second-book anxiety. It was just a matter of putting your bum on the seat and chipping away at it until something came."

The first piece of the Upon a Starlit Tide was found when Kell felt drawn to reimagining The Little Mermaid. But as she delved deeper into the story, she realised it needed something else to balance the original tale’s dark themes - and that’s when she found the next piece.

"The Little Mermaid is a really dark, sad story," says Kell. "She dies in the end, turns into foam, the Prince chooses someone else, and her tongue is cut out - it’s grim. I realised I wanted to weave in another story with more lightness and beauty, so I chose Cinderella."

It was this fusion of fairytales that ultimately shaped the novel. In finding Cinderella, Kell also discovered the setting for her story - Saint-Malo, a city with a rich history and a backdrop of both opulence and darkness.

"Because I was doing Cinderella, I thought, I could set this in France. From there, I began researching the French coastline and different historical periods, eventually settling on Saint-Malo," says Kell.

Saint-Malo, a walled city on the English Channel, is both beautiful and steeped in maritime history. The 18th century, when the novel is set, was also an era of decadent masked balls for the French aristocracy - making it an ideal setting for two contrasting fairytales to coexist.

Through the intersection of fantasy and historical reality, Kell aims to immerse readers in a world where the fantastical feels just as real as the tangible.

"I do as much research as a historical fiction writer would," says Kell. "I want readers to feel like the place is real, that everything makes sense, and that it feels familiar. From there, I launch into magic, witchcraft, mermaids, and other fantastical elements."

Kell believes that blending these elements with historical reality is important because, in those times, people genuinely believed in mythical creatures and folklore.

"People back then actually believed in this stuff, and that’s probably the main reason I’m drawn to it," says Kell. "They believed it was real, so I can dig into their beliefs and make it feel as authentic to readers as it did to them."

Saint-Malo’s folklore is rich with tales of fairies living in rocks and caves, as well as stories of mermaids and magic - elements that greatly influenced Kell’s storytelling.

Upon a Starlit Tide will be released by HarperCollins Australia on Wednesday, 12 February. Kell will be celebrating the launch with friends, family, and book lovers at back-to-back events at BooBook on Owen and Jervis Bay Coffee in Huskisson.

After that she will be having a book tour, and all dates and locations can be found on her website: https://www.kellwoods.com.au/news.