PHOTO: Author Ashley W. Slaughter, writer and wildlife biologist, pictured in a quiet moment surrounded by nature and creativity.
Blending Magic Ecology Motherhood And Medieval Romance
Ashley W. Slaughter discusses worldbuilding, her scientific influences, the cost of magic, and the beauty of writing stories that reflect nature’s balance, human resilience, and passionate creativity.
Ashley W. Slaughter writes with the sensitivity of a dreamer and the precision of a scientist. Her stories bloom at the intersection of wonder and truth—where folklore meets logic, and emotion is balanced by structure. Her journey from wildlife biologist to award-winning fantasy author is not a divergence, but a seamless evolution: the same attentive gaze that studied the natural world now captures the pulse of magical kingdoms and myth-bound queens.
In Of Legends and Roses, Slaughter introduces readers to a realm where magic is as fragile as belief, and power comes with a cost. Her worldbuilding is richly layered, grounded not only in fantasy tropes, but in the organic rhythms of ecosystems and the complexity of relationships—between characters, kingdoms, and the land itself. As the series unfolds, each book deepens that tension between nature and power, revealing a narrative alive with consequence.
There’s a sincerity in her prose that reflects her life: a mother’s care, a biologist’s curiosity, an artist’s soul. Her tales are not mere escapism but a return—to roots, to legacy, to truths hidden beneath the surface. It’s no surprise that readers find themselves both enchanted and anchored in her stories.
Slaughter reminds us that writing can be an act of both wonder and stewardship. In her hands, magic is not a break from the real world—but a lens through which it is seen more clearly.
In Of Legends and Roses, Queen Rosemary begins sceptical of magic—what inspired you to explore that tension between scepticism and belief in Talents?
Things often aren’t what they at first seem to be. The old legends that Rosemary used to brush off have a depth in truth that she never would have explored had she not been challenged to do so. I explored this tension because I believe that we should accept the challenge to look at things deeper than face value.
You’ve interwoven political intrigue and romance—how did your background in ecology and evolutionary biology influence your depiction of a monarch navigating war and alliances?
My scientific background gave me the ability to use the analytical side of my brain to steer Queen Rosemary’s dealings with the rulers of other kingdoms. I could see more clearly things such as how these alliances would logistically work, and what each kingdom would gain from an alliance versus lose through war. This is especially true for the final book in the series, Of Reign and Embers, which will be released this October!
In Of Deceit and Snow, you introduce the court of Snowmont—what drove you to deepen the worldbuilding around the Talent-infused court politics?
Snowmont is the castle of the monarchy that rules the kingdom of Tarasyn, and Tarasyn is much more connected to Talents than the rest of the Magian Peninsula. It was the perfect opportunity to dive deeper into the inner workings of the magic in this series. Plus, Tarasyn has a very dark background, which I plan to expand upon in a prequel!
As a wildlife biologist, how did your understanding of natural systems inform the magic ecosystem on the Magian Peninsula?
In nature, everything is give-and-take. Benefits and consequences, positive and negative, beauty and tragedy… Magical systems work the same way. Special abilities, like the Talents in my series, come at a cost. The power it takes to use magic must be taken from somewhere else. The adage my characters use throughout my series hints at that cost. That adage is, “the greedy will bleed while the righteous will heed.” Take caution, magic users!
Your short story anthology features diverse genres—how does shifting between speculative fiction and contemporary drama inform your approach to YA fantasy?
For me, shifting between genres stretches the creative muscles. Challenging myself to write these short stories helps me to be more open-minded when I return to my longer works. This helps me introduce unique problems that my characters have to work through, thus helping them grow stronger in their arc. Plus, experimenting in other genres can just be fun and freeing!
The map of the Magian Peninsula plays a key role—is geography a character in its own right, and how do you balance it with narrative pacing?
Oh yes, geography can most definitely be its own character, especially in fantasy works. Worldbuilding shapes the struggles faced throughout the story, and the land often changes as we move through the plot, oftentimes even causing the plot beats itself. A story’s landscape (and in this case, a map) roots the reader in the story and provides a bearing to hold onto. Even if it does change, the reader follows. As I write, to avoid info-dumping, I paint the world as the action narrative moves along, staying relevant to what the characters are dealing with right then and there in the plot.
Having crafted a series beginning in 2021 and winning awards by 2023, how has reader feedback from early reviews shaped subsequent instalments?
No matter how many different drafts or types of editing a story goes through, reader feedback always gives a new perspective. Reviews can help an author see where their writing resonates with their audience and where it may lack. For me, reviews often said that my dialogue and descriptions put the reader right into the story, so I made sure I kept doing that as I wrote the sequels. I always worked with my editor to see how that feedback can serve the story. Of course, an author’s work will never please every single reader, so some reviews may not be helpful. To those, I say, “Hey, my story wasn’t your cup of tea. I get it. Thanks for giving my books a try.”
What single piece of advice would you offer aspiring authors hoping to blend scientific backgrounds with imaginative worldbuilding, based on your journey?
Weave what you love about your field of scientific study into your writing. In short, write what you love! Readers sense when the author is writing from a passionate heart. For example, my background in ecology shows itself in The Crowned Chronicles through the main character’s desire for harmony between the people of the Magian Peninsula and the land’s magic, just as the natural components of an ecosystem work in harmony with one another to promote what I like to call “the chaotic balance of nature”. When your passion shines through your creativity, your writing will shine too.
