Interview with Author S.T. Gibson & Acquisition Announcement!

I’m thrilled to be part of a very exciting announcement from Angry Robot today! Author S.T. Gibson, who wrote the lush and dark vampire story A Dowry of Blood, has just signed a four book deal for a new contemporary fantasy series called The Summoner’s Circle. The first book in the series, Evocation, will be released in Summer 2024! I know that seems like a long time away, but in the meantime I have more information about the book, as well as an interview with the author.

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Angry Robot Books is thrilled to announce a four book deal with S.T. Gibson, the Sunday Times bestselling author of A Dowry of Blood, one of Barnes & Noble’s Horror Books of the Year

The Summoner’s Circle series opens with Evocation, a masterful contemporary fantasy tale, which publishes on June 11th 2024. 

Tara Gilbert at kt literary, previously with, The Jennifer De Chiara Agency sold the World English rights to Eleanor Teasdale.

The day David Aristarkhov’s occultist father died, he bought himself an Audi, drank every drop of liquor in the house, and abandoned his life as a teen psychic prodigy. Now pushing thirty, David is a Boston attorney, moonlighting as a medium for a secret society.

But when the Devil comes to collect on a deal David’s ancestor made, he reluctantly reaches out to his sorcerer ex-boyfriend Rhys for help. However, to get to Rhys, David will have to befriend Moira, Rhys’s astrologer wife. The trio gets a little too close for comfort as they combine their powers to unravel the century-old curse, and if they don’t break the curse by David’s thirtieth birthday, he won’t live long enough for everyone to figure out their feelings for each other.

Perfect for fans of contemporary fantasy, fortune telling and tarot, Evocation will appeal to readers of Ninth House, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and Practical Magic. 

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Welcome to the blog, Saint! I’m thrilled to be part of your special announcement, and I cannot wait to read Evocation. Congratulations on your deal with Angry Robot! To start things off, can you tell us a little about the story? This is the start of a series, correct?

Thanks so much for having me on the blog! Yes, it’s a series starter! EVOCATION is a contemporary fantasy romance set in a magical Boston. It follows a psychic lawyer who has to team up with his sorcerer ex-boyfriend and the boyfriend’s witch wife in order to break a deadly family curse. Along the way, all three of them fall for each other in different ways. There’s also some juicy secret society drama and a haunted house in the mix.

That sounds like a wonderful mix of elements! I understand that you live in Boston, the setting for Evocation, and I particularly love when authors write about their hometowns. It makes the story feel so authentic. What is it about Boston (other than familiarity) that made you want to use it as a setting for a magical story?

My fiancé and I came to Boston on our first anniversary and we loved it so much we ended up moving here! I think all big cities have their own kind of magic, and Boston is not different. It’s such an interesting medley of old and new architectural styles and vibrant ethnic and religious communities. You also have a lot of young energy in the city because it’s packed so densely with college campuses. It’s also, supposedly, very haunted.

Ooh, haunted eh? Sounds like I need to plan a trip:-) In A Dowry of Blood (which I loved, by the way!), the story centered around a unique group of characters who are tied together in very complex ways. From reading the blurb of Evocation, it seems like David, Rhys and Moira promise to be another fascinating and irresistible trio. What do you think makes this “threesome” dynamic so appealing to write about?

Thank you for your kind words about A Dowry of Blood!

I keep coming back to groups of three or four people when I craft found families or polycules, and I think I’m compelled by the way adding more people to the mix expands the emotional landscape of any given relationship. Isolated relationships between two people can sometimes feel claustrophobic to me as a writer, so I always like to put that singular relationship into conversation with other relationships through other friendships, partnerships, or romantic connections. David, Rhys, and Moira are truly magical when they’re together, working in tandem, with all their personality traits turned up to ten. They make each other better, help each other burn brighter. The world is just more vibrant when they’re playing off each other, and I could honestly write that dynamic for years and years.

I cannot wait to learn more about them! After being a successful self-published author, how is the transition to working with a publishing company?

While I loved the complete artistic control I had as an indie author, I love the amount of support I get from my amazing editorial, publicity, and marketing teams as a traditionally published author. There are more people to bounce ideas off of, and more people working together to make a truly beautiful and unique product. I couldn’t do that by myself. 

Evocation won’t be published until Summer of 2024. What books do you recommend your fans read until they can get their hands on a copy?

This book wouldn’t exist without The Raven Cycle by Maggie Steifvater, which I still think is one of the most beautifully written and thematically satisfying series I’ve ever read. Future fans of Evocation might also like Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House, though Ninth House is a little more brutal than Evocation (and wonderfully so), or the Hellblazer comics if they really want to scratch that magical urban fantasy itch!

OK, completely off topic, tell me about the vintage blazer collection. I didn’t even know there was such a thing!

I collect vintage clothes! One of my favorite things to do with friends and loved ones is to hit up the thrift stores and consignment shops and see what they have on offer. I have a growing collection of blazers and tweed jackets from the eighties and beyond.

I love that. It makes me want to go thrifting myself! Is there anything else you’d like to mention about your book?

One thing I think makes Evocation really special is the fact that all the magical systems depicted in the book were based on real magical practices and religious traditions! So if you’re intrigued by any of the occultism in the book, you can go down a research rabbit hole and read about people who actually practice that tradition in real life. 

Thank you Saint! I appreciate your time:-)

Saint is the British Fantasy Award-nominated author of the Sunday Times bestseller, A Dowry Of Blood. A graduate of the creative writing program at the University of North Carolina at Asheville and the theological studies program at Princeton Seminary, she currently lives in Boston with her partner, two spoiled cats, and vintage blazer collection. She is represented by Tara Gilbert of kt literary.

Find Saint on social media: Website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

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Are you excited about Evocation?