Carissa Broadbent Pens the Write Mix of Romance and Fantasy

"I’m niche famous,” Carissa Broadbent teases about the success of her books in a genre called “romantasy,” which combines the elements of romance and fantasy, in case you couldn’t guess. Broadbent is being modest because fans wouldn’t follow her every move if they weren’t drawn to her darkly engaging stories that combine magic and scheming with a bit of spice. Her book sales are also no laughing matter. Since 2016, she’s been building a fanbase that rabidly devours everything she produces. “Through social media and word of mouth, I’ve slowly and steadily built up a fan base that has allowed me to become an author full-time,” she says. “I owe my entire career to them.”

Raised in Westport, MA and now living in Tiverton, Broadbent shares that she started writing while in middle school. “I always wrote about dark things, which is funny because I had this sort of uneventful middle-class childhood.” She completed her first novel when she was 13 years old but describes it lovingly as “terrible – because I was 13!” The book evolved into one of her first successful titles, Daughter of No Worlds, so it holds a special place for her.

For years, like many aspiring writers, Broadbent’s books were self-published. The traditional publishing industry didn’t know how to market romantasy and often mixed the genre in with young adult fantasy where it was lost. Enter the mass appeal of series like The Hunger Games and Twilight that proved there was a much larger audience out there. Publishers took notice and sought out independent authors like Broadbent who had the potential for the same level of success. She received and accepted an offer with Bramble, a new imprint from Tor Books, and that’s when her titles really took off.

“Indie authors always see ourselves as scrappy,” she says. “We write and get our stories out to people one by one. Now, with a big publisher behind me, I can reach more people. It’s a whole new experience of how readers discover my books.”

With her new publisher, Broadbent has already achieved bestseller status on both the New York Times and USA Today book lists with the first book in her Crowns of Nyaxia series, The Serpent in the Wings of Night. She’s received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and the Library Journal, which declare the book, where humans and vampires come together in love and battle, “a haunting, action-packed political fantasy with a doomed romance at its center, full of heartbreak and intrigue.”

All of this success arrived right as Broadbent became a new mom to her son, now one year old. It’s been a lot to handle, but she’s ready to tackle these new challenges. “My life has always been very intense, all in a ‘good things’ way.” And with more titles scheduled to hit the shelves through the end of the year, there are many more good things coming her way. Learn more at CarissaBroadbentBooks.com.