Not a single vampire in sight, instead The Ritual goes back to the roots of fantasy: elves. Or in this case half-elves. In essence this is an adventure romance in a high fantasy setting, but with a few little twists.

Tell us more.
The country is ruled by elves, who are pretty but not necessarily benevolent. Humans do the day to day jobs, and the half-breed offspring often produced by the two are outcasts or slaves. The protagonist, Chiarin, is such an outcast, trying to keep herself and her twin sister alive through theft and burglary.

Sounds very Charles Dickens. Tell us about Chiarin.
Chiarin is a half-elf who lives on the streets with her sister. They live from day to day, since they’re not allowed to have a real job, and the danger of being killed is a daily presence. One day she literally runs into Zashter, another half-elf thief, and soon they find their paths intertwined, not in the least due to the attraction Chiarin feels for Zashter. He is hiding a secret, however, and until she finds out what it is she knows she cannot trust him.

Chiarin is stubborn and a bit of a pessimist, but she is loyal to the core and will not give up on something she’s set her mind to. Zashter is initially sarcastic and arrogant, but this hides a generous nature and a determination at least equal to Chiarin’s.

A love interest! What genre is this novel?
It’s an equal blend of fantasy and romance, with an adventure plot.

That’s a great mix. Who is it targeted at?
Anyone who likes romance and doesn’t mind fantasy. Conversely, anyone who likes fantasy and doesn’t mind romance. It really is a blend of both. Readers also should be 18 or over, since it gets a little raunchy in places.

Oh really? It’s sounding even more exciting. Fortunately, the story doesn’t end when we turn the final page, does it?
Yes, this is the first part of a trilogy, though each book is a standalone story. The next book, The Conspiracy, is linked to this one, but it has different main characters. I’m still working on the third book, The Coup, and hope to have it out later this year (2014). Together they form the Theft and Sorcery trilogy.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I was born in the Netherlands but have been living in England for fifteen years now. I moved here to be with my then boyfriend, who has been my husband since 2006. I hold a boring office day job, but all throughout my life I have been an avid reader, especially of fantasy and romance, and I have been writing stories since I was about fifteen, though of course none of those early ones are fit for anyone’s eyes but mine!

I adore cats and have three of my own, and whilst I love animals in general I firmly believe that pandas are useless and would probably go extinct even without the help of humanity.

You can’t talk bad about pandas! Where should panda-lovers send their hate mail?
@TheftandSorcery for Twitter, or https://www.facebook.com/TheftandSorcery for Facebook.

Do you have a website?
http://theftandsorcery.wordpress.com

Any plans for after the trilogy?
After I finish the Theft and Sorcery trilogy I’m planning a collaboration with my editor and fellow author H Anthe Davis (who writes awesome epic fantasy!) which will be an Indiana Jones-type adventure novel, but with heavy steam/clockpunk influence. Hopefully we can turn that into a series!