What is your latest
book about?
Whispers of the Elixir is about a princess living in a matriarchal empire where wielding
elemental magic is punishable by public execution, and her own mother wouldn’t
hesitate to give the order. It's an adult fantasy about making impossible
choices, about what happens when the person who loves you becomes your greatest
threat, and about the painful process of true transformation.
Taking the story
from a concept to a published book is a long and involved process. How does
that usually work for you?
For me, this starts with ideas that come through
everyday life. My imagination roams wild as I explore nature, read fiction or
history, or simply observe the world around me.
Once the ideas have formed, I note them,
eventually mapping out details of the story world, and an outline of a story
that takes place within it.
After that, I work in layers. I dictate my
first draft, then in a second draft I flesh out each scene, making sure they
hit all the points that make scenes satisfying. In further drafts, I work page
by page, tweaking dialogue, characterization, and micro tension, before finally
scrutinizing every line and word for meaning and rhythm and emotion. This final
draft is then ready for my beta readers and my developmental editor, and, once
the edits from their feedback are complete, I’ll send it on to my line and copy
editor.
Publishing comes next and requires an
entirely different skill set!
Do you have a
favorite personal development or writing book you would recommend?
I have several great writing books on my
shelf, but the ones I referred to most when writing Whispers of the Elixir
are: Getting the Words Right by Theodore Cheney; Fight Write by
Carla Hoch; The Emotional Craft of Fiction, and The Fire in Fiction,
both by Donald Maass; and Steering the Craft by Ursula Le Guin.
Tell us something
fun or interesting about you.
From about the age of 5 until the age of 20,
I used to sing in church fairly regularly. I even performed at weddings—two for
family, one for a stranger.
These days I still love to sing, although now
I prefer the privacy of my home, usually when I’m alone.
What have you learned throughout your writing process?
One thing I’ve learned is that “show don’t
tell” is incomplete advice. Sometimes you do need to state things directly. And
many of the most satisfying passages I’ve read contained a carefully crafted
combination of both.
What has inspired
you to become a writer?
I think it was my love of writing. A question
I asked myself many times throughout the years was, “What would it be like to
just do what I love?” I’m so glad I took the plunge.
How do you keep
your ideas fresh and avoid traveling over well-worn territory?
I believe that keeping ideas fresh comes from
allowing yourself to be authentic. If I can build a world colored by my
personal experience, views, and imagination, it can’t help but be fresh,
because each of us is unique.
The same goes for the plot. As I’m writing my
outline, I always ask myself, “If I were a reader discovering this book, what
would I, personally, love to see happen next?” Working like this allows even
well-worn territory to be viewed through a new lens.
What trope have you
not written yet but want to?
I would love to write an antihero someday,
one with a tragic end. It would be someone who ought to be despicable, and yet who
you just can’t bring yourself to despise. Someone who, when they make bad
choices, you beg to stop, for their own good. It would be someone you love, in
spite of yourself—and them—right up to their sad but inevitable demise.
It’s not something I have the confidence to
write yet, though. I think I’ll get a few more books under my belt before I try
to pull this one off.
Do you have a
specific writing process?
Apart from outlining, dictating, and drafting
in layers, I also try to incorporate a daily practice. This involves reading a
craft book and then practicing the skill I’m reading about. And I try to read
poetry every day, an activity that both instructs and inspires.
Do you have a
favorite author and/or favorite book?
This would have to be J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord
of the Rings. It’s a book I’ve read countless times, and I seem to read on
an ongoing loop. I never get enough of it. Each time I enter the story, all the
same emotion and wonder returns. It’s more than a book; it’s a work of art.
What do you do when
you’re not writing?
When I’m not taking care of the myriad of family
or personal commitments that make up adult life, I read, with fantasy and the
classics as my mainstay. Apart from Lord of the Rings, right now I’m rereading
A Room with a View by E.M. Forster, as well as two new fantasies: The
Mark of the Unseen God by Benjamin Patterson, and The Bad Apothecary
by Keon Shore, both of which are great.
Whenever I have the time, I also try to catch an episode of whichever C-drama I’m into at the moment. I just started one entitled Pursuit of Jade, and I’m loving it!
A matriarchal empire. A princess with forbidden magic. A mother who would kill to protect her own legacy.
As heir to the Min empire, Tori has learned to wear her collar well — speaking her mind just enough to feel like herself, defying her empress mother just enough to survive the guilt of submission. But she's hiding a secret that would see her sawn in half: a forbidden elemental power tied to the world's mythic past. If discovered, her mother would execute her own daughter without hesitation. And Tori knows it.
When discovery becomes inevitable, she flees into Peach Blossom Grove — a mythic realm of ghost-flowers, sentient forests, and immortals who remember a world before empires. In this ancient realm where immortal masters train magic-wielders and sentient weapons choose their owners, magic is neither blessing nor curse but a reflection of who you truly are. Here, Tori finds what the palace never gave her: belonging. But the trials are brutal, designed to break her before they remake her. And as her mother's ambition threatens war, Tori must choose — suppress the power that could doom her, or embrace it and become the one thing her mother fears most.
Herself.
Whispers of the Elixir begins the Order of the Ember series — a slow-burn, character-driven epic fantasy of legacy, sacrifice, and the strength of a princess destined to rise from the shadows and claim her place in legend.
Here you will find the political intrigue of Andrea Stewart, the immersive worldbuilding of Patrick Rothfuss, and the emotional weight of M.L. Wang.
Read an Excerpt
Tori fought the feeling of being on a leash. She raised a hand halfway to the feathers fastened around her neck, hesitated, then let it fall.
“Is it itching, Princess?” Lady Elnora said, watching her.
“Like all insanity, but no point fiddling with it.”
Her gentlewoman adjusted the feathered ruff anyway, providing no relief whatsoever. It didn’t matter. Collared or not, today she would prove she was not her mother’s lapdog.
She struggled to see above the red filigree rail of the Imperial Observation Pavilion—where the royal family sat, far above the masses—the weight of her ceremonial robes resisting her every effort. Imperial decorum, it seemed, had not been designed with mobility in mind. It was times like these that she regretted her small stature; her mother, no doubt, could see perfectly.
Once she finally shifted forward, however, her three-story vantage point allowed her a perfect view of the float parade winding through the city of Silver Fox Springs in a ribbon of color and sound.
“I still don’t see them,” Tori said, craning her neck forward.
Elnora’s smooth brown finger pointed the way. Blending seamlessly with the sculptures of giant mythical creatures adorning the streets, Tori’s pantomimists balanced on their stilts, waist pouches packed so tight with skades that the little stones stretched the seams. Pantomimists had never been seen before at the Tailu Spring Festival—and would remain hidden, until her plan required it.
About the Author:
C.P. Silver writes fantasy set in a world where matriarchy is absolute, with immersive worldbuilding, evocative prose, and emotionally complex characters. A former lawyer who also briefly studied Chinese medicine, her experiences shape the nuance and depth of her debut novel, Whispers of the Elixir, a slow-burn epic centered on legacy, inheritance, and the dangerous cost of power.
Raised in the Cayman Islands, she now lives in Europe. When not writing, she’s usually reading in a quiet nook or walking somewhere green, listening for the next story.
Buy Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F9YVK3NG
All Other Retailers: https://books2read.com/Whispers-of-the-Elixir
Social Media:
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/cpsilver_author
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cpsilverauthor/
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/cpsilver-author.bsky.social
Goodreads profile: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/56899835.C_P_Silver
Author website: https://www.cpsilver.com/
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