Her new YA book, The Faraway Inn (First Ink) is out now.
– Thanks for joining us here at YALC. We would love you to introduce yourself.
Thanks so much for inviting me! Great to meet you!
I’m Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop. I like hot chocolate, cheese, and cats. And I love to write! I’ve written over thirty books for adults, teens, and kids.
Currently, I’m in my cozy era—I love writing books that feel like a warm hug!
My newest book is a YA cozy fantasy titled The Faraway Inn.
– Can you give our readers an overview of your YA novel The Faraway Inn?
The Faraway Inn is about Calisa, a sixteen-year-old girl who has just had her heart broken. She decides to spend the summer away from home, helping her eccentric great-aunt manage her bed-and-breakfast in Vermont. But when she gets there, she discovers that the inn is a little bit more rundown than she was expecting—and a lot more magical.
This book is about healing, found family, magic, kindness, and lots of tea and cake!
– And, if you could do it in just 5 words or less, what would they be?
Magical B&B in Vermont
– What first sparked the idea for The Faraway Inn?
I had the idea for The Faraway Inn while I was writing The Spellshop (my cozy fantasy for adults about a librarian and her best friend, a sentient spider plant, who open an illegal spellshop). I started writing cozy fantasy because I wanted to write books that felt like a magical escape—a sanctuary where you could go to rest and regroup and then return to face the world, feeling a bit stronger and perhaps healed. And it occurred to me while writing my Spellshop books that there’s one group of people who especially need an escape but whose pain is often overlooked or dismissed: young adults.
Teens can see the problems in the world but don’t, in general, have the agency to fix them. It can be incredibly hard to feel powerless. And so, I wanted to write a book that said, You can make your corner of the world a better place. You can have happiness and love and friendship and magic, no matter what age you are.
– Who was your favourite character to write and why?
I loved writing Mulligan. He’s so melodramatic but also sincere—he has a great heart. And he makes amazing hot chocolate. Also really loved writing the mirror. He’s a minor character with zero narrative purpose except for snark. I adore writing snark.
Really, I loved writing all the characters. That’s one of the most fun things about being a writer: you get to create imaginary friends and then hang out with them.
– Is there a character that you relate to?
None of the characters are me, and at the same time, all of them are. I don’t think I could write a character if I couldn’t relate to them at least in some way.
That said, I spent the most time seeing the world through Calisa’s eyes, and I think I understand her best. I love that she’s emotionally mature enough, even at sixteen, to recognize that she needs space to heal. That’s why she’s at the inn.
– Is there a particular scene that felt rewarding to write?
I loved writing the scene where Calisa figures out the secret of the inn.
Can’t really say much more about that without spoilers, but I always love discovery moments—you know, those moments when you can hear the music swell and the camera pans to reveal that the world is larger than you knew and more wondrous than you ever suspected.
That’s one of the reasons I love writing fantasy: I love creating the feeling that there’s magic around every corner, that the world is wondrous, that there’s light after darkness, and that life is something to be treasured.
– Did you have to do much research before you started the writing process for the book?
I love research! I prefer to do my research while I’m writing, instead of before I start, so that it’s targeted—otherwise, it’s very easy to slip down research rabbit holes and lose hours. In the case of The Faraway Inn, I spent a lot of weekends in Vermont while I was growing up, so I was already familiar with the setting before I began, so my research tended to be very focused on particular topics, such as how to bake various cakes.
Research for cozy fantasy novels tends to be quite delicious.
– How did you come up with the title? Was it a hard process?
My original title was Auntie Zee’s B&B. It was my brilliant editor, Lydia Gregovic, who had the idea to call it The Faraway Inn. I loved it as soon as I heard it!
– How does it compare writing cosy fantasy for adults v. young adults?
Zero difference. I never, ever sit down and say, “Now I shall write a teen for the teens!” I always sit down and think, “Now I’ll write a person.” In some cases, that person has sixteen years worth of lived experience, and in some cases, that person has twenty-five, thirty, forty, or more.
The key is to see each character as a whole person, not as an age, and to be as emotionally honest to their worldview as possible. Once you do that… you don’t need to worry about style or themes or the reader’s age or any of that, because it will come out right.
– Where do you write?
I’d love to say I write in a café or on a mountaintop or in the center of a faerie ring, but the truth is that I do nearly all my writing just at my desk at home with my cat draped around my neck like some kind of furry scarf.
– What is your favourite genre to read?
I love to read the kinds of books I love to write: fantasy infused with hope. Right now I’m reading a lot of cozy fantasy, but I also love epic fantasy, urban/paranormal fantasy, fairy tale retellings, etc. I read regardless of recommended age range—I just love books that make me fall in love with the impossible.
– Where can our readers find you on social media?
I’m on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky… @sarahbethdurst
– Finally can you give us your favourite quote from a novel (it can be yours!)?
“Unlock yourself, and you’ll unlock the magic within you.” – from The Faraway Inn