Author Talle Fey Interview

booktalkwithbookis
Jul 25, 2025
5 min read

Updated: Aug 4, 2025

Tell me a little bit about your book:

I write about traumatised characters finding love while I sprinkle some fantasy elements into their stories.

When I started writing Sin Eater (my debut novel), I wanted to explore the morally grey. Sin Eater focuses, besides the romance, of course, on the question, When can we justify murder? I know that might seem a bit extreme to some, but I thought it was an interesting topic, which is how Ryu's mantra became: "If I kill one murderer, the number of murderers stays the same. If I kill more than one, it lowers." Now mix it with the main character, Roselin (an art student with her own troubled past who falls face-first into Ryu's world), and some supernatural powers like controlling shadows, and you'll have Sin Eater.

Congratulations on publishing your debut novel, Sin Eater, on May 1st, 2025! Did you do anything to celebrate its release?

My sister planned a surprise. She'd baked a cake, bought me a present (a tea set because I drink a lot of tea while I write), and cooked dinner. My mom, dad, and brother were also invited. They're my biggest supporters and love telling people I'm an author.

Sin Eater falls into the dark romance category. For those that aren't familiar with dark romance, how would you describe it?

Dark romance explores dark themes within and outside the relationship. These themes can differ in “darkness” and can include things like bdsm/kinks, stalking, violence/murder, crime, etc. I’d recommend reading the content/trigger warnings before diving into a dark romance book. Especially because it’s a bit of a spectrum. Mine can be seen as a bit lighter, compared to books that go deep into dark themes like dub/noncon.

You like to have your characters face ethical dilemmas. Why are these important for you to include?

One thing I love about exploring ethical dilemmas is that no one is really good or bad. The world isn’t black or white, but there’s a lot of (morally) grey. From the perspectives of the main characters, they might seem “good”, but when you pick a side character’s perspective, they could be considered the villain.

When I watched movies or read books, I often wondered, “What would I do?” I guess that’s what drew me into writing. What would you do when you see your one-night stand murder someone, and he knows you saw it? Would you kill if it protects the people you love? Would you kill for revenge? I think the choices the characters make define them one way or another, and ethical dilemmas bring them and the plot alive.

How long did you work on Sin Eater before it was published?

I wrote the first draft at the end of 2022. It’s the fourth book I’ve written, I believe. For some reason, I keep working on multiple projects, but I also strongly believe that writing is a skill that you get better at with practice, so I worked on and off on Sin Eater over the past years. I’m also a bit of a perfectionist, so I’ve rewritten and edited A LOT, which in the end, was worth it.

What are the best and most difficult parts of self publishing?

I did everything in the publishing process myself (book cover, formatting, chapter headers, etc), except for the last round of copyediting and proofreading. All those “little” steps are a very daunting task, but for me, it was also one of the best things about self-publishing. Over the years, I learned new skills, and I felt proud when I saw the final result.

However, it’s a double-edged sword when you’re a new author. The difficult part of self-publishing was finding all the right tools, resources, and people. For example, I hired a copyeditor because I’m dyslexic and English isn’t my native language, but where do you find someone who you can trust and who does the job well? Or when my cover of the proof copy turned out too dark, and I had to fix it myself. Luckily, there are a lot of helpful authors who will gladly point you in the right direction.

From what marketing avenue have you seen the best results?

I'm still trying to find the best approach to marketing my book. I think having a decent cover, blurb, tagline, and trope list helps to make readers interested. Ultimately, the book community is the best way to find readers because word of mouth is so strong. That's why I appreciate the community aspect of writing, publishing and reading so much. I've made some great connections, and it's how I found new books to read too.

Why is it important to include content warnings in books?

I have to admit, I was part of the “content warnings are spoilers” group years ago, but I’ve learned to see the importance of them. You can’t always guess the triggers in a book from the genre, cover, or blurb. Even dark romance has various themes you don’t always know beforehand. Reading should be enjoyable, and the last thing I want is to trigger someone’s trauma because someone else thinks a content warning is a spoiler, while that reader could’ve just skipped the content warning page.

How many books do you have planned for the Arcadia Sinners series?

There are two I'm writing at the moment. The first draft of one of them, an interconnected standalone, is almost finished. The other is about Roselin and Ryu again. However, I have an idea for two more, which means there are four more books in the series. Fun fact, Sin Eater was never meant to be a series. It was a standalone book I wanted to write while I worked on another book series, but I fell in love with the characters and world.

You have a werewolf paranormal romance book planned for 2026. I happen to love werewolf books! Is there anything more you can share about this novel?

I can’t express how much I love the characters in my werewolf book! It will have some dark themes and ethical dilemmas like Sin Eater, but it isn’t a dark romance. It has the touch her, you die trope, Alpha’s son x human, and a lot of secrets discovered.

The author's website can be found here

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