How C.L. Polk Crafted the Perfect Fey Heist in The Feywild Job

Elizabeth Schaefer, Publishing Director at Random House Worlds: The Feywild Job opens with a bang. We meet our lead, Saeldian, as a glamorous grifter running a con in a teahouse. What felt most important to establish about Saeldian the second someone picks up this book?

C. L. Polk, author of The Feywild Job: I'm hoping that it's this: Saeldian's pretty good at the thing they do, but it doesn't make them happy, even if they don't understand that.

Elizabeth Schaefer: Their love interest, Kell, enters the story carrying years of anger, but also real yearning to return to the Feywild he once called home. How did you approach writing a love interest whose heart is split between the past and the person standing in front of him?

C. L. Polk: I think one of the foundational conflicts in any character arc but maybe particularly for the way I write romance is someone who wants two things in a world that keeps telling you that you can only have one of them. Giving Kell a chance to have his childhood family back but having to work with the person who abandoned him starts off as a fey deal with a hook in it. But it also means that he can see Saeldian differently when he sees them with ten years of wandering Faerûn and helping people instead of stealing from them.

Elizabeth Schaefer: Early on, the book reveals that Saeldian and Kell were once an infamous thief duo in Baldur’s Gate before a painful split. What drew you to forced proximity and exes-to-lovers as the major tropes of Feywild?

C. L. Polk: One of the first steps of a heist story is putting the team together, and the thing that I noticed after reviewing heist movies and TV shows is that the heist team always seems to bring people together who had a past together. So ex-partners seemed like a natural connection, but I had to come up with a reason why they quit working together...because the other thing I saw that heist movies had in common was that these two people had to heal the past to carry off the theft. And just like Kell, Saeldian needed a character arc where they wanted two things, but could only have one of them.

Elizabeth Schaefer: The chemistry between Saeldian and Kell comes through even when they’re being awful to each other. What do you think makes antagonistic banter feel romantic instead of just mean?

C. L. Polk: The reason why their sniping has chemistry is because they have history and they have guardrails. They know each other, so they know what irritates the other. But neither of them go after each other in a way that steps over the line into unforgivable—and that means that underneath the bickering and the hurt, they are still caring about the other person.

I would be delinquent if I didn’t shout out Saeldian and Kell’s loveable friends who fill out the party. Tiefling rogue Jubilee and druid himbo Lorzok bring very different energies to the team. How did you build that quartet so the group dynamic would have the right feel for a heist—and a swoony romance?

I really did want Jubilee and Lorzok to be friends to Saeldian and Kell while having their own needs.

Elizabeth Schaefer: Even before readers fully understand Saeldian’s history, it’s clear that their relationship with their archfey patron Osalor is emotionally loaded. What interested you about writing a Warlock pact as something both alluring and toxic?

C. L. Polk: I know that the usual story about Warlocks is that they make pacts with fiends for their power, and maybe an Archfey patron could look like a better deal. But honestly, fey bargains aren't any less restrictive or dangerous than pacts made with devils. In Saeldian's case, their need for Osalor's approval binds them just as much as the pact they made, and exploring that was interesting to me.

Elizabeth Schaefer: Readers who haven’t picked up the book yet should know it has both emotional ache and a cozy, funny streak. How did you find the tonal balance between sharp banter, old hurt, tenderness, and adventure?

C. L. Polk: That balance is one of my favorites. I know a lot of funny people. Just about all of them are funny because laughter was their most potent weapon against pain. When I write characters who are witty and quick on their feet I'm writing someone who knows heartache—and sometimes that wit means that they push aside hurts they don't want to feel as often as they tell a joke to give someone else a little strength or a nudge away from their own darkness.

Elizabeth Schaefer: For someone coming to The Feywild Job fresh, what do you hope lingers most after they finish: the romance, the heist, the found family, the Feywild atmosphere, or something else entirely?

C. L. Polk: I think the one thing I want people to know is a bit of a spoiler if I say it straight out, so I'll try to be vague – being true to yourself is the hardest thing you can do, and you can let go of things that aren't true anymore.