How Fairy Tales Inspire Modern YA Fantasy with Angie Dickinson
A conversation with Angie Dickinson that's full of creativity, courage, and the kind of storytelling that reminds us why fairy tales endure.
This post does contain affiliate links. Thanks for your support.
If you’ve been around BookWorthy for a while, you know I have a soft spot for fairy tales — especially when an author takes a familiar story and spins it into something fresh, meaningful, and full of wonder. So kicking off Season 10 of the BookWorthy Podcast with YA fantasy author Angie Dickinson felt like the perfect way to begin year three.
Five years ago, I released my own fairy-tale-inspired picture book. When I learned Angie had written a YA retelling that blends Rumpelstiltskin with the lesser-known Catskin, I knew we were going to get along just fine.
What followed was a conversation full of creativity, courage, and the kind of storytelling that reminds us why fairy tales endure.
⭐ A Fairy Tale Mashup with Heart: The Star Blessed
Angie’s newest YA fantasy, The Star Blessed, is a reimagining of two Grimm tales — one beloved, one obscure — woven into an original world with its own dangers, secrets, and magic.
At the center is Princess Saren, a young woman who has spent her entire life in isolation until her father, the king, abruptly decides it’s time for her to enter court life. The welcome is… less than warm.
As Angie describes it, Saren steps into a kingdom “suffering under this poison season that comes every year in the form of these poisonous mushrooms that pop up… infecting the air, the crops, the water”. And if that weren’t enough, Saren carries a secret power “humming through her blood” that she barely understands.
Alongside her is Corrin, her newly assigned guard, who has his own reasons for distrusting the royal family. Secrets, tension, and slow-burning trust? Yes, please.
When Angie explained the setup, I couldn’t help but laugh — it felt like the fantasy version of being the awkward new kid in high school. Turns out, that wasn’t far off. Angie shared that she was homeschooled until 10th grade and then “thrust out of isolation into the world”. No wonder she writes that dynamic so well.
🌿 Why These Fairy Tales?
The spark for The Star Blessed began with Catskin, a story Angie loved as a child through the picture book Princess Furball. A writing prompt challenged her to retell it — and as she drafted, Rumpelstiltskin “elbowed his way into the story”.
That unexpected blending lit something up in her imagination. The short story grew, deepened, and eventually became the novel readers have today.
🏰 Building a Fantasy World Without a Map
Angie describes herself as a discovery writer — someone who uncovers the story as she goes. She began with the feel of a fairy-tale world: a castle, a kingdom, danger lurking at the edges. From there, she experimented with natural elements that behave differently than in our world, slowly shaping the magic system and atmosphere.
It’s a reminder that world-building doesn’t always start with spreadsheets and maps. Sometimes it starts with a mood, a question, or a whisper of something strange.
✨ Themes Teens Need Today
Angie didn’t set out to write a story with a message, but as drafts accumulated, themes emerged: sacrificial love, perseverance, courage, and light triumphing over darkness.
She hopes readers walk away knowing that “no matter what darkness they're facing… there is always light to be found, and the light always overcomes it”.
Isn’t that exactly why fairy tales have lasted for centuries? They remind us that even in the darkest woods, there is a path forward — and Someone waiting on the other side.
“No matter what darkness they're facing… there is always light to be found, and the light always overcomes it”.
🔍 A Spy Who Can’t Lie? Meet Truth Cursed
Before The Star Blessed, Angie wrote Truth Cursed, another YA fantasy with a delightfully tricky premise: a girl cursed to tell the truth… who is recruited to be a spy.
As Angie puts it, “a spy who can't lie is in a little bit of a tricky spot”. The book blends mystery, danger, and a heroine who must navigate loyalty and honesty in a world built on secrets.
📚 The Books That Formed Her
Like many fantasy lovers, Angie grew up on The Chronicles of Narnia, which she still reads with her kids. She credits those stories with shaping her imagination and her faith.
As an adult, The Lord of the Rings and Till We Have Faces have been deeply influential. Lewis’s mythic retelling especially struck her with its themes of empathy and spiritual longing — a book she says “blew me away again” when she reread it years later.
The work doesn’t have to be constant to be meaningful.
✍️ A Writing Life Woven Into Motherhood
Angie is a homeschool mom of over ten years, and writing has always had to fit into the cracks — nap times, summers, late nights. She shared that she doesn’t write year-round; instead, she listens to the rhythms of her family and leans into writing when the season allows.
It’s a beautiful reminder for any creative parent: the work doesn’t have to be constant to be meaningful.
🌱 What’s Next for Angie Dickinson
While nothing is officially announced, Angie is actively developing a new story and hopes to dive deeper into it as summer approaches. Creativity, like fairy tales, often blooms in its own season.
📬 Where to Find Angie
You can connect with Angie and explore her books at:
Website: angiedickinsonbooks.com
Instagram: @angiedickinsonbooks
Facebook: @angiedickinsonbooks
If you enjoyed this conversation, you can listen to the full episode on the BookWorthy Podcast — and as always, thank you for supporting authors who create stories your kids will love and you can trust.
Happy reading, friends.
Comments