From the Desk of Raven Starfenne

 




Hello lovely readers, it’s Raven 

I thought it was time to pull back the curtain and share where each of my three current projects is sitting. All three are growing in such different directions that my desk looks like a cross between a paranormal library, a monster ethics symposium, and an architectural studio in the clouds.


For the second book in the Banksia Cove Mysteries, this week has been all about crafting a new character, Matilda, the main character’s sister. She arrived on the page unexpectedly (as sisters often do), suitcase in hand, well travelled, clever, and pregnant.


She’s a freelance journalist with a knack for uncovering stories, which immediately complicates life in a town where secrets, ghosts, and magical artefacts prefer to stay hidden. Her presence adds a new emotional layer to the protagonist’s journey, and her pregnancy brings both tenderness and tension to the narrative.


She’s already proving to be one of those characters who walks in and refuses to be quiet. I adore her.


For The Night Café, I have been considering what makes a monster.  This project has taken a philosophical turn, and I’m loving it. 

I’ve been thinking about what constitutes a monster and how often the label is applied to beings who behave with more compassion, restraint, and humanity than the humans around them. The characters in this story are considered “monstrous” by society, yet their actions challenge that assumption at every turn.

It’s becoming a story about identity, prejudice, and the quiet rebellion of choosing kindness when the world expects cruelty. It’s stretching me in the best ways.


The Adult Picture Book, which centres around a café in the sky, is pure joy for me to create.  

I’ve been sketching and world building for my adult picture book which is set in a floating café suspended among the clouds. It’s whimsical, architectural, and slightly steampunk and I’m faced with decisions about the café’s structure and style, how visiting airships are able to dock, the attached floating islands and the colour palette, which will be distinct from my children’s books.  It will be more atmospheric, more mature, but still magical.


It’s a delicious challenge to design a world that feels airy and impossible yet functional. Every sketch teaches me something new about the physics (and the poetry) of a café that shouldn’t exist but absolutely does.


Thank you for following along on this wild, wonderful creative journey. More updates soon, there’s so much brewing.


Love, 

Raven 

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