Posted by Athena Scalzi
https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/02/10/the-big-idea-kristina-w-kelly-2/
https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59430
Nothing beats away a dreary February day like curling up with a cozy fantasy novel. Even better when that novel is a sapphic love story with iguana, cat, and mushroom people! Grab a seat by the fire and a cup of hot chocolate (or tea) and listen to author Kristina W. Kelly’s Big Idea as she shows you the magical world of Tea Tale.
KRISTINA W. KELLY:
What happens when you second guess who you are? When you begin to rethink what really defines you? What happens when your faith betrays you, lies, and hides truths?
Everything begins to crumble. Like a sea cliff battered by eons of waves.
And if you’re Divine, your magic goes haywire and you start to wonder if you can hear animals talk. You change. You become. Maybe not something new, but someone different.
The idea for Tea Tale started simple: I wanted to feature my favorite beverage—tea—, pay homage to my favorite video games (as I did with the first book in the series, Tavern Tale), and set it all in winter. Of course, I needed to carry through the subplots and address some of the unanswered questions from that first book. What emerged was a quest to sprinkle religious betrayal over a sapphic pairing within the framework of Role Playing Games (RPGs).
Divine is a healer. Or was a healer. Her path used to be clear: serve the Goddess of Souls by caring for the living. She’d influence emotions, heal wounds, shield others from harm. The teachings of her temple always seemed contradictory to the way she lived, though.
Her temple, like all the temples in Trelvania, said that non-humans—races like the Iguions (iguana-like bipeds), the Kellas (feline humanoids), and Thospori (think mushroom warriors)—couldn’t receive the blessings from the deities. Simply because they were non-human. Oh, the temples said something about how non-humans don’t have magical power, of course, so that’s why they couldn’t be on the receiving end of magic. But Divine had healed a Kellas child. She had healed an Iguion adult. She had done what was supposed to be impossible. Forbidden.
When I was growing up, I was taught that I was born evil. A child tainted and only by a blood sacrifice could I be saved from these sins I hadn’t even committed. These same people told me that because I was a woman, despite my music education degree, I couldn’t lead the church orchestra. I could help in the nursery with the babies, though. All the other jobs were for men. I was led to believe that god thought I wasn’t equal or as capable because of my gender. Those same people decreed “love your neighbor”, but showed that only counted for some of the population. Even though the greatest command was love, people couldn’t love whomever they wanted.
Whether sudden or gradual, I eventually found myself changed. I had sought experts who studied the historical context and the translations that made sense in that period, not a modern view. I discovered that sentences I had etched into my brain weren’t even in the texts we had been reading and that books were left or added depending on the particular flavor of faith. I learned about the practices of different cultures and religions and the history of the one I’d known. I found people who were exploring their spiritually like I was and discussed their journeys. And I began to explore who I was without all of the baggage, shame, and fear I’d been taught.
When the community you trusted had it wrong, how do you replace that feeling of community? These questions I’ve been asking you, reader, is what I attempted to capture in Tea Tale. Yes, Tea Tale is cozy fantasy, but with a sip of religious oppression.
The faire in Tea Tale is inspired by holiday events in MMORPGs and one of my favorite RPGs ever, Chrono Cross. There’s special games, unique items, decorations, and event food like the Millennial Fair in Chrono Cross. Divine’s tasting tea by the fire and listening to musicians. When she helps prepare the Sultry Sapphire tavern for the Midwinter Nights Faire, the notes of RPG influences really come through. I love a good quest chain in video games, where my character runs around the city helping ten people just to get five mushrooms back to the first quest-giver. Divine’s tasks become more tasks—side quests—as she also tries to find a gift for her romantic interest.
But while Divine does all of that, she’s also struggling to understand her magic when it seems to be acting contrary to what her temple taught her.
Just like I sought experts, Divine seeks experts to understand how magic really works in her world and how she connects to it. She talks to the non-humans who are, quite frankly, oppressed by the temples of Trelvania and uncovers that the truths her temples spout might not be the whole story. She grapples with what it means to have lived so many years within an organization that didn’t respect her enough to tell her the truth. And if she’s not that person, she wants to discover who she is.
Divine tackles replacing her religious community with those around her who support her without expecting something in return. Like me, she befriends those who are questioning the same ideas she is, or find friends who have never followed the temples. Ordinary people who come together to make a difference. A community and a found family.
Tea Tale focuses on people coming together during their Midwinter Nights Faire to enjoy each other, get creative through poetry and music, and spread joy through gift giving, food, and hot drinks. From Divine’s love interest, Saph, donating food to those in need, to Divine advocating for change in the way non-humans are treated, the characters find small ways to collectively be impactful. “If no one is being a voice,” Divine thinks, “then I should. Someone must do something.”
At its heart, Tea Tale is full of magic, tea, and cozy moments. One of the things I love about modern RPGs is that the games give your character the option to pick any love interest they want. The world of Tea Tale is just like that—it’s a queer normative. But just like life, there are lies and injustices to chip away at to free who we want to be.
I’m still learning every day who I am. It’s ok to change. To become different as I grow. If we can surround ourselves with love, empathy, and patience we can find our true power. We can crack the deceit wide open and find warmth and friendship. Together, we lay those broken pieces, starting a foundation where others can feel safe to be who they want to be while sipping hot tea that smells of lavender and vanilla. When faced with lies and disparity…become someone different.
Tea Tale: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Bookshop|Space Wizards
Author socials: Website|Instagram|Bluesky|Facebook
https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/02/10/the-big-idea-kristina-w-kelly-2/
https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59430
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