About the Book

Book: The Star-Blessed

Author: Angie Dickinson

Genre: YA Fantasy Retelling

Release Date: March 10, 2026

Three legendary origins of power. Two royal bloodlines. One deadly curse.

The kingdom of Stelauris is slowly dying. A season of poison infects the air, earth, and water with increasing deadliness each year, and a deep love of gold and power infects the failing mind of the king. His only daughter and first in line to the throne, Princess Seren, lives in tightly controlled isolation. When she is suddenly thrust into royal society, she struggles to hide the strain of untamed magic awakening in her blood.

Seren’s newly appointed personal guard, Sir Corin, resents the exile of his people. As heir to a long-banished line of succession and the last of the land’s legendary protectors, he holds no loyalty for the current royal family and their history of unhinged cruelty.

As death steals over the kingdom and the schemes at court grow deadlier, the princess and the guard are forced to face their fears, their troubled pasts, and the cost of personal freedom.

The Star-Blessed is a reimagining and reinventing of two fairy tales: “Rumpelstiltskin” and “Cat-Skin” by the Brothers Grimm.

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About the Author

Angie Dickinson is a lifelong lover of magical stories that point to truth, hope, and redemption. She is the author of Truth Cursed, a YA fantasy with Enclave Publishing. Angie especially loves to read and write historically inspired fantasy, mystery, and fairy tales. She enjoys Earl Grey tea, reading too late at night, and spending time with her husband and children at their home in the woods of Michigan.

More from Angie

If you’re like me, I suspect you can still remember the soft sounds and smells of the local or school library that you visited in childhood. You can probably remember the thrill of finding a book that you longed to spend time paging through in peace. For me, the greatest thrills came whenever I found a beautifully illustrated fairy tale. Fairy tale collections were always my favorite, and finding illustrated versions by talented artists made my heart sing.

Reading and re-reading fairy tales as a child eventually led to writing my own retelling as an adult. I began with an unusual tale that was very familiar to me via its illustrated retelling: “Cat-Skin” by the Brothers Grimm has been gorgeously retold (and mercifully sanitized) by Charlotte Huck, and illustrated by Anita Lobel. This picture book for children is titled Princess Furball, and is one of my old favorites that never left me. I chose this story and its original source for my retelling, lightening the darker original elements in my own way, but including the story beats, themes, and motifs that were so dear to me. I put my own twist on the tale, which surprisingly (even to me) included a subplot that was a retelling of its own: “Rumpelstiltskin.” I have loved many versions of this familiar story over the years, but my favorite is an illustrated retelling by Paul O. Zelinsky. I have read this one to my children countless times, and it has always set my mind whirring with the different ways that it could be told again.

For my retelling, I lovingly mined these two stories, “Cat-Skin” and “Rumpelstiltskin,” and worked them together into a foundation for a new fairy tale. The frame holds pieces of the old tales, but it’s wrapped up in something brand new. This is a story of a young woman and a young man whose paths cross and wend down a road marked by destiny, shadowed by grief, and lit by courage. Their story is a new fairy tale, reflected in gold and fortified by the faithful gleam of the stars.

Author Interview

What is your favorite genre of books? Why?

I read very eclectically, but I have always been drawn to fantasy, especially fairy tale retellings. I have vivid memories of the first time I discovered this genre in books like Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, Beauty by Robin McKinley, and The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. I think that sweet, imaginative fantasy, and particularly fairy tales, will always have my heart. I am also a mystery book lover! Bonus points if it’s historical.

Are you a one project at a time author or do you have multiple projects going at once?

I usually only commit to one project at a time. However, I often will have other stories in early stages waiting in the wings, because the way I decide which manuscript I will be dedicating my time to is by testing out various ideas. Often the ideas that I did not select will be something I pick up again further down the road.

How has your life experience helped in your writing journey?

I have always been very introspective, and began writing my feelings down in a journal from a very young age. This habit followed me into adulthood, and it led to the idea of writing the same sort of reflections from a different perspective. This caused my imagination to click into gear, and my storytelling self was born. Consequently, it is much easier for me to write in first person, and I struggle with third person perspectives by comparison. I am currently working to overcome that challenge. 🙂

Do you have extensive outlines when writing or do you write a book as you go?

I will begin with a loose outline, but most of the story develops as I go. I’d like to be a more effective plotter before the project is really underway, but so far that has not been a method that works well for me. While brainstorming as I write is not the easiest way to go, I have had some really exciting and unexpected ideas come to me in the midst of writing a scene, and that’s a wonderful feeling!