We're only two months into 2025, and we've already been blessed with so many wonderful new queer sci-fi/fantasy novels this year! In today's interview, we chat with Aubrey Ennis all about their debut novel, Name Her Holy, which came out earlier this month. If you're looking for an epic sapphic tale, dive right in!
Thank you for joining us, Aubrey! Could you start by introducing yourself?
Thank you for having me! I’m Aubrey Ennis, I’m a genderqueer writer based out of Eastern PA, where I live with my spouse and our rescue dog. I am an artist/designer for a living but spend most of my time thinking about my garden plans.
Congratulations on the release of your debut! Tell us about Name Her Holy and what inspired you to write it!
Thanks so much! Name Her Holy is a sapphic space fantasy about a prophesied end of the universe, and the Herald tasked with stopping it. It’s a bit of an epic—spanning multiple worlds, sailing the stars and traveling other planes. If I had to sum it up real quick, I’d say it's about two lesbians who team up to fight god.
Honestly I had started loosely writing a homebrew dnd campaign for a game that never materialized, and once I started digging into the world building I just never stopped. It was 2021, I was incredibly angry about a lot of things happening and having another world to escape to from time to time helped me refocus that anger constructively, rather than just wallowing in it. Plus, I don’t think Kye or Jude would have let me off the hook—once they got a hold of me they refused to let go.
The title in itself is lovely and engaging! How did you decide on Name Her Holy, and did it come before or after the writing?
Thank you! It was actually taken from one of the epigraphs I wrote early on— “When her people saw what she had done, they named her holy”. So much of this book was built on conflicting versions of history, so I had written several differing folk stories and recorded historical references that the characters will be forced to confront as they try to save their world. The title came from the creation myth at the heart of it all. Both of the main characters have some grappling to do with what it means to be divinely chosen, so that phrase in particular felt like a natural fit (even if I spent months agonizing over picking a title).
What did the world-building process look like for you? Is this universe inspired by any other real or fictional settings?
I’ve always been a bit obsessed with space. I grew up on Star Wars and Fifth Element, and really what those movies and books did for me as a kid was introduce the idea of magic into a sci-fi setting. I found every sci-fi book I was drawn to after that had some element, even briefly, of a connection with the cosmos, with something ancient and other in nature. So when I started writing a fantasy setting, that was really at the core of what I was looking for. It was like an itch I was trying to scratch—I wanted a space setting that was less defined by the technical, and more by the mystery and awe of it. Like a fairytale set out among the stars with heroes and gods and an ancient beast rising from the depths.
I tried to throw out a lot of my own preconceived notions of what that universe would look like, and just let myself be fully self indulgent with the world. Like, what if the stars were living creatures? What if you could sail the vastness of space like a big black sea and touch those stars with your own hands? Why not? And then from there, it was a lot of letting the characters breathe life into that world. It was like I had to set them loose and see what loopholes and pitfalls they’d find, pick up all the loose threads and find a way to stitch them into the larger world.
Can you tell us a little bit about your characters? Which, if any, do you identify with most and why?
This book is dual POV, and focuses largely on the two main characters; Kye and Jude. Kye is a chronically ill, magic wielding disaster lesbian, who has also unfortunately been chosen as the Herald of the Coming End. She’s regarded as a living saint, having been recently resurrected, and tasked with stopping the prophesied end times. Jude is a transfem sword lesbian who grew up in the secluded farm lands of her homeworld. Her strong-will and big heart lead her to join up with Kye’s Order and leave home for the first time, taking her mother’s sword with her. But as the omens and dangers grow worse, Jude finds there may have been much more to her mother’s legacy than she realized, and a connection to the Herald that neither of them could have anticipated.
Oh boy, I think it depends on the day? Unfortunately for Kye and Jude, I kind of doled out a lot of my own terrible traits to each of them. Like Kye got all my extreme compartmentalization and chronic-illness. Where Jude got all my stubbornness and distaste for authority, ya know?
We adore them already. Which character do you hope your readers will connect with the most?
I think where you fall on the disaster queer spectrum will decide if you connect more with Kye or more with Jude. That being said, I found most beta and arc readers connected with Jude very early on. She’s a very genuine and kind-hearted, if blunt, character and I find it's hard not to love her.
The story features a diverse range of representation, including trans, butch, and chronically ill characters. Why was it important to you to include this in your books?
For one, I grew up chronically ill, and have people I love who are living with it daily. When I started writing Kye I didn’t even think about it: it just was part of who she was from the beginning. But in retrospect, it was really something that had been sitting dormant in me for a long time. Especially writing this book during covid, when I was just starting to work through how being chronically ill for all my formative years had really molded who I was. Kye is a reflection of those years, and sort of a love letter to that person I was, like reaching out to hold my own hand and give it a little squeeze.
The same sort of goes for the gender expression in this book. Kye and Jude were born out of a longing I didn’t realize I had until I started letting them loose into the world. I had never quite found myself in a lot of the “bad-ass female characters” I grew up with, which in retrospect were almost all written with a very cis straight male lens attached to them. When I started reading queer fantasy & sci-fi it was like a lightbulb switched on, like ahhh yeah, of course the shoe never fit. It was like for the first time I had characters I resonated deeply with, who actually felt like me and my friends, and I couldn’t imagine writing anything else.
Did you come across any challenges while writing these books? How did you overcome them?
The biggest challenge was really that I hadn’t done anything like this before. I loved writing when I was younger and then abandoned it to pursue art full time. When I started writing this book, it was the first time I had written anything in years. Maybe a decade or more? So it was a very rough start, like really a newborn fawn on wobbly legs. I had the idea and the excitement for it, but none of the learned skill. I had to teach myself as I went. It was so much trial and error, and constant re-writing. I just showed up everyday and chipped away at it, even when it was bad; that was the only way to do it. I can highly recommend making up two little guys to get really invested in emotionally—your writing/art will improve in leaps and bounds, I promise you.
Are you a plotter or pantser, and did any additional research go into this novel?
I’m a pantser in the worst way. I don’t even make an outline until I’ve written damn near half a book. I envy my plotter friends so much, but my brain just can’t work it out in an orderly fashion. I’ve found I can spend a lot of time planning and then once I sit down to write it’s like none of it mattered. The eureka moment only comes while writing, and only when I just pick a spot and start moving. I am a person who historically struggles with identifying and verbalizing how I’m feeling. My spouse and I joke that it takes 3-5 business days for me to sort through my feelings. Apparently the same goes for book writing.
There wasn’t much additional research for Name Her Holy (aside from the standard “how much blood can someone lose before they pass out” google search). But I will say I now own a healthy collection of books on flower meanings.
What made you decide to follow the self-publishing route, and have you learned anything on this journey so far?
I really weighed both options for a long time. Each route comes with their own challenges for sure. But ultimately, it was the creative control that won me over to self-pub. My day job is corporate design, something I’ve been in for almost ten years. Everything I make creatively for a living is for a big brand’s customer base, and it has to be marketable and palpable for a wider audience. I started this project when I just needed a little bright spot creatively for myself, and in the end I wasn’t ready to let go of that little spark.
I have definitely learned more about publishing than I ever thought I would when I started this project! I think my biggest takeaway is to get eyes on your work, find beta readers and friends who are willing to give you honest and constructive feedback. It's the single best thing you can do for yourself. That and find a good editor who gets the story and the vibes with your writing style (shout out to Mawce, my incredible editor). I was very lucky on both fronts and I grew so much as a writer from all the honest feedback people were kind enough to give me.
Any advice you’d give to other authors set to make their debut?
Make friends! Oh my god, find your people, seriously. No one will understand the difficulties and the doubts of publishing like your writing group chat. Find your community, find people to do sprints with, or brainstorm together with, beta read for people. All of it will do you good. And if you’re going the self publish route, it's good to give yourself deadlines but make sure you give yourself the time you need, don’t rush. Things take the time they take, and the final product will be better for it.
We’d love a hint about what readers can expect from you next! Are you planning any spin-offs or new stories?
Working on book two! Which has sort of been in the works since book one, but now I finally get to delve fully into it! I’m a one-story-at-a-time person, so all the little story ideas in the back of my mind will have to wait until Kye and Jude’s story is done.
Our podcast focuses on media we’re currently loving. Are there any books, shows, movies, or games you’re enjoying at the moment? Any recommendations for our audience? Bonus points if it includes sapphics!
Oh god, I just recently became obsessed with the manga/anime Rose of Versailles. Which, if you want a good story about a trans/genderqueer swordswoman that has a lot to say about gender roles and class inequalities, it's incredible (and very timely right now). I dare you not to fall in love with Oscar, because I think I swoon once an episode over her.
About the Author
Aubrey Ennis is a queer fantasy writer who lives out in Eastern Pennsylvania with their spouse and rescue dog. If they are not writing they are doing what there is to do in Eastern PA, which is gardening and going on long walks to look at little creeks.
Aubrey can be found on Bluesky and Instagram @clericofthevoid
Their book is available through B&N, Amazon and itch.io. All links and info can be found here: https://aubrey-ennis.carrd.co/
Comentários