It’s not everyday that you get to talk to someone from Buffy, but when you do then you know something exciting is happening.

Amber Benson is releasing another book, Witches of Echo Park, the first in her latest trilogy series.

“The first series I wrote is very funny, very fluffy and light and is told in first person. This is written in third person and is told from all the different perspectives,” she said about her book. “It’s much more serious. It’s humorous at points but it’s not Amber being clever.”

The book follows a coven of witches in Echo Park, Los Angeles who’s coven master is dying of cancer. She calls upon her niece from Georgia to come over to take over the coven and take her place.

Amber says that the reason she picked witches as her main characters is due to the fact that she wanted to write about different kinds of women.

“I knew I wanted to write about women and their relationships with each other that weren’t just about how they dealt with men. The idea of writing something that can pass the Bechdel Test is very interesting to me. And I thought ‘what better way to stay in the fantasy genre and talk about these relationships than with a coven of witches.’ Because they are now in this relationship where it’s very intimate and they’re forced to deal with each other and support each other.”

“I hope the audience connects with the characters and that they are moved by their plight. There’s five different women, they’ve very diverse. There’s an LGBTQ character. There’s a character who’s half Korean and half Irish. I have a really mixed bag of ladies and I just wanted to have somebody for everybody.”

The Buffy star also shared how she got started off with writing, in Buffy comics.

“Chris Golden, who had written novels and Buffy Comics, had a mutual friend who came up to me and asked me if I wanted to do some Buffy comics. That’s what sort of opened the door. I’ve always written but I never written comics until then and I never tried my hand in anything bigger than a short story. I learned writing via Chris.”

Courtesy Of Tamara Fuentes

But even with her writing experience, she says it’s very different when she has to write her own books.

“The comics are very collaborative and very visual and I have always been a very visual person. It’s very different than sitting down and writing 90,000 words. Cause you’re using words to describe things and paint pictures in people’s minds which is very different than comics.”

She also states that anything with a supernatural vibe, including Buffy, has inspired her with her many story ideas.

“The more I see the more I’m inspired. I’m inspired by what other people are doing. I don’t get jealous and I’m always like ‘Oh, now I need to go do something.’”

Before leaving, she left some wonderful words of advice for people who want to get in the writing or acting industry, especially young girls.

“You have to take the critic out of your head and you have to stop thinking that because your a woman you can’t do something. It doesn’t any bering on your talents or your creativity. Being a woman is a secondary thing from it. You just have to go do something. And it’s for men too, for everybody. You just have to create. You can’t judge it. You can’t critique yourself while you’re in the process of creating. You just have to create.”

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