Interview with Catharina Steel, Author of Vanishings

Posted by Holly Schindler May 20, 2025

Interview with Catharina Steel, Author of Vanishings

Welcome to Smack Dab, Catharina! Please tell us about Vanishings: The Wythic Wood Mysteries Series | Book One.

Michael disappeared from Wythic Wood a year ago, and he’s still missing. Convinced that no one’s searching for him, Tilly decides to spend the summer with Opa, their family’s magical teacher and wizard, at his home in Clayton Forest—right next to Wythic Wood.

In Clayton Forest, with cousins, Jess and Zach, Tilly meets magical beings like fairies and gnomes, gets lessons in magic, and a goblin style of martial arts called Gobight, and discovers her own magic. But her real goal calls to her and she embarks on a perilous journey to uncover the truth about Michael’s vanishing. But impulsive Tilly doesn’t think ahead—and she and her cousins are hunted by the Witch of Wythic Wood and the creatures under her command.

I love the worldbuilding here! You’ve got so many fantastic magical creatures: fairies, gnomes, goblins, etc. Do you have a favorite among all these creatures?

Mort, the goblin, is one of my favorites. He’s brave, kind, and cares deeply about his friends. It had fun figuring out how to write the training scene because I had to picture this quite clearly in my mind and consider how it would play out—with the goblins longer arms and their sharp fingernails and toenails.

I also can’t help but adore Wilber, the kid gnome. He’s sweet and keen to be a part of the group. I enjoyed writing about the mischievous nature of gnomes. (I’ve a side story bubbling away in my head.)

How did you go about crafting the “rules” of your magical world? And where did those amazing magical homes spring from? (They felt a bit fairy-tale to me, which I loved.)

In the beginning, I was guided by the books I have read. As I grew more familiar with this world I was creating, I began to see the rules. It’s a rather strange experience because I feel like this story was given to me to write, and the rules were already formed, I simply needed to learn them.

I love that you think the magical homes are amazing. These homes were the first aspect of the world I pictured—before I even thought about writing a story. One of my interests, since I was about nine, is architecture. When I visualized these magical creature homes located in a forest, I knew I had something special.

The black knee-high boot was inspired by the story “There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe” by Jane Cabrera.

The twin-mushroom house came from my memories of reading Enid Blyton books and how I built on this as a young girl.

The fairy’s home made within the trunk of a tree came from various images I’ve seen over the years and the essence of this memory stuck with me. I pictured fairy cities within the treetops—those fairy-lights the lights of all the homes.

The forts corner “rock” towers and the central “castle” were inspired by a family trip as a child in Germany where we visited several old castles. The rows of fir trees that form the walls, with a tree-walk strung between them came from a treetop walk I’d been on.

What made you decide to focus on the search for a missing family member?

This felt natural to the story, especially as I developed Tilly’s back story more. I wondered “What would be the reason that Tilly would insist on staying at Opa’s for the summer?” and also “What would be a strong enough pull for her to venture into the dangerous Wythic Woods?”

I could have gone with something like her seeing a magical stone in a vision, and have it speak to her. But with her family’s backstory, it makes sense that her drive would be the need to keep everyone in her life safe—so they don’t leave her like her parents did (with the car crash). I think it’s good to follow your instincts when writing, particularly while drafting it, but question everything during an edit. Should this stay in? Why this person? Why this instigator? (Edit ruthlessly!)

How did you come up with the character of Opa, who manages to bridge both the human and magical worlds?

I first imagined the world of The Wythic Wood Mysteries Series so, I’d subconsciously already established some rules before I began developing the characters. When I began writing about Opa (Dutch word for grandpa), there were already some surrounding factors which helped form who he is, but it wasn’t until I wrote his origin story that I felt like I had “gotten to know him” and was able to round out his character better. I don’t mention his actual name in Vanishings, but it’s Piet Ancilock. You can read his origin story in my novella “Magical Piet,” which is a free ebook download when people sign up for my newsletter—I’ve a subscription form on my website.

When I was drafting the story, I wanted a wise wizard to guide the children in the magical world—and I wanted it to be a family member as well. (I ended up putting together a family tree so that I had a clear picture of it.) I wanted this wizard to be a person who understood both the human, non-magical world, as well as the magical one. I liked the idea of him allowing the children to experience the magical world within the safety of his property, Clayton Forest, where they learn from the creatures who have sought refuge on his property—before they set off into the Wythic Woods.

I love a complex antagonist–and is the Witch ever complex! Can you speak a bit about crafting really worthy antagonists?

This wasn’t something that came naturally to me since. I wrote out all the complexities of each character, including the Witch of Wythic Wood (the Witch).

With the Witch I wanted to explore how a person could be warped by a traumatic experience, if they let it. I wanted to show how this could negatively impact on a person with a visual representation, so this is the base for how I began to develop her.

Each time I worked on editing the story, I worked on drawing her out more. I didn’t write the scenes with her in them until I did a major rewrite, but I had also developed a better understanding of who she was by this time. This was when I began enjoying writing about who she was and what her world was like.

Making her pet crow able to communicate with her, which fit in well with her ability to telepathically speak with animals—a common witchy ability in this series, enabled me to more fully explore who she was and I believe this adds depth to these scenes.

This book focuses quite a bit on deception and truth. Why did you come to a magical world to explore that theme?

I love reading and writing in magical worlds because it opens up so much scope to explore many topics. In this story I raise the issue of Jess being bullied and her resulting struggle with anxiety, Tilly’s tendency to act without planning, how differences from one person to the next makes life interesting, and the truth of why we each tend do what we do.

Fantasy stories tend to have intrigue at some level. In Vanishings you have the Witch who is searching for something, and you get the hint that she is working with an elf. (I reveal more about the dynamics of this particular relationship in the next book.)

My favorite genres to read are adventure and/or mystery stories set in magical worlds. However, I honestly feel like this story was “given” to me to write. There were times that the story flowed from me without me knowing where it was coming from. I’m a speed typist, so the words appeared on the screen before me faster than I could register the thoughts, and it felt like I was reading the story as I wrote it—both a wonderful and mind-boggling experience. For me, it felt the most natural way to tell this story.

The concept of being bound or transformed against a character’s will appears several times—Tilly's bound magic, the weredogs' inability to return to human form, and the captivity of Michael and Clayton. Readers at this age are kind of bound, in a way–bound by their youth, and the struggle for independence (it was a metaphor I kept coming back to as I read). What do you hope young readers take from this concept?

There will always be barriers to achieving certain things—even for us adults. Good and bad things will happen over the course of our lives, but it’s what we make of these things, that will either hinder or help us.

I have combined this “bound” concept with showing the young readers the benefits of working as a team, as well as how planning and learning what you need to learn, all contribute to helping each of us overcome limitations.

I hope to show young readers that it’s perfectly acceptable to ask for help when you need it. For example, I hope that, if a young reader is being bullied, that they will feel more comfortable reaching out for help.

I also like that they don’t first succeed in rescuing Michael, and end up saving Clayton instead. I feel like this shows that what we first thought we wanted can work out to be so much bigger—and better.

I have so many hopes for young people who read my story. I want to lift them up so they know they are great just as they are. I hope to give them the courage to look around them to see who could help them. I know how hard it can be for young people to reach out for help, and sometimes they don’t feel heard, so I hope to encourage them to keep trying until they find the right person who can help them. I hope they keep believing in themselves.

What’s next? This is book 1, so what can we expect from future installments? Do you have a certain number of books in mind?

I’ve drafted the series, so I can say there are four books in total. I also have several side stories I want to write.

Books two to four working titles

Book Two Working Title: Weredog Curse.

We leave off in Vanishings with a question mark over the scratch and bite Tilly received from two weredogs. We are unsure if the binding of her magic is also binding the weredog magic from effecting her, or if she simply hasn’t been affected. Then there’s Tippi, a weredog who has switched to their side, but is unable to change back into her human form. These two problems become Tilly’s next priority as she searches for information that could help both Tippi and herself, during her next school break.

Book Three Working Title: Ancient Magic

Clayton has been mumbling about elves in his sleep. This instalment begins a search to see if they can locate the elves Clayton eventually tells them about, and the truth about the Witch’s goal is revealed.

Book Four Working Title: Elven Battle

I don’t want to give too much away, but things are coming to a head and they can’t see any way around it. The evil elf must be stopped—at all costs!