Escapism gets an upgrade in Jessica S. Olson’s Den of Liars

This guest post is written by Den of Liars by Jessica S. Olson.

Ever since the pandemic began five years ago, it feels as though everyone is looking for a way to escape reality. From binge-watching whole seasons of tv shows on Netflix to spending hours doom-scrollng on Tiktok, we all seem to be on the hunt for a little taste of escapism. Having gone through some of my own dark nights of the soul during the same time period, when I set out to write what would become my next romantasy novel, Den of Liars, I knew I wanted to build a world that I—and eventually readers—would be able to lose ourselves in.

So I started brainstorming. What, I asked myself, makes a book the kind of story people want to escape into? Obviously, there are fictional worlds people have flocked to time and time again over the years that I certainly wouldn’t want to live in myself. The Hunger Games? No, thank you. I’d be one of the first tributes to die. Game of Thrones? I’d rather not starve or freeze or end up beheaded. The Martian? Hard no from me on outer-space travel.

My thoughts turned to those books that left me wishing I could transport myself into their worlds. The Night Court of Sarah J. Maas’s Court of Thorns and Roses series, glittering and seductive and sumptuous. The gravity-defying illusions and dream-like setting of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s puzzles and high stakes in The Inheritance Games. The delicious aromas and foods of Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco.

When this all led to the idea of writing a fantastical casino setting centered around a high-stakes magical dice tournament, I knew I’d struck gold. But, unlike with my previous books, my research didn’t center on details like paint thinners (like I did for my art-based fantasy murder mystery, A Forgery of Roses) or Victorian-era organs (as for my gender-swapped Phantom of the Opera retelling, Sing Me Forgotten). No, for Den of Liars, I dove immediately into how to build a compelling game, learning from masters like Will Wright, the creator of the Sims, who taught a Masterclass on Game Theory and Design. From there, I studied the subtleties of poker and bluffing, watching videos online from Daniel Negreanu. I then moved on to researching the things that casino architects do in their design to keep people coming back for more, like building the hallways to curve so visitors never see the exit or implementing lights and colors to trigger the release of dopamine in our brains.

From there, I built out the Liar’s Den Casino Resort in my novel. My imagination truly had no limits. Magical cocktails! Stardust dance floors! Tables made of spun glass! Cards encrusted in diamonds!

And then I got to the entertainment. All my life, I’ve loved watching acrobats and dancers and circus performers. What if I made the Liar—the mysterious illusionist who runs the magical casino—an aerialist? I knew next to nothing about aerial arts, but the idea was like a spark to my imagination. I searched online for an aerial silks class nearby and booked a single class for research. I wanted to be able to describe things with the proper terms and techniques, so it seemed like a worthwhile use of my time and money.

When I showed up for the class, however, I fell in love. It turns out beginner aerial classes are extremely accessible to even people who have never done a single bit of dancing or gymnastics in their lives. As soon as that first class was over, I’d booked another one. And then another. Soon, I tried hammock, trapeze, pole, and hoop—the last of which I fell utterly in love with and have been attending classes for ever since.

I set out to write Den of Liars to escape the trials of the 2020s. Little did I know that book would send me where I would find the exact magical adventure I needed—spinning around on a hoop in the air. As the book’s release approaches, I hope readers will feel the magic, too, and, like me, find in it the bright spot of escapism that’ll let them soar.

Den of Liars by Jessica S. Olson is out now (Hot Key Books).