For Episode 10 of The Miami Book Hub, I had the pleasure of welcoming C.V. Shaw — pen name of Cecilia Valdes Shaw — author of The Spell, a fantasy novel rooted in curses, belief systems, healing, and the strange magic of storytelling itself.
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It felt fitting that our first double-digit episode would feature someone I recently came to know through the South Florida Writers Association and immediately connected with as a fellow writer, creative spirit, and explorer of deeper things.
C.V. described The Spell as “a story about a curse that falls upon a royal family.” In the novel, an embittered queen hires “all kinds of witches and seers” in an attempt to undo the spell, only to create more chaos. As the princess grows older, she tries to undo the spell herself, with consequences that ripple through the story.
But as C.V. explained, the book is not merely about magic. “This is more like a fable trying to get a message across,” she said. “It’s about spells and it’s about belief systems, you know, on a deeper level.”
That idea — that stories, curses, and even identities can be shaped by what we believe — became one of the central themes of our conversation.
What began as a poem eventually grew into a novel. C.V., who has written poetry since childhood, said the piece “just kept going and going” until she realized there was something larger there. “Seven months later I had a novel,” she said, laughing that it then took “about three years to edit it.”
Her creative range is impressive. In addition to The Spell, she has completed The Painted Rose, an Alice in Wonderland retelling set in the 1960s with what she called a “Girl, Interrupted vibe.” She is also working on a children’s book, Jimby Goes to Outer Space, inspired by a stuffed monkey her son has had since childhood, designed to teach kids about the planets in a playful, memorable way.
C.V.’s background makes her writing especially distinctive. By day, she is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine and quantum energy practitioner, with deep knowledge of Chinese medicine, herbs, meridians, and the body’s energetic systems. That training finds its way into her fiction, particularly in The Spell, where the princess learns to heal with herbs.
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“The herbal part of the book is not made up,” she said. “It’s real.”
We also spoke about character creation, and C.V. offered one of my favorite reflections from the episode: “All the characters, just like people in our environment, are reflections of ourselves,” she said. “We are trying to heal through them.”
Her literary influences include Edgar Allan Poe, Shakespeare, and contemporary author Matt Haig. Poe, in particular, holds a special place in her imagination. She even shared that she has written by trying to “channel” Poe’s energy — “not in a spooky type of way,” she clarified, but in a resonant, creative sense.
Music also plays a major role in her work. She is writing short stories from the perspectives of women in Beatles songs, including one inspired by “Eleanor Rigby.” “When I listen to a song,” she said, “I’m always looking for the deeper story.”
We closed by discussing the South Florida Writers Association, where C.V. was recently elected Vice President, and which she described as “a nonprofit association supporting writers.” The group, which meets monthly at the Pinecrest Library, offers contests, readings, a writers conference, and opportunities for authors to participate in the Miami Book Fair. What came through clearly is that SFWA is more than an organization; it is a welcoming community.
And for aspiring writers, C.V. left us with this advice: “You should never call yourself an aspiring writer. You should just call yourself a writer;” adding that “there’s a reader for every writer… Just keep writing.”
To learn more about C.V. Shaw and her creative works, visit CVShawBooks.com. You can also learn more about the South Florida Writers Association at SouthFloridaWriters.org.
To view this full interview and other episodes of The Miami Book Hub — Miami’s home for readers, writers and resources — visit YouTube.com/@J.AdrianBetancourt.