BOOKS N BLISS

✨Of the Frost and Fire✨

Here is an interview with the amazing AuroraRodriguez1996 regarding her work! Feel free to ask more questions here!

1) What inspired you to write your story? What inspired the plot? Characters?

I was actually inspired by Florence and the Machine's song, King. It's about a woman who loves her significant other but doesn't want to be the "bride" or the "wife" he expects her to be. She is "King". And so I really liked the idea of a strong, intelligent character striving to be the king of her kingdom and her husband and the "expectations" getting in the way of that.

2) Where did you pull information or ideas for your book? What type of research was involved?

So I read a lot of manhwas and a lot of them have that historical/fantasy setting and I wanted to try my hand at it. But I also wanted it to be semi rooted in reality so I did a lot of research about monarchies through our history, specifically the British monarchy, but honestly, a lot of it is me just day dreaming and playing around with what I think would work/be fun to write.

3) What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your book?

How much I would love the characters and how they speak for themselves. My original plot was entirely different. But as I was writing and my ideas were getting fleshed out, Hera became a lot more vocal, especially when it came to Emrys. She was supposed to internalize a lot of the emotions she was feeling to the events around her and plot a lot more behind the scenes, to make her more manipulative (hopefully the reader can still get a sense of that when it comes to other members of the court) but it's different when Emrys is involved. I would start writing a scene with them and intend for her to be a lot colder and manipulative, but she would just get so frustrated with Emrys' silence, she'd lose her temper and a fight would start. Then I'd stop writing and be like "that's not at all how I wanted the scene to go!!!" But I liked it so much and thought it really showcased their personalities that I changed the plot. Same with Emrys. He was originally going to be a lot crueler and be the main antagonist but he just came out a lot softer and sweeter. I fell in love with him and his tragic story. Whoops!

4)Who is your favorite character to write and why?

We haven't seen much of him yet but Mihkael is my favorite character to write. He's the priest that Hera visits. He's so fun. He's like a snake and kind of does whatever he wants. He's very self-serving and sometimes I'm not sure if he's the good guy or if he's the bad guy. I love characters like that. And he has quite the backstory too, one that is not really mentioned often in the first book but will hopefully be explained more in the second book.

5) What is currently your favorite chapter of your book?

My favorite chapter...that's really hard! I think it's a tie between chapter 7 and chapter 18. Chapter 7 is the first conversation Hera and Emrys have. Like ever. He didn't talk to her when they first got married and he hasn't seen her in five years, so this really is the first conversation they're having. I actually had a dream about this chapter, that's how I came up with it. This beautiful, wintery night and she's incredibly beautiful in her dress and there's this dark mass of a man and even though he's really intimidating, she's not scared of him. That's when I knew Emrys wasn't going to be a bad guy. And that's just highlighted in chapter 18. I don't think anyone has read that far so I won't spoil it, but I really love what Emrys does for Hera's sake. And it also gives an idea of the world they live in, what kind of creatures exist.

6) What do you think the central message of your story is?

The central message...well for me, this story is an experiment, to see what kind of book I can write. It's different from the books I've written before and I started writing it just to test my abilities as a writer. I think every writer should do this, just write something out of the box or something they're not used to or comfortable with. I think it's a chance to strengthen your skills. Write something that's fun and solely for you!

Thank you for this opportunity and thank you to everyone who has read and given me constructive criticism. I've seen all your comments and greatly appreciate you and your care!

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