If you read my review of The Never Tilting World you would know that I adored Rin’s newest book. When I got the opportunity to interview Rin and ask all my burning questions I stopped what I was doing and immediately wrote my questions.
The Never Tilting World
Frozen meets Mad Max in this epic teen fantasy duology bursting with star-crossed romance, immortal heroines, and elemental magic, perfect for fans of Furyborn.
Generations of twin goddesses have long ruled Aeon. But seventeen years ago, one sister’s betrayal defied an ancient prophecy and split their world in two. The planet ceased to spin, and a Great Abyss now divides two realms: one cloaked in perpetual night, the other scorched by an unrelenting sun.
While one sister rules Aranth—a frozen city surrounded by a storm-wracked sea —her twin inhabits the sand-locked Golden City. Each goddess has raised a daughter, and each keeps her own secrets about her sister’s betrayal.
But when shadowy forces begin to call their daughters, Odessa and Haidee, back to the site of the Breaking, the two young goddesses —along with a powerful healer from Aranth, and a mouthy desert scavenger —set out on separate journeys across treacherous wastelands, desperate to heal their broken world. No matter the sacrifice it demands.
Interview
What is it like to write from multiple points of view, is it harder or easier than just one POV?
There’s a lot of pros and cons with multiple POVs. It’s great for when you want readers to have a more immersive narrative, especially when each character has a limited idea of the world around them and doesn’t have all the answers. But a huge disadvantage is that each would also be given lesser time for readers to get to know, so the challenge becomes making sure they give both a good impression and a good idea of their personalities and motivations with the time they’ve got. Both my goddesses Haidee and Odessa have a very limited understanding of the city they live in, mostly because their mothers tend to be overprotective, so I wanted to add two more points of view from people who have different experiences from the twins that would lend more color to how life is in Aeon, and I think both Lan and Arjun do that well.
How was the experience like to transition from The Bone Witch Trilogy to the world of The Never Tilting World?
The Bone Witch was a world full of details. Dresses and appearances and temples were an important part of the story and plot, so I tried to make it elaborate and luxurious and opulent whenever I described the culture of the Willows in Kion. The Never Tilting World is the complete opposite. The world has been shattered, so very little remains. No one is certain of Aeon’s history because so much information had been lost in the Breaking, and most places have drastically changed from what it was before the catastrophe. There are giant Here Be Dragons marked in numerous locations because they’ve either not yet been explored, or no one had survived long enough to return from them. So I had to build on the sparseness of the world rather than on the details of it. I had to make the reveal of each new location explored just as surprising and as frightening to readers as to my protagonists!
Climate Change is a big theme in The Never Tilting World, how were you inspired to write this story?
I was in Boracay, an island resort in the Philippines, when the super typhoon Haiyan hit, and it first made landfall there. It was a frightening time; the power was out, all routes out of the island were unavailable, and all communication lines were down, which meant we had no way of contacting friends and family for days. In that time, it felt like the world had shrunk down to just that one tiny island. That experience stuck with me ever since, obviously, so when I thought about writing a book where climate change is the villain, where the world seemed to have decided that the only way for it to survive is to get rid of the parasitical humans on it, this was what I drew from.
How do you balance writing and your personal life and/or social media?
Very poorly! I have two kids, so I don’t have as much time to just sit down and write, but I do my best to try and stick to a schedule where I can write at least seven to ten thousand words a week – but also to give myself leeway and know I might not be able to manage that if some personal or family emergency comes up for that same week! I do my best to keep my social media updated with any new books I have or events I’m in, but I don’t have as much time to be online as often as I used to be. (This is probably a good thing too, because it can be such a timesink if I’m not careful!)
If the characters from The Never Tilting World were to meet those from The Bone Witch, who do you think would become friends? Or how would that meeting go?
Fox and Arjun would be great friends, I think. They have the same kind of protective nature and I-don’t-care-what-you-think attitude, so they’d understand each other well. More likely they’d usually be off patrolling together, or going off to have drinks at the nearest pub. The same goes for Lan and Kalen – they both earned their living being the best at what they do, and they’re easily the best fighters of their cities. They’d make excellent sparring partners (and be very supportive of each other when it comes to dealing with stubborn significant others with a dark side). For the same reason I think Tea and Odessa would get along great as well! Haidee tends to be more of an easygoing, cheerful sort, and I see her making the most friends of the four TNTW protagonists!
How was the process of writing a duology different than a trilogy?
Other than the fact that I write one more book in a trilogy than in a duology, there’s not much difference to me. It’s really just about the complexities of the plots I have in mind, and sometimes a duology has a more complex concept than a trilogy and would be harder to write. If the story in my head is enough for a duology, then I leave it at that. If the story takes longer to reach a resolution for, then I extend it into a trilogy. If that’s still lacking, then I’d go for as many books as it takes to give readers a proper conclusion. I’m more focused on being able to tell a complete and cohesive story, and I try my best not to extend it into unnecessary books!
About the Author
Rin Chupeco has written obscure manuals for complicated computer programs, talked people out of their money at event shows, and done many other terrible things. She now writes about ghosts and fantastic worlds but is still sometimes mistaken for a revenant. She is the author of The Girl from the Well, its sequel, The Suffering, and the Bone Witch trilogy. Find her at www.rinchupeco.com.