Aurora: What was your inspiration behind Soulswift?
Like The Bird and the Blade, which was inspired by an opera, Soulswift began with music. Sometime in early 2016, I started kicking around the idea of writing book that would make readers feel the way Ralph Vaughn Williams’s “The Lark Ascending” feels to me. It was one of several ideas I was considering at the time, but it slowly took hold and set down roots.
“The Lark Ascending” is a well-known work for violin and orchestra, and I think one of the reasons it has endured for more than a hundred years is that it’s incredibly emotional. There’s a very deep strain of sadness in the music, and yet Vaughn Williams renders it exquisitely beautiful. I listened to it over and over until, one day, as I pulled into the parking lot at work, I envisioned the final moments of the book, and I thought, “Huh. What would make that happen?” Soulswift is my attempt to answer that question.
What character in this novel do you most relate to and why?
Since I wanted to write a book that would reflect my own struggles with faith as a teen, Gelya (the first person narrator of the story) is the character to whom I most relate. Like my teenaged self, she doesn’t want to doubt her faith, and yet she can’t stop herself from questioning what she has been taught to believe. Also, like me, she’s tall and gawky. I feel that, Gelya!
Why do you feel novels with powerful and unique characters are so popular and have such a voice right now?
Honestly, I don’t think powerful and unique characters ever go out of style. That’s why so many people can still relate to Elizabeth Bennet, right? But fantasy is an interesting genre in that it’s usually world-driven or plot-driven rather than character-driven. So if you tell a story in a fantasy setting that is extremely intimate, that has more to do with the development of unique and fleshed-out characters than the fate of the world, you’re either going to bore the socks off readers who want high stakes action and adventure, or you’re going to reel in readers who want to see their own thoughts and dreams and struggles presented in a metaphorical setting that makes them feel deeply understood. There’s nothing wrong with world-driven or plot-driven fantasies; they use world and plot well to symbolize large scale problems in our own world. But I tend to prefer to invest my time reading books through which I can better understand a problem or issue via the intimate experiences of engaging characters, so that’s what I tend to write (I hope).
Please describe the content of Soulswift and what can readers expect from it.
Soulswift is the story of Gelya, a girl who has been chosen by the One True God to be the vessel of His holy word on earth. According to Gelya’s religion, a saint imprisoned a terrible demon hundreds of years ago to save the souls of the faithful from Her earthly temptations, but a small sect remains that believes this entity is the goddess of life, the Mother, who must be set free. Tavik, an enemy soldier, manages to open Her prison, but he inadvertently turns Gelya into the trapped spirit’s unwilling human vessel. Now the religion that raised Gelya considers her a threat, and she has no choice but to throw in her lot with Tavik in order to get this thing—demon or goddess—out of her body. Both Gelya and Tavik find themselves questioning everything they’ve been taught to believe about truth and morality.
That’s the long version. The short version is this: Soulswift is a story about a girl and her body.
Readers can expect a lot of action from this book and a plot twist or two as well. They can also expect to laugh a little and cry a lot. But more than anything, I hope that readers will sympathize with and relate to Gelya’s plight as she tries to regain control over her own life and her own choices.
What inspired you to write a fantasy that tackles themes of religion, beliefs and personal betrayal with such immersive characters?
YA books tend to tackle the universal issues that teens grapple with most: coming of age, first love, personal identity, social injustice, and so forth. These are all important and necessary topics. But my own teen experience was defined by my struggle with faith, and while there are several great YA books that touch on this subject—Calling My Name by Liara Tamani is a great example—it’s still a fairly uncommon theme in teen literature.
I was raised Catholic. I went to Catholic school. I lived in a Catholic neighborhood. Everyone I knew and loved was Catholic. And this is not to say that I resent or regret the way I was raised. I don’t at all. But even in my preteen years, there were things about my religion that didn’t make a lot of sense to me. By the time I was a junior in high school, I was certain that I didn’t believe what everyone around me held as absolute truth, and it was terrifying. I felt guilt and fear, and I didn’t know who to talk to about it or how. Now that I’m an adult, I know that my experience wasn’t singular, so I wanted to write a book for teens that tackled religious doubt. It seemed like the best way to do that was through a raw and vulnerable first person narrator. I hope Gelya’s story helps at least one young adult feel a little less alone in the world.
What’s next for you in the bookish world?
I’m afraid that I’m not currently at liberty to talk about what’s next for me in the bookish world, so I’ll just say this: I have several irons in the fire, and they all have happy endings!
Who is your current favorite writer? Why?
It’s hard to name just one, but Naomi Novik is up there for me. Her worlds are so fresh and inventive, and I love everything she has to say about what makes a woman powerful. She creates compelling characters, full of strengths and foibles, and through them, she adds something that every book needs: a sense of humor. A little humor goes a long way with me, particularly in books that deal with weighty subjects.
Any writing advice for aspiring writers?
It’s very easy to conflate writing a novel with publishing a novel, but they are actually two separate and very different things. You have almost no control over whether or not your book gets published, so my advice is to focus on the writing. And, because there are no guarantees in publishing, you have to find a reason to write that is personally fulfilling to you. Your book may never see the light of day, but that doesn’t mean the process of writing it isn’t worth it. If telling yourself that story means something to you personally, it’s definitely worth writing it, whether it gets published or not. The good news is that if you don’t rush or short-shrift the writing process, you are far more likely to create an amazing (and publishable!) book.
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