We chat with the author of witchy YA enemies-to-lovers fantasy Deep is the Fen, Lili Wilkinson!
A&U: Hey Lili! Thanks so much for chatting with us! We’re so excited for people to get their hands on Deep is the Fen, it is SUCH a fun book. Can you tell us a little about it?
LW: It’s a rivals-to-lovers romantasy about evil toad cults, resistance witches and prize-winning chickens. Merry Morgan hates two things - magic, because a witch killed her mother, and Caraway Boswell, because he is a stuck-up ice prince snob who thinks he’s better than everyone. But when Merry’s best friend Teddy joins a secret magical gentlemen’s society, Merry has to team up with Caraway in order to save her friend. And naturally, she gets a lot more than she bargained for.
A&U: While not a requirement for reading Deep is the Fen, your previous novel A Hunger of Thorns is set in the same world. How did you find writing Deep is the Fen with a lot of the foundational magic system and world building already done for you?
LW: I didn’t want to write a direct sequel to A Hunger of Thorns, but I enjoyed creating the magical world of Anglyon so much, I wanted to spend more time in it, with an entirely new standalone story. More glamours, more evil magic corporations. Magical junk food! And without all the hand-wringing and hair-tearing I went through with A Hunger of Thorns to knock the magic system into place.
A&U: Merry has such a strong voice in Deep is the Fen. You really feel like you went on the adventure right by her side. How did you go about finding and developing her voice?
LW: I love to write a bossy character (cough I can’t imagine why). I wanted Merry to be quite different from Maude in A Hunger of Thorns. Maude is so unsure of herself, so determined to be good and quiet despite the raging magic deep within her. Merry is the opposite of that. She knows exactly what she wants, and is totally prepared to march out there and get it.
A&U: OK so now we HAVE to gush about Merry and Caraway! Their enemies-to-lovers dynamic is SO much fun. How did you go about developing that relationship?
LW: Merry is such a cheerful, no-nonsense country girl, I had to find her polar opposite in Caraway. He’s rich, snobby and isolated, always hiding behind a glamour. Cold rich people are so fun to write, especially after you cover them in mud and throw giant swamp monsters at them! Of course, they’re not nearly as different as Merry would like to think - both of them are hiding magical secrets, and both of them would do anything to protect the people they love.
A&U: You have published a lot of amazing books; does it get any easier? Do you have a go-to trick for if you get stuck in a plot hole?
LW: Yes and no. I’m definitely better at understanding my own process, now. When the really hard bits come, they aren’t any easier, but I recognise them for what they are and know they will pass. My go to trick for getting stuck in a plot hole is to write a list of fifteen things that could happen next. The trick is to not try to think of fifteen good ideas. Start with ‘my character gets abducted by aliens’ and go from there. By giving yourself permission to think of bad ideas, you open up your mind, and things can emerge that you might not have expected. It’s never failed me.
A&U: And finally, do you have any advice for keen writers who may be reading this Q&A?
Read. Read good stuff and figure out what makes it good. Read bad stuff and figure out what makes it bad. And write. Writing is hard, so make sure you’re writing something that you love, otherwise you won’t stick with it when it gets hard. Fan fiction is a great way to start - isn’t it funny that if you learn an instrument, you start off by learning songs by other people, but with stories you’re expected to go straight into original compositions? Every word you write makes you a better writer. And learn to receive critical feedback from trusted friends and mentors. It can be really hard at first (I cried when I got my first editorial letter!), but it’s a muscle that can be developed. I love being edited now, because I know I can’t make a book by myself.
Deep Is the Fen
By Lili Wilkinson
A bewitching journey behind the closed doors of a secret society, featuring sinister toadmen, resistance witches and a steamy enemies-to-lovers romance, from the acclaimed author of A Hunger of Thorns.
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