novels. She happens to be madly, passionately in love with her soul mate and is a fervent believer in happily ever afters—which is why she writes romance. She currently lives with her family and various pets in Utah, and harbors a lifelong devotion to ice cream.
Wilson's new novel is A Tribute of Fire.
My Q&A with the author:
How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?Visit Sariah Wilson's website.
The title ended up surprising me. I had chosen it because my female main character’s battle master tells her that in the past, an enemy nation demanded a tribute of earth and water (as it signified total surrender) and he tells her to give them a tribute of fire and steel instead. (The book was originally called A Tribute of Fire and Steel but the “and steel” was cut because it was deemed to be too similar to another book my publisher had put out.) After I had submitted the book to my editor I realized that the FMC is the tribute of fire herself since she bribes her way into a death trial in order to save her nation. It works on a couple of different levels, totally unintentionally!
What's in a name?
The names of all the characters in this book were very, very deliberate. There are clues in those names if people look closely, but I assume that most readers won’t. I don’t want to reveal why the names were chosen because they would all be spoilers!
How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your novel?
She’d be pretty shocked. I was something of a literary snob in high school as I was in Honors/AP English and read mostly classical literature. I never imagined that I would be a writer—it certainly wasn’t what I aspired to do when I was younger (although I had always loved reading). I think she’d also be surprised that I was able to publish a book that is so heavy on the fantasy parts as growing up the only fantasy books I ever read were written by men.
Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?
Usually the beginning as I write romance and I know how it’s going to end up. This series has been a bit different though—while I knew exactly how it would start and I know exactly how it will end, now that I’ve written the first two books soeasily (the first book is about 515 pages and I wrote it in thirty-nine days; the second book is about 720 pages and I wrote it in thirty-one days), I’m feeling pretty anxious that I’m the one who has to write the third book and bring all the threads together and write a book that is satisfying and exciting and will keep the reader engaged. I almost wish someone else could do it!
Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?
Sometimes. I very rarely write characters that are like me (there’s only one that I can think of that thinks like I think and has a lot of the same interests that I do), but I would say that most of my protagonists have at least one or two traits of mine. And they’re almost always tall because I’m tall and I understand that perspective very well.
What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?
I am very heavily influenced by the world around me. I’m a huge fan of movies and television and they have a big impact on what I write. This book in particular was heavily influenced by the Star Wars sequels and the characters of Kylo Ren and Rey. I also find music highly inspirational and I have playlists for my books and a particular romantic song for the main characters.
The Page 69 Test: A Tribute of Fire.
My Book, The Movie: A Tribute of Fire.
--Marshal Zeringue