Ask the Author: Rebecca Kim Wells
Answered Questions (11)
Rebecca Kim Wells
Recently I've been blowing through Kristen Lepionka's adult mystery series starting with The Last Place You Look--that would be a very good binge read, no matter the season. As for what's on my list for this upcoming summer... Maybe I'll finally finish Hamilton? (lol that's never going to happen.) I might do a complete re-read of NK Jemisin's work.
Rebecca Kim Wells
Maybe the world of Dealing with Dragons? Although that's more about the characters than about the world itself. (I also would love to go into the world of Ella Enchanted or Tortall, but again, I'd basically just want to hang out with the characters, not hang out in the world in general.)
As a child I would have LOVED to visit Willy Wonka's chocolate factory to try all the sweets.
As a child I would have LOVED to visit Willy Wonka's chocolate factory to try all the sweets.
Rebecca Kim Wells
Your computer crashed. Your backup drives failed.
Rebecca Kim Wells
OMG what a DIFFICULT QUESTION I love it. Eurghhhh... Maybeeee Phillipa Soo as Maren, Karen Olivo as Kaia, and Telly Leung as Sev?
Rebecca Kim Wells
I could be coy but YES. YES IT WAS.
Rebecca Kim Wells
SO MANY. OH MY GOSH.
While there were a lot of books that impacted my growth as a person when I was young, I now gravitate toward books that make my jaw drop as in "I will never create something this amazing as long as I live!" or "This was unbelievably masterful, let me read this again immediately to figure out how."
Below, a small sampling:
- CODE NAME VERITY by Elizabeth Wein
- TESS OF THE ROAD by Rachel Hartman
- SCYTHE by Neal Shusterman
- CONVICTION by Kelly Loy Gilbert
- THE BEST WE COULD DO by Thi Bui
- SPINNING SILVER and UPROOTED by Naomi Novik
- HOW TO WRITE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY by Alexander Chee
- FAR FROM YOU by Tess Sharpe
- THE FIFTH SEASON by N. K. Jemisin
- A CROWN OF WISHES by Roshani Chokshi
...I should probably stop at ten.
While there were a lot of books that impacted my growth as a person when I was young, I now gravitate toward books that make my jaw drop as in "I will never create something this amazing as long as I live!" or "This was unbelievably masterful, let me read this again immediately to figure out how."
Below, a small sampling:
- CODE NAME VERITY by Elizabeth Wein
- TESS OF THE ROAD by Rachel Hartman
- SCYTHE by Neal Shusterman
- CONVICTION by Kelly Loy Gilbert
- THE BEST WE COULD DO by Thi Bui
- SPINNING SILVER and UPROOTED by Naomi Novik
- HOW TO WRITE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY by Alexander Chee
- FAR FROM YOU by Tess Sharpe
- THE FIFTH SEASON by N. K. Jemisin
- A CROWN OF WISHES by Roshani Chokshi
...I should probably stop at ten.
Rebecca Kim Wells
Future me: My favorite part was finishing it!
Current me, speaking from the depths of second round revisions: Finding those few pages that don't have editorial notes on them (or only two or three, anyway), and sitting back and thinking, "Ah, those are alright!" I definitely enjoy revising a lot more than first drafting--as the words get closer and closer to what I want them to be, I get happier. Sometimes I even have a little glow of "I AM a writer!"
That and writing an unapologetically queer girl in a world that doesn't punish her for it. That was FANTASTIC.
Current me, speaking from the depths of second round revisions: Finding those few pages that don't have editorial notes on them (or only two or three, anyway), and sitting back and thinking, "Ah, those are alright!" I definitely enjoy revising a lot more than first drafting--as the words get closer and closer to what I want them to be, I get happier. Sometimes I even have a little glow of "I AM a writer!"
That and writing an unapologetically queer girl in a world that doesn't punish her for it. That was FANTASTIC.
Rebecca Kim Wells
Yes! Although, as little as possible! Another book that heavily influenced my conception of the world and mechanics therein was Alyssa Harad's COMING TO MY SENSES: A STORY OF PLEASURE, PERFUME, AND AN UNLIKELY BRIDE. I fell totally in love with scent and perfume because of that book, and went down a very deep research rabbit hole that plays a big role in SHATTER THE SKY.
Rebecca Kim Wells
A lot of things went into the soup that became SHATTER THE SKY! I talked about one of the specific inspirations in a different question, so I'll talk guiding principles here: I wanted to write an unapologetic bisexual heroine in a world where being queer is unremarkable. I wanted to write an adventure featuring a girl who is afraid of the world, but finds her strength when it counts--who was never told she was special, but proves her worth through her own grit and determination. Plus dragons, of course!
Rebecca Kim Wells
The specific weird and true answer: reading Mark Kurlansky's SALT: A WORLD HISTORY. (Kurlansky writes these really interesting micro-histories--histories of the world through a particular lense. His books are a really accessible way to pick up weird facts!) In the book he talked about entire towns that basically existed around the production and trade of salt. (Similar to some mining or gold towns.) I read that and started thinking about what would happen to those towns if one day the salt disappeared--how would the town decline? This was the direct inspiration for Ilvera, Maren's hometown, and I started building the story from there.
Rebecca Kim Wells
This is not a great habit to have, but I find my most productive hours are 10pm-2am. I think it's something to do with the way the world quiets down. :)
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