Ask the Author: Cindy Pham
Answered Questions (2)
Cindy Pham
Since ‘The Secret World of Briar Rose’ is based on my experience with depression and suicidal ideation, many of my traits and habits are imbued into the main characters, particularly when it comes to my flaws.
For Corin, I’ve based all my worst traits into that character and dialed them up by 100, so I’m sure she will be quite an unlikable character haha. She’s overly negative, resentful, selfish, lashes out on people, often spirals into self-loathing… I like to think I’m more put together than she is, but her character is an outlet for me to give in to being deeply flawed. She is not an easy person to root for, and I probably would not be friends with her IRL. But as a writer, I enjoyed digging deeper behind her anger and shame to see the vulnerabilities in how she came to be this way.
For Amelia, it’s her listlessness, passivity, cowardice, and desire to run away from her problems and seek escapism. The character of Sleeping Beauty is often criticized for her lack of agency, but I find that living with depression makes it difficult to be “brave” or “strong”, and so I heavily leaned in to those “weak” qualities with my characters instead.
Malicine will probably be readers’ favorite character because I imbued more of my snarkiness and humor into their dialogue, which will be a nice reprieve from the other characters bumming us out!
For Corin, I’ve based all my worst traits into that character and dialed them up by 100, so I’m sure she will be quite an unlikable character haha. She’s overly negative, resentful, selfish, lashes out on people, often spirals into self-loathing… I like to think I’m more put together than she is, but her character is an outlet for me to give in to being deeply flawed. She is not an easy person to root for, and I probably would not be friends with her IRL. But as a writer, I enjoyed digging deeper behind her anger and shame to see the vulnerabilities in how she came to be this way.
For Amelia, it’s her listlessness, passivity, cowardice, and desire to run away from her problems and seek escapism. The character of Sleeping Beauty is often criticized for her lack of agency, but I find that living with depression makes it difficult to be “brave” or “strong”, and so I heavily leaned in to those “weak” qualities with my characters instead.
Malicine will probably be readers’ favorite character because I imbued more of my snarkiness and humor into their dialogue, which will be a nice reprieve from the other characters bumming us out!
Cindy Pham
When I first thought about the dreamworld in 'The Secret World of Briar Rose', I pictured the afterlife depicted in 'The Lovely Bones', particularly the montage in the movie where the surreal landscape shifts instantly between seasons and changes based on the character's emotions. This inspired me to split the dreamworld into seasons: Winterland, Springland, Summerland, and Autumnland. Malicine's magic separates these regions for easy compartmentalization, but the intrusion of characters who cannot compartmentalize their emotional baggage (like the main character, Corin) will disrupt the environment.
I was also inspired by Ghibli films' rich natural landscapes and whimsical aesthetic with underlying themes about war. I like the idea of using a lush fantasy world to ground heavy stories about human suffering.
A big aesthetic inspiration was also cottagecore. This felt fitting for Briar Rose since cottagecore is a response to the stresses of modern life and intertwined with sapphic culture. But it's also a romanticized view of rural life for the privileged and conveniently ignores rural poverty and realism. So it was fun writing that tension between a beautiful world created by a manic pixie dream girl and a cynical main character who suspects the rot beneath!
I was also inspired by Ghibli films' rich natural landscapes and whimsical aesthetic with underlying themes about war. I like the idea of using a lush fantasy world to ground heavy stories about human suffering.
A big aesthetic inspiration was also cottagecore. This felt fitting for Briar Rose since cottagecore is a response to the stresses of modern life and intertwined with sapphic culture. But it's also a romanticized view of rural life for the privileged and conveniently ignores rural poverty and realism. So it was fun writing that tension between a beautiful world created by a manic pixie dream girl and a cynical main character who suspects the rot beneath!
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Feb 04, 2026 04:23AM