Today we are very excited to share an interview with Author Elisa A. Bonnin (The Night Kings Court)!
Meet the Author: Elisa A. Bonnin
Elisa A. Bonnin was born and raised in the Philippines, after which she moved to the United States to study chemistry and later oceanography. After completing her doctorate, she moved to Germany, where she now works as a scientific writer. A lifelong learner, Elisa is always convinced that she should “maybe take a class in something” and as a result, has amassed an eclectic collection of hobbies. But writing will always be her true love. Publishing a book has been her dream since she was eight years old, and she is thrilled to finally be able to share her stories. She is the author of Dauntless, Stolen City, and Lovely Dark and Deep.
About the Book: The Night King‘s Court
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
I got the inspiration for this book while traveling. I was living in Germany at the time, and it was right after travel restrictions had eased. My 30th birthday was approaching, and my mom had come over to visit so that we could celebrate together. We took the train to Munich and as part of that trip, went and saw Neuschwanstein Castle, the fairy tale castle you can see from a lot of the pictures of Germany. The castle was stunning, but I was really fascinated by the story of it. It was designed based on a fairytale and never finished, because work on it stopped after the king’s mysterious death. It had all of these interesting rooms, some of which (like the Grotto) made their way into the fictional Asteria, and the view from the windows was incredible. I found myself wondering about a fantasy version of that castle, one run by magic, and spent the rest of the trip planning out The Night King’s Court.
YABC: What came first, the concept, landscape, characters, or something else?
Definitely the setting! I had Asteria, the king’s castle, before I had anything else about the book, although I decided from almost the first day that the protagonist of the book would be part-Filipino, part-European, like me. I developed Ida’s character after I developed the setting of Asteria, so in a way, it does feel like the castle is one of the book’s main characters. Normally, I love developing characters and I struggle a bit with establishing settings, so this was a welcome change of pace for me!
YABC: If you could only write one genre for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Fantasy, easily. I’m basically already doing that anyway. I’ve only written two things in my life that weren’t fantasy. One was fanfiction of a slice of life show, and the other was a short bit of sci-fi, which never got published. I’ve always been drawn towards imagining worlds that play by different rules as our own, and imagining how the people that live in those worlds would get through their days, and I like how flexible fantasy is as a genre. I like that I can be as grounded in reality as I want to be, and no more than that.
YABC: What can readers expect to find in your books?
I think Night King is a better example of this than some of my other books, but I always try to invoke a sense of wonder in my writing. One of the things that drew me to the fantasy genre when I was younger was a sense of awe. I was intrigued by these worlds that seemed so unique and different, worlds that I loved to imagine myself in. I try to give that to my readers. The worlds I write are definitely not problem free, but even as the characters encounter problems and challenges, I try and make sure to keep that sense of adventure that drew me to fantasy and that kept me engaged.
YABC: Which was the most difficult or emotional scene to narrate?
It’s a bit of a spoiler, so I’m going to try to be as vague as possible. There’s a section of the book that takes place after Ida has more or less solved the mystery, but while she’s still in denial about certain things. In this section, which goes on for a few chapters, she makes quite a few bad decisions. It was important for me while I was writing this to show that Ida isn’t perfect, that she can be incredibly stubborn and that she has an extremely idealistic view about certain situations, which she will hold on to for as long as possible. But it was difficult for me to write this sequence of scenes because I still find it hard to write situations where my characters are being set up to fail.
I got into fantasy in the first place because I was inspired by the “wins”, those big hero moments that come onto the page or the screen with rising music and epic stakes. Those were, naturally, the first things I focused on when I was learning how to write. I also learned how to write moments of defeat and despair, moments where the protagonist thinks “all is lost”, only for them to get back on their feet and keep trying. But moments where the protagonist gets up and keeps trying in the entirely wrong direction? That was difficult for me to learn, and still something that I’m trying to work through. While The Night King’s Court does have a villain, for a not-insignificant section of the book, the person standing in Ida’s way is Ida herself, and I needed to make sure to get that right.
YABC: What is your favorite snack when writing?
I try not to snack too much while I’m writing because I end up getting distracted by snacking, and don’t end up writing as much. With a toddler at home, my time is limited so I usually end up writing in sprints. That said, I won’t say no to a cup of coffee to sip while I work, or a piece of chocolate!
YABC: What other age group would you consider writing for?
I would really love to write adult fantasy someday. I grew up reading fantasy before there was a truly defined YA category, so a lot of the fantasy I read was either for children or on the adult shelf, and when I started to write, I naturally gravitated toward what I thought was adult fantasy (it turns out that I was writing YA, but that’s a story for another time). I still love reading adult fantasy, and I’m just waiting for the right idea to hit. That said, I have so much respect for everyone who can write for younger kids (middle grade and lower). I love reading work in this age group but I wouldn’t know where to start writing it!
YABC: What do you do when you procrastinate?
Procrastination for me usually means finding anything possible to do to avoid actually sitting at my laptop and opening the document. If I do manage to sit down to write, the second I open my internet browser, all is lost. I’ll usually end up scrolling on social media, or researching “just one more thing” and not getting back to the book. Over the years, though, I’ve learned that one of the ways I can stop procrastinating is to give myself permission to not meet my writing goals. Usually, when I’m procrastinating, it’s because I feel stressed and tired and my goal feels so out of reach, so when I tell myself “It’s okay if you don’t get to 1,000 words, as long as you can write 500, or 250, or even 100”, it’s a lot easier for me to get myself to write. 100 words is around a paragraph, so it feels like a much more manageable goal, and usually by the time I’ve hit that, I’m warmed up enough to go for another 100, and another and another. I’ve often managed to trick myself into writing the entire 1,000 words this way.
YABC: What is your favorite writing space or routine?
I’ve discovered that the best way for me to actually sit down and write something is to plan to write in the morning, before I’ve been bogged down by all the tasks of the day. My favorite writing routine happens on days when I can work from home. I can take a cup of coffee to my desk, half an hour to an hour before my day job actually starts, and just write as much as I can. I used to always be able to find time to myself to write, but with a small child at home and a job that requires me to commute, it’s such a luxury to be able to sit in the quiet for a little bit and just write.
YABC: What’s up next for you?
Hopefully, the next book. I’m almost never without a project. Usually, by the time a book has gotten to the point where it’s been announced, and I’m working on edits, I’m already drafting something else in the background. But I’m not yet at the stage in my career where I’m confident that my drafts are going to end up getting published someday (does this stage even exist?). At the moment, I don’t have anything on contract, but I do have a few ideas that I’m really hoping take off. I already mentioned I’d love to try my hand at adult fantasy, and have a few ideas in that direction, but I also have a couple of YA ideas, including more books set in the Night King universe. Unfortunately, I don’t have anything concrete to share just yet.
If you’re interested in following along, though, I do have a newsletter that I regularly update, where I talk about everything new, and I always make sure to announce things on my social media. You can find all the relevant links here: https://linktr.ee/elisaabonnin.
