Article contributed by Ellie King
To steal a phrase from one of the illustrious authors in this interview, hi my friends! I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, the incredible authors of Aurora Burning. These two authors are some of my absolute favourites and, lets face it, I would read their grocery lists if they published them.
Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff are both international bestselling and award winning authors of fantasy and science fiction and when their powers combine, they create some of the most incredible and heart wrenching fiction I have ever read. Together they have written The Illuminae Files and now The Aurora Cycle.
Aurora Burning picks up where Aurora Rising left us and what follows is a host of shocking revelations, bank heists, inappropriately tight bodysuits, a hefty dose of space snark, and an epic firefight that will determine the fate of the galaxy.
What inspired you to become an author?
A – I’ve been a storyteller as long as I was a kid, but I’m not sure I even knew you could be an author until I met some when I was a teenager. They were… surprisingly human. Awesome, but also just people like I was. Which meant I could probably do what they did. That’s one of the reasons I try to do a lot of events, so I can pay it forward!
J – I used to work in advertising, and spent a lot of time telling stories for other people and companies in order to sell cars or breakfast cereal and whatnot. I decided to try and tell stories people would want to hear, rather than ones intended to convince them to buy things they probably didn’t need.
What is your favourite part of your job?
A – I really love live events, because it’s such an amazing chance to connect with readers – without them, we wouldn’t get to do what we do. But I also love my early morning or late night writing sessions, when it’s dark outside and everything’s quiet, and I get to slip away into a different world.
J – Meeting readers. I’m eternally grateful to everyone who lets me do this for a living, and don’t ever want to take it for granted.
Do you find your writing process changes when you have a co-author?
A – I used to be a real outliner, and I’ve actually become less of one as time goes by—but when I’m co-authoring I have to, because we can’t both be randomly killing off someone the other one needed for the next chapter. If we’re going to weave our voices together, we have to make sure we both know where the road is heading!
J – I tend to fly by the seat of my pants when I write solo, but working with another author usually means you have to plot far more intensely – your partner needs to know what the hell you’re planning to do! That said, now that I’ve had practice on outlining, I do tend to do more of it in my solo work too. I ended up fully outlining the last half of Empire of the Vampire for example, which I probably wouldn’t have been able to do without the practice I got from co-authoring.
Are there any rituals you do at the start or end of writing a book?
A – When I finish, I do something to celebrate. Usually I’ve been working madly to a deadline, so I take my tired self down to a place by the beach near me, get a milkshake, and just stare out to sea and decompress.
J – Bourbon.
Music while writing or reading. Yay or nay?
A – No music, but I quite like white noise if I really need to concentrate. Usually I go with the sound of rain, or a soundtrack I have that sounds like a busy café.
J – Music, yes. But nothing with lyrics. I listen to a lot of classical when I’m writing my fantasy work. Movie scores work well, too, depending on the mood I’m trying to capture. One of my favourite bands (Northlane) tend to release instrumental versions of their albums, so I listen to a lot of them when I’m writing my sci-fi stuff.
What was your favourite scene in Aurora Burning?
A – The final chapter. I love how it came together.
J – Same. Final Chapter. People got quite upset with us about it
Do you have a favourite Easter egg the other author surprised you with?
A – The ones I like best are usually the ones I find out about much later on—we’ll be at an event and Jay will mention that something’s a shout-out to a band or someone he knows, and I love that feeling of still discovering stuff about my own book after it’s written!
J – Amie put an Easter Egg in Obsidio that only she and I will ever understand. I like the idea of telling a joke in front of hundreds of thousands of people that only 2 people will get, but to them, it’s hilarious.
Imagine: You are dragged into an intergalactic war and have five minutes to get to your ship. What items are in your grab bag?
A – I wouldn’t survive more than six minutes, to be honest, so I’d probably grab a chocolate bar and enjoy what time I had left! I’m not as badass as our characters.
J – Blaster, breather, booze. Plus my uniglass/copy of hitchhiker’s guide.
The Aurora Cycle is planned to become a TV series. Who is in your dream cast?
A – Strange though it sounds, we don’t really have one. We’d love to see some people we don’t know yet playing the lead roles.
J – I’d like to see some up and coming actors who’ve not yet broken out. Preferably age-appropriate. It always strikes me as odd watching 30 year olds play teenagers.
Your other works have inspired tattoos for your readers (me included). Have you seen any Aurora Cycle ones yet?
A – I’m not sure, Jay, have we? There are so, so many Illuminae tattoos, but the state of the world means we haven’t really been out and about to meet readers, so we haven’t had a chance to see their artwork as we usually would!
J – I don’t think I’ve seen one yet! Hopefully one day. It’s always an incredible compliment when someone likes your words so much they carve them into their skin for life.
The Aurora Cycle is a trilogy. Any chance it will be extended beyond the three books or will it be wrapped up with a pretty bow at the end?
A – I’m not sure about a pretty bow… It’ll be a trilogy, though.
J – Lol.
What are some books you would recommend to readers who love Aurora Rising and Aurora Burning?
A – Oh, so many! I’ll pick TOXIC by Lydia Kang, IN THE DARK SPACES by Cally Black, and ALL THESE MONSTERS by Amy Tintera, which is out in just a few weeks!
J – THE FIRST SISTER by Linden Lewis, ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis
Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions! Now I will resume impatiently waiting for Aurora Cycle 3, Empire of the Vampire, and The Other Side of the Sky!
I want to play the role of Zila 🙋🏾♀️
Have read all her books and collaborations to date and loved them. Cant wait for the third book in the Aurora series and have just finished reading her other collaboration with Meagan Spooner the other side of the sky. Again looking forward to the sequel for this one also.
Loved Kristoff’s work. Haven’t read their shared writing. Will put on my so for sure reading list!