New York Times bestselling author duo Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner have crafted a gripping tale of magic and logic, fate and choice, and a deadly love. Perfect for fans of Laini Taylor and Brandon Sanderson.
We sat down with the co-authors to talk to them about their new novel The Other Side of the Sky, which releases on September 8th, what it’s like writing together, book recommendations, and more! If you’re interested in pre-ordering it, click here to check out the wonderful offer that is available!
Hi, Amie and Meagan! Tell us a bit about yourselves, including one somewhat unusual tidbit!
We’re besties who live in two different countries – Meg’s in North Carolina and Amie’s in Melbourne, Australia. We met fifteen years ago this month in an online community (never let anyone tell you internet friendships aren’t the real deal) and we’ve talked pretty much every day ever since then. We’ve been roomies and travelled the world, and lots of places we’ve been, from crumbling ruins in Cambodia to sleek cities in Japan to rainforests along the Amazon show up in little hints of the world we explore in The Other Side of the Sky!
With the current state of the world, what are you both doing to cope with the changes we’ve had to make with our day-to-day?
It’s tough, and no mistake – we both have the luxury of already working from home as full-time authors, but we’re both separated from family, and like everyone else, we’ve been scared and stressed this year. We’re trying to check in with friends as often as we can via text, calls or video chats, we’re monitoring how much time we spend engaging with news cycles that are just repeating the same information, and we’re asking a little less of ourselves. Back in March, we actually wrote a whole newsletter about ways to handle working from home, and take care of yourself: you can find it here.
The Other Side of the Sky releases on September 8th! If it could only be described in five words, what would they be?
Magic vs science, with romance.
What inspired The Other Side of the Sky?
It started with a question – could we write a series that had readers arguing with themselves all the way to the end about whether it was science fiction or fantasy? From there these two intricate worlds grew, and two people emerged from them – the prince of a high tech city in the sky, and the living goddess of the magical world below. Each absolutely believes in their own version of the story, but slowly, as they learn about each other’s worlds and start to fall for each other, each begins to ask questions…
Were there any challenges you both faced while writing?
So many! One was to create a really intense, slow-burn romance that kept the reader fanning themselves… even though the two characters involved aren’t allowed to touch. Another was that we didn’t just have to lay out the worldbuilding for one world for the reader – we had to explain who completely different places, a science-fiction city and a world of magic.
Without spoiling too much, is there a favourite moment that was really fun to write?
One of our two characters, Nimh – the goddess – has a cat who’s been with her since he was a kitten. Because she can’t touch another person, the cat’s her most beloved companion. Our prince, North, comes from a sky city where there aren’t any animals, so his first encounters with the cat were huge fun to write. He’s wary, to say the least!
Starbound and Unearthed are two series that you both have previously co-written together. How has the writing process developed over the last eight years?
Every book shows up a little differently, but what’s funny is that our process hasn’t changed much at all in six books! We’re extremely collaborative, and we spend a lot of time talking through ideas, musing together, teasing out possibilities until we’ve got something that makes us sit up and say yes, that’s it! One part of our process that is usually vital happens when Meg’s in Australia – we head to the hot springs near Amie’s house, and soak for hours as we brainstorm. We swear that place has ideas in the water. Of course we haven’t been able to do that this time… so we both took hot baths and jumped on the phone. Whatever gets the job done, people!
Lastly, what are you both currently reading and do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
Right now Amie’s reading None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney—it’s basically a YA Silence of the Lambs, perfect for people who love Mindhunter, and it’s fantastically scary and requiring all the lights on, all of the time.
Meg’s reading All These Monsters by Amy Tintera, because Amie shoved it at her face—that’s something we do a lot. It’s a near-future thriller about a girl who joins a squad to help hunt down the monsters that have invaded Earth, and it’s impossible to put down.
You can find Amie on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Meagan can be found on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
