A novel that truly showcases each and every character is one I can get behind in a heartbeat. I had a chance to read an early copy of Coco Ma’s debut novel, Shadow Frost, and it was clear that she valued her characters. She gave them rich and vivid pasts that helped them figure out their present turmoil. You can expect scandal, evenly matched wit and skill, intense magic, and fierce romance! This book has everything I wanted in a new young adult fantasy series and if you’re a fan of the genre or like rich characters like I do, then this is one to add to your TBR.
I had the pleasure of chatting to Coco about all things Shadow Frost, along with writing, recommendations, and more!
Hi Coco! Could you tell us a little about yourself?
Hello, lovelies! I’m currently a grad student at Yale University, and I love eating cake, skateboarding around campus, red pandas, Billie Eilish, strawberry-flavoured Pocky, Studio Ghibli, eating cake, dogs, Boba Guys, Kingsman: The Secret Service, and eating cake, in no particular order. I turned 19 last month and I’m still using that as an excuse to eat cake, so yeah, I really love cake. Sorry, every time I’m asked to introduce myself, I usually just try to veer the conversation to cake. Also, someone once asked me to tell me their life story and I answered with: “I was born.” And then I ran away.
Other than that, I’ve been playing the piano for about fourteen years and graduated from Juilliard a while ago.
Your debut novel, Shadow Frost, is set to release on October 1st! Can you tell us what it’s about?
Well, for starters, Shadow Frost is a YA-fantasy novel. It follows the story of a princess who volunteers to kill an immortal demon. Obviously, a lot of foreseeable problems in that sentence alone! The world of Shadow Frost is flush with magic—specifically, elemental magic. Everyone has these powers called affinities. Some have ice affinities, or fire affinities, or illusion affinities. Some have only one affinity, and some, like Princess Asterin, have multiple. Early on, Asterin discovers that a seemingly unconquerable demon is wreaking havoc in her kingdom. When she realizes that her powers may hold the key to defeating it, she and her badass magical warrior companions set off to hunt it down in the mysterious forest where it supposedly dwells. But darker forces are at work, and in a world of magic, nothing is ever as it seems… ( •̀ᴗ•́ )
What was one thing you knew you just had to include going into this story? Was there something you wanted to avoid?
I’ve always loved fairy tales, especially the originals, which tend to be a little more grim. So I knew that I wanted to interweave fairy tale elements into my writing, and though there is one particular story I drew a lot of inspiration from for Shadow Frost, the sequel includes a plethora of more. Even so, I tried to keep it subtle, and I love it when people suddenly realize halfway through the book or later that they’ve been in this alternate version of a familiar fairy tale all along. In terms of characters, it was really interesting for me to write teenagers as a teenager myself. When I was writing Shadow Frost, I knew it would be YA. Asterin, the protagonist, is a very headstrong, independent female character, but she’s young. She makes a lot of mistakes and faces the consequences. And personally, giving her room to make those mistakes, as well as to develop and grow up, has been pretty therapeutic for me, because it’s helped me shape myself into the person I am now.
Other features include alternating POVs of a huge cast (*cough cough thank you Six of Crows I love you cough*), and characters that look like they could kill you but are actually cinnamon rolls. Or characters that look like cinnamon rolls but could actually kill you.
What inspired you to write Shadow Frost?
Honestly, I didn’t know I was writing Shadow Frost until I was about halfway through the story and I suddenly realized that I was apparently writing a book! But so many things have inspired me to write in general. Authors include VE Schwab, Leigh Bardugo, Holly Black, Laini Taylor, and a boatload of others. I read so many books before I fell in love with writing. I used to read books while I practiced piano. Like, at the same time. Obviously, that habit was A Bit Not Good, and I knew it, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. So I had a bunch of pre-planned hiding places for my books in the vicinity of the piano in case my parents walked by, which included inside the piano itself (sorry, piano), under my sweater, in the hood of my sweater, propped against the inside ledge of an oil painting canvas beside the piano (one of my proudest hiding spots), and even fixed to the underside of my piano bench with string. The secrets are all out now!!! @Juilliard please don’t rescind my diploma!
What did you find to be the easiest to write? Hardest? Favourite?
I used to love writing dialogue the most because I just pretended to be all of the characters at once. You know when you recall a conversation you had while you’re in the shower? And you think of a really good comeback that you totally should have used? Yeah, I did that a lot, and it usually ended up in the dialogue, some way or another. I like to believe that I’ve diverged from that rather questionable writing tactic, but I remember that writing dialogue was a lot of fun for me in Shadow Frost. The most difficult scenes for me to write are generally those that involve innocents suffering or getting hurt. Unfortunately, however, that is a reality in our real world, and often leaders leap into action only in the aftermath of a catastrophe or tragedy. On that note, my favourite parts to write are character arc tipping points, which do tend to occur in the face of life-changing circumstances. And of course, I adore writing scenes focused on the characters and their relationships to one another!
You started writing this when you were 15. How did you manage to balance your writing with school?
When I was in high school, I had a lot more opportunity to write my book while I was actually in class. Like, most teachers didn’t allow random laptop usage, but I would print out the entire manuscript and edit on paper. No one questioned it! That is definitely not possible nowadays, laptop or not. If you drop your pen and bend down during a Yale lecture, you miss like 10% of the material on the final exam. Just kidding, but seriously. Anyway, I’ve gotten a lot better at time management over the years, but I think the whole balancing act requires a lot of flexibility. Some days, it takes me like an hour to write 300 words because I’m super distracted. I’ve learned to accept that those days are better spent doing other things, whether that means studying or taking a quick skateboarding breather around campus. I think I’m really lucky, because people always say, “take a break to do the things you love,” and… gosh, I really love writing. Like, a lot. So it never really feels like I’m forcing myself to do it, you know? That’s really important, I think.
I’ve always said that characters are what make or break a story and in Shadow Frost, you did an excellent job at making each person unique and bursting with character. You even built in backstories for many of them. How did you go about fleshing out your characters like that?
*blushes* Aww, thank you! Well, I definitely need to mention here that Six of Crows is one of my favourite books ever. Of course, it goes without saying that Leigh did a spectacular job with all of the POV juggling. And in general, I prefer the relationship dynamics of a team of characters over a lead with supporting characters. So I was very invested right from the start, and I love a good backstory. Sarah J Maas did one reveal in Heir of Fire, I think, and it left me shooketh for days. My editor suggested pretty early on that I make a chart of all the characters and list out their characteristics, strengths, weaknesses, and motivations, and though it seemed kind of boring to do at the time (sorry, Scott), it actually really provided me a much clearer insight into the inner workings of every character. 11/10 would recommend.
What can we expect in the sequel? And how many books do you hope will be in the series? Any hints?
Shadow Frost is going to be a trilogy, I believe, with the potential of a standalone collection of legends about the nine elemental gods and goddesses featured in the series. I know a lot of people wish they could know more about the Immortals in Shadow Frost, but there are so many of them! I’d definitely be down to actually publish those legends since they already lurk in the back of my mind, but we’ll see.
For the sequel, you can expect… pain. And triumph. And suffering. Lots of suffering. And character development. And cake, of course. It’s a pretty wild ride. In all seriousness, though, the sequel will introduce a few new high stakes players as well as explore the Immortal Realm on a much deeper level. I think the pacing is quite different because every character is facing the imminent threat of running out of time… in every sense of the expression.
Do you have any advice for aspiring novelists?
You know the phrase, don’t work hard, work smart? Hot take: work hard and work smart. That’s how I approach everything in life. And also, never stop being ambitious.
I’ve also heard that you’re somewhat of a Netflix fiend, have any recommendations?
SEX EDUCATION JUST WRAPPED SEASON 2.
That is all I’m going to say.
Lastly, do you have any book or author recommendations for us?
Oh, yeah. Just look in the acknowledgments of Shadow Frost. Pick any of the authors that I mention in there. Spoiler alert: VE Schwab is at the top of that list.
