We chat with author Lauren Kate about White Lights, which sees her return to the seductive world of angels with a ruthless romantasy, perfect for both Fallen fans and new readers alike.
Hi, Lauren! Welcome back! How have you been since we last spoke two years ago?
Hi Elise! So nice to be back. I’ve been great and happily busy and hope you’re doing well, too!
Your latest novel, White Lights, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Dark Academica with sexy angels
What can readers expect?
For me, White Lights is a return to the dark, sweeping world of angels. It’s the story of what happens when the Angel of Death quits Heaven—and the race to replace him begins. It takes place at a mysterious film school called Acheron, hidden in the Rocky Mountains, where an angel training ground springs up. The heroine, Desdemona, is a mortal filmmaker on the run from the cops for a crime she didn’t commit. So when gorgeous and enigmatic Rafe de la Cruz invites her to enroll at Acheron, it seems like the answer to all her prayers. Little does she know…
Where did the inspiration for White Lights come from?
A few years ago, I woke up from a dream with this line in my mind: Heaven is running out of angels. I knew the idea was connected to a verse in Genesis that’s always fascinated me about angels looking down from Heaven and lusting after mortal women. Scholars believe this moment of attraction led to the angels being cast out of Heaven. I’ve long wondered what would happen if more and more angels started choosing love over eternity. And in my dream, things reached the point where Heaven became a ghost town. This was an intriguing problem for a novel to circle, but I didn’t yet know who would tell the story, or how.
In the meantime, my best friend had a near death experience, and when she told me what happened to her, I became obsessed with some of the elements of NDEs, particularly the Life Review (what we experience as our “life flashing before our eyes when we die”). It’s incredible that our minds do this—but I started to think…what if the Life Reviews were actually crafted by a team of angelic filmmakers? From there, I began to imagine an Angel of Death whose job was to make these films and to distribute them into mortal cerebral cortexes. And what if, one day, he quit?
That’s when I knew I had the beginning of a story, an open door to let my heroine Desdemona walk through.
Now, as a big fan of the Fallen series (from the Sword & Cross Prom in Sydney to my name in the “honour roll” in Rapture), of which is still on my bookcase to this day, what was it like returning to angels and demons in this new story? And can we expect to discover any links to Fallen with it being set in the same world?
YES! Sword and Cross prom in Sydney is still one of my very favorite things that ever happened. I’m so glad you were there and that we got to celebrate together!
While White Lights is a new world with all new characters, both series were inspired by the same verse in Genesis (6:1-4), so both stories circle the idea of angels giving up their place in Heaven for a chance at mortal love. I will say curious readers have been reaching out and telling me how much fun they’re having on their easter egg hunts…
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
The dynamic between Dez and Rafe was delicious to write. It’s not a clean enemies to lovers arc…more like enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers to enemies, etc. Rafe endeared himself to me much more than I expected while I was writing—I had to get creative bending his character arc to accommodate more morally gray space for him to torment Dez and tantalize the reader.
There’s one scene that takes place at a gala during Acheron’s midterms. It’s meant to be a celebration, but it becomes a disastrous revelation for Desdemona, and it shifts the story into a new and higher-stakes realm for her. It’s also the moment when Rafe begins opening himself more fully to Dez, which was gorgeous for me to explore.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
Having just said all that about Rafe, I can admit that in the first draft he was a completely different character. Far more supportive, less of an adversary to Dez. And he wasn’t yet leaping off the page. After I finished the draft, I came to understand he needed occupy the place of an antagonist for much of the book. Once I let his bad boy side loose, he really came alive. I fell for him hard and fast, and so did Dez—though obviously she’d never admit it.
Looking back at your Fallen series and now working on this trilogy, how has your approach to writing changed?
It’s largely the same. I start with characters with big and noble goals, then let an increasingly complicated plot shape them into who they need to become. I ask my heroines to be as honest with the reader as possible, even when they’re inhabiting a world that’s wrought with secrets and lies. I proceed with a deeply romantic and optimistic heart, and I use it to fight against a dark, cruel, and dangerous world. I write love stories about people who believe love conquers all and who make damn sure that it does.
Any tease of what’s to come in the sequel?
A new sect of angels enters the chat, and things get even more dire for Desdemona and Rafe. In the first book we’re dealing with the Angel of Death; now Dez must contend with the Angel of Life…who is fantastically unhinged and running a sex cult.
What’s next for you?
I’ve just finished the second draft of the second book, so I’ll be finishing up the final drafts in the months to come and then turning toward the finale! Book Two will be out next summer!
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up? Any you’ve read so far this year that you’ve enjoyed?
I recently loved Fangs with Benefits by Kath Richards (coming soon!), Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab, A Hymn to Life by Gisele Pelicot, Scythe by Neal Shusterman, and Silver Elite by Dani Francis. Up next is The Serpent and the Wings of the Night by Carissa Broadbent.
