Interviewed by Mimi Bhalla
Rebecca Roanhorse is a New York Times best-selling author of speculative fiction, including several anthologies, short fiction, and novels such as The Sixth World series and the Between Earth and Sky trilogy. She is a Nebula, Hugo, and Locus Award-winner for her short stories and novels. In addition to writing fiction and non-fiction, Rebecca Roanhorse is also a TV writer for series such as the Marvel series Echo and FX’s A Murder at The End of The World. She lives in New Mexico with her husband, daughter, and dog.
SM: The release of your latest novel, Mirrored Heavens, brings your Between Earth and Sky series to an end. Give us a short description of what this series is all about.
RR: Between Earth & Sky is an epic fantasy trilogy inspired by the peoples of pre-Columbian Americas. The first book, Black Sun, follows the fate of various characters as they converge on the holy city of Tova under a solar eclipse that marks the shattering of an old world and the beginning of a new. The subsequent books, Fevered Star and Mirrored Heavens, lead us through this new world as characters discover their destinies and the gods prepare for war.
SM: Fascinating. One of the most challenging parts of writing fantasy and science fiction is the world building. What advice do you give to aspiring writers on building their fantasy world?
RR: Start with character, and let character lead your world building. Ask what your characters require to bring them alive and make their world rich and full, not the other way around. And remember, just because it’s in your head doesn’t mean it needs to be on the page. Be judicious and thoughtful with the details of your world.
SM: Your mother was an English teacher and your father was a professor. How did that upbringing impact your drive to write and publish stories?
RR: Of course. How could it not? I was taught to love books and stories from the very beginning and to always be curious. Ours was an intellectually rich household where reading and conversation was always encouraged.
SM: Besides being a science fiction writer, you’ve also written for Marvel comics and for TV. How does the experience of writing novels compare to writing comics versus TV?
RR: In the novel, the author is God, so to speak. You have pretty much total control over your world and the sky is the limit when it comes to what you include. An army of talking trees? Why not? TV writing is a collaboration with a room of writers, all working in support of the showrunner’s vision. You also have to always be aware of things like budget and appeal to the actor, etc. That army of talking trees is incredibly expensive, plus it hides the actor’s face. Not the best idea.
In comics, you’re writing and art directing in very small spaces on the page, always keeping in mind what the artist can achieve. The army of talking trees is doable, but how does that break down frame by frame? Can they fit in the panel? How will they move in 2D? Will it read well on the page?
SM: Your Between Earth and Sky series was heavily based on folklore of indigenous peoples in the Americas. What inspired your decision to write through a cultural lens?
RR: Actually, it’s based on the architecture, technologies, and science of Indigenous people. The “folklore” is mostly made up by me. But the advanced astronomy and city planning and sailing methods and trade routes are true to history, or at least close to true. I did take liberties for the sake of storytelling.
And the reason is authors who write epic fantasy do it all the time! Is anyone asking George RR Martin why he used the War of the Roses as the inspiration for A Song of Ice and Fire and why he writes through a European cultural lens? Probably not.
SM: So how do you preserve the cultural accuracy of native stories while still retaining your own original voice?
RR: This is fantasy. If you want cultural accuracy, look elsewhere. Toni Morrison warned us against becoming ethnographers and I took her words to heart.
SM: Well said. The intersection of queer representation with indigenous stories in your series is momentous for young readers from these backgrounds. Do you think that the issue of indigenous representation, specifically queer indigenous representation, gets enough attention in the publishing industry? How do you think that the fantasy/science fiction genre could be more inclusive enough of indigenous voices and storytellers?
RR: There are many Indigenous cultures where the gender binary did not exist before European conquest. Since my trilogy was inspired by these cultures, I wanted to include that element and make room for a third gender. In addition, if I am going to create a fantasy world, it’s going to have queer people because that’s the world I want. It’s also accurate since queer people exist in every world. It would be weird to leave queer folks out.
SM: Your Between Earth and Sky trilogy has just come to its conclusion with the release of Mirrored Heavens. What do we have to look forward from you next?
RR: As much as I have loved playing in the epic fantasy sandbox, my next book will be more of a near future climate thriller done my way. There will still be magic, a little enemies to lovers, and a touch of horror. I can’t wait until it’s out there for readers to enjoy.
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