It was great to see so many questions in the inbox this week ahead of our first release. I think I got to everyone individually, and some of you may be featured in subsequent newsletters if we hit a dry spell. I do encourage any and all readers to send your questions to the inbox. I love reading them, and I’ll always try to provide a thoughtful response.
This week’s printed question comes from Ryan K. in Princeton, NJ:
What are some of the works that inspired Tales of Ciel?
Thanks, bud. I know some writers love rattling off inspirations, but I’ve always struggled with the question TBH. Everything I write is the product of all the furniture in my mind. That’s 40 years of reading, writing, watching movies, playing video games, raising children, traveling, schooling, workshopping, working, and just generally existing as a human being in the world. I could share my research fodder with you, and I’m happy to do so, but that won’t accurately answer the question. I’m not even sure that I am consciously aware of all the inspirations that inform Tales of Ciel or Ardent Wings on Jealous Skies specifically. Reading the first critical and reader reviews has actually been an eye-opening experience. Readers have been picking stuff out that I wasn’t even previously aware of. In hindsight, these observations are undeniable.
In the spirit of answering every question thoroughly and honestly, I’m going to take a three-pronged approach. Prong one: these were the works I picked up with intention in the research and drafting phase:
- Ursula LeGuin’s Earthsea Cycle
- Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates by David Cordingly
- Michael Foster’s The Book of Yokai
- The comic series Wayward by Steven Cummings and Jim Zub
- The manga One Piece by Eiichiro Oda
- Black Sails TV series
Ursula Leguin is one of my favorite fantasists, so you may see her fingerprints on a lot of my writing. One Piece was probably the most influential source directly informing the aesthetic of Ciel.
Prong two: The grandmasters of the form. These are the fantasy writers that I’ve admired for decades. I’ve read and reread their works–as a fan, as an aspirant, and most recently as a colleague. Almost 20 years into this trade, I like to think I’m pretty confident in my own voice as a writer. I would never set out to emulate another writer’s style so explicitly, but these master fantasists were my first and most formative teachers, and I do carry lessons from their writing into my own work.
After LeGuin, George R.R. Martin is the class of fantasy creators. As popular as he’s become via the HBO series, I still think he’s underrated. Lev Grossman dubbed him “The American Tolkien,” and I don’t think it’s unwarranted; Robert Jordan is the king of compelling character arcs. I don’t think he gets enough credit for his ability to sustain an internal journey over the 14 massive tomes that comprise The Wheel of Time; In a literary culture that celebrates sparseness, Catherynne Valente gave me permission to write with flair. Her work always reminds me that prose can be ornate without turning purple; And I can’t leave out the Weirdos–specifically China Mieville and Jeff Vandermeer, who helped free me from the chains of fantasy tropes and taught me how to cultivate a sense of the uncanny, one of the more challenging literary moods to execute.
Prong three: the subconscious influences. An old friend who read the ARC of Ardent Wings told me that the world reminded him of the old video game Skies of Arcadia, which I did play and enjoy as a teenager. I haven’t picked it up since and didn’t reference it at any point in the planning, but I can’t unsee the comparison. I’ve also been intrigued by all the critical reviews responding positively to the authenticity of the sibling dynamic between Vanna and Effie. I grew up with three brothers, all close in age, so I suppose writing compelling sibling drama comes naturally, and I’m heartened to hear that so many readers found something to love in the relationship between the central characters.
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