A.K. Mulford: On Real Places Inspiring Fantasy Fiction
Bestselling author A.K. Mulford discusses the real-world places she’s lived that helped inspire her new LGBTQ+ fantasy novel, The Rogue Crown.
A.K. Mulford is a bestselling fantasy author and former wildlife biologist who swapped rehabilitating monkeys for writing novels. She/They are inspired to create diverse stories that transport readers to new realms, making them fall in love with fantasy for the first time, or all over again.
She now lives in New Zealand with her husband and two young human primates, creating lovable fantasy characters and making ridiculous TikToks. You can also find her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
In this post, A.K. discusses the real-world places she’s lived that helped inspire her new LGBTQ+ fantasy novel, The Rogue Crown, her hope for readers, and more!
Name: A.K. Mulford
Literary agent: Jessica Watterson
Book title: The Rogue Crown
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Release date: October 25, 2022
Genre/category: Fantasy/ LGBTQ+ Fantasy
Previous titles: The High Mountain Court, The Witches’ Blade
Elevator pitch for the book: A fae warrior investigates the murder of her queen while protecting the beautiful princess she may be falling for in this sapphic, high fantasy adventure.
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What prompted you to write this book?
I knew I wanted to bring the people in my life into my stories and create worlds with a wide range of character body sizes, races, sexualities, gender identities, and abilities. A lot of stories with diverse characters make their appearance or identity their whole character, and I set out to tell stories where my heroes have internal flaws and external obstacles that aren’t based around something like their sexuality.
For me, it’s a refreshing reprieve to be able to just go on these adventures with diverse characters. With this series, I set out to welcome more people into the world of romantic fantasy and, hopefully, help them fall in love with the genre.
I built the world of this series around the many countries I’ve lived in as a wildlife biologist—from South Africa to Guatemala to New Zealand. I wanted each court to have a distinctive feel, and I hope that the scents, flavors, nature, and textures of these places feel palpable to the readers. Every place I’ve lived has its own sense of humor, idioms, legends, and values, and I wanted the settings to feel as diverse as the characters in them.
Most of all with this series, I wanted to take the readers on an adventure, to escape the real world and journey into a fantastical realm. Now more than ever, I feel like getting lost in a good book is the greatest therapy. We laugh, we cry, we feel understood. Whether my readers connect with my characters on the deepest level or just enjoy traveling to a new realm, I love that this series can give them that.
The Rogue Crown follows fae warrior, Bri, who is a reader favorite from The Five Crowns of Okrith series. I was excited to be able to tell this story from her POV and take the action into a new part of this fantasy world which was based on my time living in South Africa. Bri is snarky, witty, and brave and I loved getting to dive deeper into her back story and finally give her a love interest!
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
It was roughly a year from the idea for The Rogue Crown to publication. I usually write what I call “pillar scenes” that prop up the framework of the story and then begin building the plot around them. Inevitably, by the end of the first draft the theme of the story reveals itself to me and I go back and begin to whittle down to the heart of the book.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
Having this series picked up by Harper Voyager was a pretty big surprise! It has been a fantastic experience working with the Voyager team and since this is the third book in the series, I’ve been able to enjoy the publishing process more and being able to take readers along this journey with me.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
I set out writing this book with the romantic and fantasy elements firmly in place, but I was surprised to unearth a murder mystery subplot that runs through the book! My swashbuckling protagonist naturally fit into the role of detective, and I had a lot of fun throwing some misdirection her way.
I was also surprised by how nostalgic I became for the South African savanna in the writing of this book, since the location of the Western Court is based on my time living as a wildlife biologist there.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
Bri is a masc lesbian character who falls in love with a plus size princess, and I hope that many people will get to see themselves in these characters. I hope people will have fun going on this new adventure with Bri and reading a romantic fantasy led by a main character they might not have read before.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Real people read our books. It’s easy to be so focused on the next new reader, the next sale, the next milestone, that we forget about our current readership. Nurture the relationships with people who already care about your stories and who will champion them out in the world.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
