Midnight Rose by C.W. Rose

 

1. What first inspired you to start writing, and why did you choose romantasy as your genre?

I can’t pinpoint an exact moment I knew I wanted to be a writer, I know I’ve always been an avid reader. I loved contemporary, fantasy, romance (when I was a teenager and older) novels. At some point, I began to wonder ‘what if this story ended differently?’ or ‘what if the characters were from a different ethnic background / other marginalized identity, how would they relate to the world differently?” And from there I started with Disney fanfiction, before graduating to novellas and short stories, and finally, my first novel at 16. Since I loved the romance and fantasy genres (because romantasy wasn’t really a thing when I was growing up), I often wished they would become a genre together. I love writing it because you can elevate a fantasy world by adding romantic tension in it, and vice versa. You can do more with a romance story when you have a fantasy world involved—double the escapism!

 

2. Did you always know you wanted to write a new adult story, or did it evolve naturally as you wrote?

I always knew I wanted to write for an older teen & adult audience. I’ve tried writing YA in the past, but personally, I don’t feel like I can relate to a teenager anymore. YA is tough to write in its own right. I explore darker themes, I like writing spice, and most of my characters’ backgrounds are more suited to someone at the very least, in their 20s.

 

3. What authors or books influenced your writing style the most?

Francine Pascal in my earliest stages of writing, and probably R.L. Stine. I enjoyed reading their contemporary style of writing. I also enjoyed Grace Draven’s Wraith Kings series a lot and learned a lot about writing worlds and relationships from her detailed worldbuilding and relationship portrayals, and I always say that series is what got me into the fantasy romance genre. Even later than that, Megan Bannen’s The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy combined a contemporary tone with a fantasy world, and I’d like to think that also played a part in my writing style today.

 

4. How did you come up with the world-building for your book—did you start with the magic system, the romance, or the characters?

I’m an ocean child and have experience scuba diving and swimming with a mermaid tail, so I could write authentic undersea experiences. I built OCEANSONG’s world as I wrote, especially when I had to think about how characters would move around in a weightless, constantly moving environment as a human vs a mer. Then I had to think about what furniture they would need, if any. How would they write and read? How do they sleep? What do they eat? How do they tell time in the deep sea? Even little things like how do they measure distances or the passing of time? In general, I have the very basic “lay of the land” of the world when I start out. What does the world look like, and will it be inspired by any specific culture? Everything else – theistic beliefs, groups of people, fantasy creatures, other languages, rules of magic if there is any, and so on, all come later. Sometimes I’m inspired by my own experiences, other times, from good old research.

 

5. Was there a particular scene or character that came to you first and sparked the story?

Yes! The very first scene that came to my head for Oceansong was human Angie and merman Kaden’s first meeting. I didn’t have any names or settings at this point, but I saw a human woman standing on the shoreline in a defensive stance, one hand held out in front of her. There was a merman half in and half out of the water, facing her. I knew there was a war involved, and I knew right away this was how our protagonists were going to meet.

 

6. How do you strike the balance between romance and fantasy in your storytelling?

Ensuring that there are romantic and world stakes to ensure the fantasy and romance aspects are balanced, and one doesn’t grossly overpower the other. For example in OCEANSONG, Angie, the protagonist, has to choose between her family or the merman and his people who she’s come to love and respect. So if she chooses her family, she’ll lose the merman she loves, and if she chooses the merman, she’ll lose her chance at the career she’s worked so hard for, and she’ll lose her family. She also struggles with knowing he’s supposed to be her enemy, and because my merfolk can’t shift, how they’re going to make a relationship work when she lives on land and he lives in the sea. And at times, they struggle to understand each other. And if Angie and her merman, Kaden, can’t find a way to stop the human-merfolk war, both their homes and families risk being destroyed.

 

7. Which of your characters do you relate to the most, and why?

I’d have to say Mia, Angie’s big sister. Her journey from the start to end of the book, of finding her own confidence and self-worth mirrored my own journey to find the same in my life.

 

8. Many romantasy books explore themes of love, power, and identity—what central theme does your book highlight?

I adore themes of love, power, and identity. Oceansong mostly highlights love, betrayal, power, environmentalism and sustainability, animal rights, and feminism. I believe women’s rights are human rights. In terms of animal rights, I strongly believe that they exist on this planet *with* us, not *for* us. Mahatma Gandhi said “the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”, and I never forgot that. I also am a strong advocate for environmentalism and sustainability, because we only have one planet, one home, and should be doing our best to protect and nurture it, not destroy it. Natural resources are not infinite.

 

9. Do you intentionally write morally gray characters, or do they develop naturally as the story unfolds?

They’re intentional! I have a brief idea of who my characters are going in, but as they always do, they take on lives of their own as I draft. ForOceansong, I knew most of the characters had to be morally gray because there is a war involved, and I feel like being morally gray comes with the territory.

 

10. How do you make sure your characters feel authentic and not just “tropes” readers have seen before?

It helps that my day job involves working with people, and I love to get to know my colleagues and patients. I’ve met people from all walks of life, have heard many, many life stories, and I like to say that there’s a little bit of everyone I’ve ever talked to in all my characters. I write the characters first and then figure out what tropes they fit into later for marketing purposes.

 

Writing Process

11. Can you walk us through your writing routine—are you a meticulous plotter or more of a discovery writer?

I am a quilter > plotter. I get an idea for a story, and then I let it marinate for a bit. Scenes start to come to my head out of order, and I write them all down, as nonsensical as they might sound at the time, in my phone notepad. Then once I have enough scenes and gather enough courage to decipher the wall of text of scenes I created, I start putting them together into a chapter-by-chapter outline, and only then can I start drafting. Put me in front of a blank page and ask me to write? I think my mind short-circuits.

 

12. What’s the most challenging part of writing romantasy for you—the fantasy world-building or the emotional depth of the romance?

The emotional depth. I can usually figure out world-building as I go, but I have to work at transcribing emotions to the page. A lot of times, I find that I’ll think or feel something that belongs in the story, and then realize much later that I never actually wrote it down or described it, and now readers are confused. 

 

13. Did you face any writer’s block while working on this book? If so, how did you overcome it?

Not for Oceansong in particular, but with other projects, yes, including Midnightsong. I knew how I wanted Oceansong to go. Otherwise, when I hit writers block, I get away from the laptop and do anything else except write. I might pleasure read or work on a beta read / ARC read for a friend, take a bath or shower, go for a walk or drive, cuddle with my dog, or run errands. The one thing that never fails to get me out of a writing slump is preparing to go to bed. Because the second I’m about to fall asleep (and always on a work night), my brain decides to solve my plot holes (and sometimes rewrite an entire subplot) and I show up to work looking like a zombie the next day.

 

14. How long did it take you from first draft to finished manuscript?

About six months, but that was after another six months or so before that to outline.

 

15. What do you hope readers feel or take away when they finish your book?

Like most (if not all) authors, I hope readers will take away what resonates most with them. Whether that be the importance of bravery and loyalty like Angie, wanting to take care of your home and being kind like Kaden, finding your own confidence like Mia, learning to accept someone very different from you like Zixin and Serapha, or something else entirely.

 

16. What do you do to get out of writing slump?

It depends on the cause of the writing slump. If I’m just not feeling inspired for that particular story,

 

17. If your book had a theme song or soundtrack, what would it be?

I’m terrible at creating playlists, and was lucky to have readers do that for me! The Great War by Taylor Swift and Rewrite the Stars from The Greatest Showman would be the perfect songs to showcase Angie and Kaden’s forbidden love and wanting someone you can’t have.

 

18. Do you think your story could one day be adapted into a film or series? Who would you dream-cast as your main characters?

I would love it if it ever gets adapted into a film or TV series. I think singer Roseanne Park (from Blackpink) would make a great Angie, and model James D. Kim would be a gorgeous Kaden. I see Gong Li as Mer-Queen Serapha, actor Song Wei Long as Mer-Prince Cyrus, actor Andrea Brillantes as Mer-Princess Adrielle, James Kyson Lee as Zixin, Alexander Ludwig as Nick, and Allison Teng as Mia.

 

19. What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received?

Make your characters react to everything. Every plotline has been done before, and it’s what you do with that plot and those characters that make it uniquely your own. Different people can react to situations in such a variety of ways. You want to make your readers invested in your story through the characters in it. 

 

20. Can you share a hint or teaser about what you’re working on next?

I have a few projects in the works, some started, and some are just concepts for now. I’ve completed the first draft of a romantasy centered around Chinese mythology and am revising that. I also have a contemporary romance set in my childhood hometown of Singapore, that’s fully outlined and halfway drafted. Finally, I’d love to write a spinoff novel or novella in the Oceansong universe. Even though Angie and Kaden’s story is done after Midnightsong, there are a couple other characters who are asking to have their own story told.