Interview with Rin Chupeco for The Never Tilting World

The Never Tilting World (The Never Tilting World #1)

by Rin Chupeco

Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: October 15th 2019

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Synopsis:

Frozen meets Mad Max in this epic teen fantasy duology bursting with star-crossed romance, immortal heroines, and elemental magic, perfect for fans of Furyborn.

Generations of twin goddesses have long ruled Aeon. But seventeen years ago, one sister’s betrayal defied an ancient prophecy and split their world in two. The planet ceased to spin, and a Great Abyss now divides two realms: one cloaked in perpetual night, the other scorched by an unrelenting sun. 

While one sister rules Aranth—a frozen city surrounded by a storm-wracked sea —her twin inhabits the sand-locked Golden City. Each goddess has raised a daughter, and each keeps her own secrets about her sister’s betrayal. 

But when shadowy forces begin to call their daughters, Odessa and Haidee, back to the site of the Breaking, the two young goddesses —along with a powerful healer from Aranth, and a mouthy desert scavenger —set out on separate journeys across treacherous wastelands, desperate to heal their broken world. No matter the sacrifice it demands.

Can you briefly describe your novel THE NEVER TILTING WORLD and the characters in it? 

In a world where a fatal catastrophe created the Great Abyss, splitting Aeon into two - one side forever cloaked in icy darkness, the other a permanent desert - twin goddesses are raised on the opposite ends of the planet, each believing the other dead. But when strange demons corrupted by the abyss offer the key to a healed, united world, both must undertake separate journeys to travel to the heart of the Breaking, aided by a mouthy desert nomad and a gruff ranger-healer, respectively. But such a promise comes with a sacrifice - and neither sister may be able to pay the price. 

Who would you say is your favourite character from the story and why? 

It's always gonna be Arjun, simply because of the four main characters in TNTW he's the one most like my personality! The others do have parts of my personality as well - I'm very stubborn like Haidee, am a sucker for romance like Odessa, and compartmentalize (and react poorly) to trauma like Lan. But when Arjun talks like hes a hotshot, or makes some sarcastic quip, or does something without thinking or bends over backwards for a girl he's crushing over - these are definitely things that I would do in his place. as I've mentioned before, I always like to point out that Arjun is a Hufflepuff convinced that he's a Gryffindor, but this is really just a self-own. 

How did the story occur to you? Did you find inspiration anywhere? 

I live in the Philippines, where the effects of climate change are a lot more visible than elsewhere, and I really wanted to write about where the main enemy is actually the world doing its best to kill you, because *you're* the parasite that's hurting them, instead of just dealing with the consequences of extreme weather without the story centering how it happened in the first place. I did a lot of research on eyeball planets, which are planets that have extreme heat on one side but extreme cold in the other (except for a place where the heat and cold meet, forming the "eyeball" feature on the world). It's theoretically a habitable planet, albeit in specific parts, so that's what I patterned Aeon around! 

If you could choose one song to describe your book, which one would it be? 

Rewrite the Stars by James Arthur. It speaks to all aspects of the story - about Odessa and Haidee separated for years, but with the implication that fate is destined to bring them together no matter what. That despite everything that's happened to the world, they'll be able to rewrite that same destiny because they're together. And romantically-speaking, it's also a nod to Lan and Arjun, who are exactly the kind of people the twins needed in that moment to do so. 

Fall is here and we love to go find our perfect spot and enjoy a good book. What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date? 

I haven't really been frequenting a lot of tea / drink places like I usually do in the past, in a bid to preserve my health, so the weird answer would be at a hotpot! I love how you can get so many varieties of flavor in just a pot. (This is also perfect for me, because I wound up in a lot of hotpots while writing TNTW. a lot of local hotpot places tend to put a metal divider in the middle of the pot so you can get two kinds of soup, which is also a really nice aesthetic when you're writing about a world torn into two halves!) 

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish THE NEVER TILTING WORLD? 

Nina Varelas' Crier's War will suit all your lovely f/f needs, and an oldie but goodie Mindy McGinnis' Not A Drop to Drink would also be perfect if you want to read more about the consequences of a broken world! 

What’s next for you? 

My next series, WICKED AS YOU WISH, will be out in March of 2020! I've got a couple of other WIPs in the works - strangely enough, they're adult fantasies this time! The characters that sprung to mind for them are much older and requires a lot more things that kids usually wouldn't be doing - they involve a gay heist and a demonic Regency romance, respectively!

Despite an unsettling resemblance to Japanese revenants, Rin always maintains her sense of hummus. Born and raised in Manila, Philippines, she keeps four pets: a dog, two birds, and a husband. Dances like the neighbors are watching.

She is represented by Rebecca Podos of the Helen Rees Agency. She is also fond of speaking in the third person, and may as well finish this short bio in this manner. While she does not always get to check her Goodreads page, she does answer questions posed to her here as promptly as she is able to.

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