Today I'd like to welcome L.K. Hill, author of the new historical fiction release, Citadels of Fire, and ask her one of my favorite questions!
What scares you, and how does it influence your writing?
I was asked to address what scares me and how it influences my writing. This is such an interesting question, and one I don’t think I’ve ever thought about in much detail. Obviously what scares me would influence my writing, but I’ve never thought about it in that way before.
In terms of Citadels of Fire, my new historical fiction, I think it’s really all about letting go of your insecurities. Inga, my female protagonist, is a bit of a hard sell as a character. As female characters go, she’s not particularly strong. And let’s face it, we like our female characters to have some spunk, right? Her arc throughout the trilogy will be the most dynamic, though. This is a story about her becoming a strong woman. And by strong, I mean confident, secure, able to let someone else love her.
Inga is a servant and has been told her entire life how little she is worth compared to the upper classes. She’s experienced little that isn’t fearful, painful, and dark. Because of this, she feels very unworthy, very inadequate. She doesn’t know how to value herself enough to let someone else truly love her. It’s something she’ll have to learn as the story progresses.
We all have feelings of inadequacy at some point in our lives. Being familiar or intimate with another human being, even if it’s just on an emotional level, can be a scary thing. In my opinion, the vast majority of us do just fine. That fact is a triumph of the human spirit, and one that’s often taken for granted.
My fears definitely influence my writing. This story appeals to me because, at least to some extent, I’ve been in Inga’s shoes. Most of us have. Take her story to an extreme, throw in a romance with horrendous obstacles, and set it against the backdrop of Ivan the Terrible’s brutal reign, and you just might have something worth reading.
So what’s the moral of the story? 1) If you want to write well, fears are a great place to start. They’re compelling, and something every audience can identify with. Just make sure you also have some way to overcome them. Otherwise, your story loses its hope. 2) As a reader, understand that most great stories are born out of either human fear or the desire to experience true beauty. And those two things are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
Here’s to looking our fears in the face and living to write about the tale.
In terms of Citadels of Fire, my new historical fiction, I think it’s really all about letting go of your insecurities. Inga, my female protagonist, is a bit of a hard sell as a character. As female characters go, she’s not particularly strong. And let’s face it, we like our female characters to have some spunk, right? Her arc throughout the trilogy will be the most dynamic, though. This is a story about her becoming a strong woman. And by strong, I mean confident, secure, able to let someone else love her.
Inga is a servant and has been told her entire life how little she is worth compared to the upper classes. She’s experienced little that isn’t fearful, painful, and dark. Because of this, she feels very unworthy, very inadequate. She doesn’t know how to value herself enough to let someone else truly love her. It’s something she’ll have to learn as the story progresses.
We all have feelings of inadequacy at some point in our lives. Being familiar or intimate with another human being, even if it’s just on an emotional level, can be a scary thing. In my opinion, the vast majority of us do just fine. That fact is a triumph of the human spirit, and one that’s often taken for granted.
My fears definitely influence my writing. This story appeals to me because, at least to some extent, I’ve been in Inga’s shoes. Most of us have. Take her story to an extreme, throw in a romance with horrendous obstacles, and set it against the backdrop of Ivan the Terrible’s brutal reign, and you just might have something worth reading.
So what’s the moral of the story? 1) If you want to write well, fears are a great place to start. They’re compelling, and something every audience can identify with. Just make sure you also have some way to overcome them. Otherwise, your story loses its hope. 2) As a reader, understand that most great stories are born out of either human fear or the desire to experience true beauty. And those two things are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
Here’s to looking our fears in the face and living to write about the tale.
About Citadels of Fire
In a world where danger hides in plain sight and no one aspires higher than what they were born to, Inga must find the courage to break the oppressive chains she’s been bound with since birth. Even as a maid in the infamous Kremlin, life in 16th-century Russia is bleak and treacherous. That is, until Taras arrives. Convinced that his mother’s death when he was a boy was no mere accident, he returned from England to discover what really happened. While there, he gains favor from the Tsar, later known as Ivan the Terrible, the most brutal and notorious ruler ever to sit upon the throne of Russia. Ivan allows him to take a servant, and to save Inga from a brutal boyar’s intent on raping her, Taras requests Inga to stay in his chambers. Up against the social confines of the time, the shadowy conspiracies that cloak their history, and the sexual politics of the Russian Imperial court, Inga and Taras must discover their past, plan for their future, and survive the brutality that permeates life within the four walls that tower over them all, or they may end up like so many citizens of ancient Russia: nothing but flesh and bone mortar for the stones of the Kremlin wall.
About L.K. Hill
L.K. Hill has a degree from Weber State University, and has won numerous writing awards, including garnering first place in the 2011 League of Utah Writer Writing Contest. When she’s not writing, Hill relaxes with her family in Ogden, Utah, while maintaining constant communication with her many followers.
You can find her on her blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter.
You can find her on her blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter.
