Doing What Feels Authentic to the Characters: 5 Questions with Kerri Maniscalco, Author of Throne of the Fallen

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What made you decide to extend the world of the Kingdom of the Wicked series into books for adults?

Before the first trilogy sold, I brainstormed story ideas for each prince, hoping I’d get to tell their sinful tales one day too. My agent and I pitched the idea when we were in the process of selling the Kingdom trilogy, but seven books is a pretty huge commitment to ask for from a publisher that far in advance. I kept my journal of ideas ready and knew if it ever happened, they’d have to be adult books because the princes aren’t teenagers and have long histories that are much more adult in scope and content. Plus, I’m a big romance reader, so I definitely wanted to delve into that more too.

Throne of the Fallen is technically a standalone novel. How did your writing process for it differ from your process for writing a series?

I loved getting to sit down and write a complete story arc for the characters all in one go! Tension in books is one of my favorite things as both a reader and a writer — whether it’s romantic tension, mystery, or atmospheric, so I concentrated on crafting high stakes for each character, then decided to use a dual POV narrative to give readers a full look into each character’s head. It was interesting to see what their individual goals were and how those motivations created tension between them. Using third person is also something that differs from when I wrote Kingdom of the Wicked strictly from Emilia’s POV and in first person.

Writing is a deeply personal creative endeavor, but it’s also one you share with the world. How do you balance writing the story the fans want and the one you need to tell?

This is always really tough because the reader in me always wants to give other readers exactly what they want. (And I TOTALLY get how readers feel when something ends on a cliffhanger — it’s both the best and WORST, right?!? — but sometimes you have to make the hard choice for the story itself.) The evil author in me does get a kick out of it when a reader goes feral when they get to the end of the Kingdom books, especially Kingdom of the Cursed and that cliffhanger. What I always keep in mind is to remember to do what feels authentic to the characters first and foremost. Adding something to please readers is completely okay, with the caveat that it has to organically fit into the narrative and feel like it belongs, otherwise it won’t land in a satisfying way. It’s a balancing act for sure!

What changes in your writing process when switching from YA to adult?

To me, YA is more about coming of age, where the characters are either trying to find their place in the world or find out who THEY are, and I draft their stories and backstories with that in mind. In adult titles, the main characters have different struggles and baggage and are obviously older. It’s not simply about spicy content or swearing. In my opinion that doesn’t equate to adult exclusively, so when I’m sitting down to write an adult title, I’m really exploring the years leading up to the characters before they meet. What shaped them, what hurt them, who have they grown to be right when we meet them on the page and how that may or may not change by the end of the book, depending on their individual growth are all questions I ask myself during the drafting phase.

You’ve brought many beloved characters from your series like Envy into this novel, but you also introduce new characters like Miss Camilla Antonius. How does your writing change when you’re mixing new and old characters?

I seriously love to bring in old favorites! I’ve been waiting what feels like forever to delve into Envy’s backstory and explore his character in a much deeper way, so everything almost feels new in a sense. And in a lot of ways, it is. We’re seeing Envy from his perspective, he’s baring himself in his chapters, giving us a clear idea of what makes him tick and what’s at stake, and when he meets Camilla it’s like two stars colliding. I love how they play off each other. Rivals to lovers and forced proximity are some of my favorite tropes, so coming up with different ways for new characters like Camilla to play against Envy and best him at his games makes for interesting writing days. I had such a great time with writing Throne of the Fallen and my hope is for readers to have just as much fun reading it!