CRC#2: Sapphics Rise, Empires Fall w/ C.L. Clark, Tasha Suri, and Shelley Parker-Chan

Welcome to Common Room Conversations!

Hello again! We loved this format so much that we decided to make it a regular thing! For those not in the loop, the idea is that we invite a number of authors into a chatroom all at once, have a topic in mind, and then just… talk! See where the conversation takes us, rather than be beholden to any set questions. The goal is for this to be a much more casual and relaxed interview format. Basically like a textual, SFF-focused chat show.

For our second episode, we have an OUTSTANDING line-up. We (somehow) managed to pull C.L. Clark, Tasha Suri, and Shelley Parker-Chan into the same chatroom at the same time, and talked with them on the topic of Be Gay: Collapse Empires. Which, hey, fits in with the themes of their books!

The Unbroken, The Jasmine Throne, and She Who Became the Sun have picked up an alarming volume of hype thus far this year. Only the first of those is actually out so far, but the latter two are set to drop in June and July! All three books are very, very gay, and some readers have been referring to them as “the holy sapphic trifecta”.

But that’s enough intro stuff. We’ll have more info about those books and where you can buy them at the end of this post. For now though, here’s what the holy trifecta had to say!

(Please note that due to some very happy spoilery chat from our authors, we’ve had to liberally redact certain passages. Since, y’know, most of these books aren’t even out yet. Also because we really want to tease you. We may release an un-redacted version of this chat in August. 😏)

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The Interview

(Editor’s Note: Scene opens following a conversation about the Shadow & Bone Netflix series, just before everyone arrives.)

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
I love the idea of the Darkling but I did not love Ben Barnes, I’m sorry, I’m the minority.

Sara: 
I had a thing for Dorian Grey and it never really left me.

Tasha Suri: 
It’s okay, we’re all allowed to like different things, the world is vast, etc.

Sara: 
I kinda wanted him as Dimitri for the Vampire Academy movie (look, we were all teenagers once).
I don’t really remember the movie.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Oh, that would have worked so well! I remember the guy they chose for Dimitri wasn’t my cup of tea, in the end. I’m usually all over a mentor. 😂
Anyway, sorry, I presume you didn’t summon us to only talk about thirst, Sara. It’s just my default setting.

Sara: 
Hmmm… That’s mine too.
That WOULD have made a great topic, yes.

Tasha Suri: 
If the thirst is sapphic I think we’re fine.

Sara: 
Yes, totally on-topic.
It is so great to have the three of you for this!

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Thank you for having us!

Sara: 
How’s debut year been treating you so far, Shelley and Cherae? And Tasha, starting a whole new series?

C.L. Clark: 
Ok I’m in!

Sara: 
Hi back!!

Tasha Suri: 
Hi Cherae!

C.L. Clark: 
I see sapphic thirst.

Sara: 
It summoned you, right?

A new type of Grisha. The Thirst Summoner.

C.L. Clark: 
Ahhh that’s it, I felt my spidey senses tingling.

Tasha Suri: 
Starting a new series is… fine? I feel more confident but also completely powerless, just standing in a corner holding up a sign saying ‘plz love me’ but that’s publishing.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
I feel like what they never told you about debut year is that despite all the promo and everything, you still also have to write the Dreaded Book 2. I feel like I’m trapped in my own personal Long 2020, until this manuscript is done. 😅

C.L. Clark: 
I don’t think you’re going to have any problem with that Tasha.

Sara: 
Currently reading The Jasmine Throne and can concur.

Tasha Suri: 
You’re all extremely great.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
What’s been so delightful is seeing your back catalogue popping up EVERYWHERE, Tasha. So much love for Empire of Sand.

C.L. Clark: 
I’m in the same boat as Shelley—I’ve def heard people say that book 2 is awful for this but I’m kinda jealous of you, Shelley—you get to finish book 2 and move on with your next book. 😆
Yes! The Back Catalogue Boost is wonderful!

Tasha Suri: 
I am very very glad of it!!

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
It’s true, Cherae! A duology is good in that way—I get to skip the middle and jump straight to the big bang.
“Rocks fall, everyone dies, now—onto the next!”

C.L. Clark: 
I’m still over here trying to figure out… what happens in book 3, actually? How do I make this… uh… worse?

Sara: 
(TIL that it’s a duology… how did I not know…)

C.L. Clark: 
But I DID have a break through today, I think and 😈.

Sara: 
Oh no. I just love how all authors are like Mwahahaha how will I torture readers next.
And by “love” I mean “how dare you”.

Tasha Suri: 
It’s been a trip realising none of us actually know what we’re doing in trilogies? I always thought authors had it all planned but nope, it’s just sadism and vibes.

C.L. Clark: 
😇
Hahahahahaha
’Sadism and vibes’.
’Touch of logic and continuity’.
‘But not too much’.

Sara: 
Sigh. Publishers should send tissues with the ARCs.

(Editor’s note: For those unfamiliar, an ARC is an Advanced Reader Copy sent to reviewers prior to release!)

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
In contrast, I had diligently planned a trilogy, but then we decided two, and now I’m cramming a book’s worth of plot into Act 3 of my second book. 😂

C.L. Clark: 
Hahahaha ohhhhhhh I see.
Oof.
I was the opposite.
I was like, I can do a duology! And they said, we’ll take 3.

Tasha Suri: 
Cherae, Shelley, I planned… one book.

C.L. Clark: 
Hahahahahahahaha

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
AHAHAHAHA

C.L. Clark: 
Sooooo… how are you… uh… doing that?

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
How many characters do you have, Tasha. How many POVs. How could… that have been possible…

Tasha Suri: 
Book one had uh. Many POV? But like, only four or five main POVs? I think?

C.L. Clark: 
‘Only four or five’.

Tasha Suri: 
Book 2’s cast keeps growing.
Which is fine, until I have to wrap up all their plots in book 3.

C.L. Clark: 
Okay but that is the fun with book 2, I’m finding. Now that everyone knows everyone, you can start flipping tables.
Adding new trouble-makers.

Tasha Suri: 
Sexy tables.

C.L. Clark: 
Very sexy tables. 😏

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Tasha, you’ll need an assistant like GRRM, the Keeper of the Encyclopaedia, to keep everyone on track.

C.L. Clark: 
🤐

Tasha Suri: 
I don’t keep track of anything and it’s a problem.

C.L. Clark: 
Pour one out for our copy editors.

Tasha Suri: 
Ahahahahaah

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Yes, Cherae! One of the most fun parts [with second books] is having them all bounce off each other.

Tasha Suri: 
I am VERY excited for Unbroken 2!

C.L. Clark: 
I CAN’T WAIT FOR YOU GUYS TO MEET THE NEW POVS!

Sara: 
…Bounce or bounce?

C.L. Clark: 
😏

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
My second book is powered only by dysfunctional relationships, Sara, I think we know the answer to that, actually

Sara: 
Very same, Tasha. I am excited about how Touraine will gain more agency and murder Luca in her sleep.

C.L. Clark: 
You’re getting ahead of yourself Sara.
3 books, remember.

Sara: 
Sleep murder! Sleep murder! Sleep m…

C.L. Clark: 
The hardest part about trilogies is ACTUALLY the amount of people who have to survive book 2 to die in book 3, actually.

Tasha Suri: 
I have a list of people you’re not allowed to kill, sorry.

C.L. Clark: 
Oh?

Tasha Suri: 
Ok to be fair it’s just ‘Touraine’ 300 times, but still.

Sara: 
I have a list of people you should kill and you have one guess as to who it is.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
You can add new characters to replace the fallen, Cherae.

C.L. Clark: 
But not and make you love them as quickly!
And die when they die!
‘Sadism and vibes’, remember?

Sara: 
Speaking of dysfunctional relationships… In your writing, how do you guys manage to navigate the (sometimes) pretty intense unbalance of power with the romance aspect?

C.L. Clark: 
EXCELLENT question.
Somebody else, please.

Sara: 
😂

C.L. Clark: 
🙃

Tasha Suri: 
I’m READY for this one okay: my thesis (sorry) is that real world romance has often contained huge power disparities and romance has been grappling with that since forever.
Like, in straight up genre romance, at least on the het end – billionaires and dukes etc. are all enmeshed in toxic systems? Objectively terrible humans, tbh.

C.L. Clark: 
Mhm.

Tasha Suri: 
But there’s a… I don’t know, something about taking that and trying to make something equal out of that that’s meaningful? But there’s also something appealing in a way that’s hard to explain about saying ‘x is evil, but also, hot’.

Sara: 
Authors who challenge that in the romance genre end up creating pretty awesome stories (nudge nudge, Courtney Milan, “the duke who didn’t”). Admittedly harder with billionaires who are Always Trash.

C.L. Clark: 
Mhmmm.
I think that part of it is just… power is hot, in a general power fantasy kinda way. Not even getting into how people play with this dynamic in personal sexual lives, which is A Thing (so I don’t know why people pretend it’s not when it comes to hot bad guys in fiction). But also, it’s just very real, like Tasha said. Even with normal people—in a relationship with a white person in the United States, it’s well documented that that interracial coupledom creates a power dynamic to be navigated because of *waves hand at world*, no matter how well off the minority person might be in the couple. And so I think it’s worth navigating what it takes for a person with privilege to support their partner and be… well, just good? Even if they’re not perfect.
(And obvs Luca is part of the imperial system from the very top but.)

Tasha Suri: 
Yeah, I think I’ve (we’ve?) been asked before – why do you suggest people with power are evil? – and I’m like, I’m not saying they’re evil! But being in a position of power can do things to you, can be something you have to grapple with meaningfully to be good and to be good to someone. And sometimes what good means – is hard to see.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
One thing that I particularly like exploring is how power disparities can go both ways in a relationship, even if on the surface it seems like the power disparity is obvious: for instance someone who gets with a duke, or a billionaire, or a prince. You can subvert the structural power disparity by introducing a power disparity at the personal level. It doesn’t make it ‘right’, but we’re not talking about writing good models for healthy adult relationships. It can make it interesting, and tangled, and complex, in a way that real relationships are.

C.L. Clark: 
Ooo, yeah.

Tasha Suri: 
Aaah there’s something so compelling about that, too – the power fantasy of having power over someone more structurally powerful.

C.L. Clark: 
Big time, Tasha. BIG time.

Sara: 
But what happens after the empire falls, Cherae?

C.L. Clark: 
Well… I imagine Luca and Touraine might have a very long… uh… talk.
Presuming everyone is still alive to talk.

Tasha Suri: 
Pff, you can talk to ghosts.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
This is my solution to plot problems, Tasha. 😂

C.L. Clark: 
Hahahahahaha
But can you TALK, Tasha?
Ahem.

Tasha Suri: 
OH
TALK
right

Sara: 
😂

Tasha Suri: 
It may take some creativity, I admit that.

C.L. Clark: 
🤣

Sara: 
A conversation, yesyes.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
I was reflecting on what you said, Cherae, that resonates with me: that there are several sources of power in a relationship, some are stronger than others because they’re reinforced by the society around, and the dynamics of that power intersecting within a relationship can be complex and interesting and they do always have to be acknowledged and navigated.

C.L. Clark: 
Mhm

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Not to bring everything back to the Darkling, but I saw someone making some very smart comments about how, in the Shadow and Bone books, Alina’s relationship with the Darkling is partly the fantasy of being so powerful that someone even more powerful loses their mind over you, becomes obsessed to the point of making bad decisions that cause him to lose his power.

C.L. Clark: 
Ohhh

Tasha Suri: 
Wait that’s very sexy.

C.L. Clark: 
That’s definitely something I was thinking about when I wrote that war essay… like… I get why SOME people write war—like, I want the power to rip shit apart! I’m so angry so much! If I had magic powers… oh boy. OH BOY. That fantasy of revenge. Of overcoming those who would otherwise overcome you.

Sara: 
But a fantasy of revenge that basically considers the opposite side as a Vague Blob of Evil.

C.L. Clark: 
Well I personally would be very targeted… ahem.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
I love a fantasy of revenge, a fantasy of power, and I love leaning into it. But what I prefer to do is really have a few characters who personify, like, The Patriarchy, or The Empire, and then take out the revenge in a very personal, directed way, upon them. That way it’s not quite as bad as the Vague Blob of Evil.

Tasha Suri: 
There’s a real pleasure in humanising systems and then ripping them apart anyway.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
But that’s also why I don’t write military fantasy—all the wars in my book happen offscreen with lots of handwaving, haha

Sara: 
And bridge… incidents.

C.L. Clark: 
Yeah, it’s also just easier to get invested than in a faceless army. Like, I cried when Haldir died. I didn’t cry when all the elves did.
Or to be more to the point, I was begggggging for Joffrey and what’s his face, sausage boy to die.
BEGGING.
And how fucking satisfying.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Yeah, I mean, where’s the fun in killing faceless people? Everyone’s a person, even the opposite side, and they have their own reasons for doing what they do. They may be enraging reasons, but I love to see inside their heads, and their justifications, and then get to viscerally experience their downfall. It’s so cathartic.

C.L. Clark: 
Also, I know The Unbroken gets billed as military fantasy but I don’t really want to have to move whole armies around. 😅

Tasha Suri: 
Ohhh god, writing battles with large armies is an experience and I regret everything.

C.L. Clark: 
Also, I just know too much about how the US military works, personally–big military family and the reasons are all so different… but so much is invisible levers and pressures and false narratives and as you can see… I like to explore that quite a bit.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Oh god yeah. The logistics of armies with 60,000, 100,000 people! The founding of the Ming dynasty took, like, 30 years. I’m like “look, I don’t have this kind of time. We’re going to speed things up. We’re going to handwave”.

C.L. Clark: 
Hahahahahaha

Sara: 
A pretty strong… I don’t know if “theme” is the right word for it, but aspect of both She Who Became the Sun and The Jasmine Throne is basically sapphics saying fuck u to the patriarchy (The Unbroken is a pretty queernorm world).

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
When I read The Jasmine Throne, I went crying to Tasha and I was like “Tasha, YOU WROTE THE BOOK I WAS TRYING TO WRITE!”

Tasha Suri: 
We’re just the Spiderman meme.
Because She Who Became the Sun was so PERFECT I just wanted to crawl into a hole.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
We’ve long joked about how we have the same tastes in stories, so I guess it makes sense we wrote similar themes. 😂

Sara: 
From a reader’s perspective having all these books is 💯
I should stop randomly using emojis, Hiu is going to hate me. 🙂🙂

(Editor’s note: yes)

C.L. Clark: 
Hahahahahahaha

Tasha Suri: 
I am constantly bloody delighted that She Who Became the Sun, The Unbroken and The Jasmine Throne share a release year and I still ship them.

C.L. Clark: 
She Who Became the Sun made me feel so seen and The Jasmine Throne was just gahhhh.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
I think my book is only falsely about empires, so I always feel guilty when it comes up thematically grouped with The Jasmine Throne and The Unbroken. The ’empire’ in my book is simply a stand-in for the patriarchy.

Sara: 
The POWER these characters would have together is too scary to comprehend tbh.

C.L. Clark: 
THEY WOULD BE SO HOT

Tasha Suri: 
Shelley what is empire if not patriarchy persevering, etc.

C.L. Clark: 
lolol that ^

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Hahaha true! In the Confucian patriarchy, the father is the head of the family and the Emperor, as the head of the world, is the ultimate father… so of course I’m like [REDACTED] which, you know, doesn’t address the broader problems of empire, but you can only do so much with one book.

C.L. Clark: 
Yeah, for sure.

Tasha Suri: 
Lucky you’ve got a sequel eh.

C.L. Clark: 
Hahahaha but [REDACTED].
Wait.
Am I forgetting?
Did we get that far???

Sara: 
Book 1: the empire stumbles
Book 2: the empire is properly fucked now.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Look, spoiler, [SUPER REDACTED].

C.L. Clark: 
Heeheeheehee
Quelle surprise.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
I think I do still have some surprises up my sleeve lol. I hope.

Sara: 
If it’s anything like She Who Became the Sun you proooobably do, yes

Tasha Suri: 
I’m sure you’re going to break our hearts.

C.L. Clark: 
Unbroken is more like…
Book 1: Empire stumbles
Book 2: [REDACTED]
Book 3: Ah fuck.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Ahahahaha

Sara: 
Oh nooooooo i don’t want the empire to [REDACTED], I want it to take a deep dive into the ocean.

C.L. Clark: 
It’s hard to write a whole book when they’re under the ocean.

Sara: 
The colonialism x Atlantis comp we are all waiting for.

Tasha Suri: 
Hm, The Jasmine Throne is
Book 1: someone should really kill that emperor
Book 2: [REDACTED]
Book 3: ???? profit.

C.L. Clark: 
‘Profit’.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Truly the writing experience in a nutshell, Tasha.

Sara: 
Now I’m sad that Emperor Burn-Happy [REDACTED]…

Tasha Suri: 
WHOOPS

C.L. Clark: 
Ugh I WANT HIM TO DIE
UGH
UGGGGGGGHHHH
THAT FUCKER
Ahem. Excuse me.
I just remembered him and saw red.

Tasha Suri: 
Hahahaha

Sara: 
NOW YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT LUCA (ok no she’s not THAT bad).

C.L. Clark: 
lololol

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
The intensity of my hate makes the anticipation of his end so much sweeter. I also can’t wait for him to die.

C.L. Clark: 
HE is a Joffrey.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
I have Joffrey-level feelings for Emperor Burn-Happy.

C.L. Clark: 
I CANNOT WAIT.

Sara: 
He just likes barbecues very much.

Tasha Suri: 
Obviously I can’t comment on his fate but I hate him too.

C.L. Clark: 
WHAT
TASHA WHAT
If you can’t comment on his fate I am DEEPLY suspicious.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Tasha will give us what we want. 😌

C.L. Clark:

Sara: 
That sounded like a threat, Shelley. You live too far to properly threaten Tasha. 😂

Tasha Suri: 
Look I am FULLY expecting people to be really really angry with me after book 2 but possibly not about that!!!

Sara: 
Oh no

C.L. Clark: 
I don’t, Sara. 😌

Tasha Suri: 
Yeah Cherae you’re definitely in threatening distance.
I look forward to Hiu translating the chicken gif into text.

(Editor’s note: Nailed it.)

Sara: 
So, you three have some pretty powerful main characters. How does one write powerful characters in a world where they’re powerless?

C.L. Clark: 
I will… come over and play with the bunnies at 10 pm so you cannot sleep!!!

Tasha Suri: 
They stayed up until 11pm last night, so

C.L. Clark: 
Hahahahaha
What even does a bunny do at 11 pm?

Tasha Suri: 
Run in circles. Eat hay. Pretend to go to bed then fake out. Drag their litterbox across the floor by their teeth, normal stuff.

C.L. Clark: 
Ah, yes, of course, normal stuff.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Do you also get this sinking feeling when people start to really get into some of your characters, and you know their fates? I’m sweating bullets.

C.L. Clark: 
HEY. HEY. STOP IT.
STOP IT NOW.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
I’m finding the vision of the pitchforks coming for me very stressful, Cherae

C.L. Clark: 
Don’t make me chicken.gif you too!
I have a character that I love who I am contemplating killing in Book 2 and I KNOW it would be effective… But they could also be used so well in book 3… I don’t know what to do. How do you guys decide to kill or spare?

Sara: 
Shelley u know who my fave character is, I swear to god.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
I mean, he is also my favourite.

Sara: 
suspishchicken dot gif

Tasha Suri: 
Kill them, Cherae.

C.L. Clark: 
Hahahahahahahaha
You might regret that.

Tasha Suri: 
WAIT NO
DON’T

C.L. Clark: 
Too late, they’re dead.
Click.
This is the problem with having healing magic in a book. I can’t over spend it.
And the way I wrote it first… they shouldn’t come back.
So I either have to… Rewrite the entire concept or they have to die or no one will ever believe in mortal peril.

Tasha Suri: 
Damn.
Who do you like in The Jasmine Throne so I can wreak my vengeance?

Sara: 
Hey hey hey vendetta between authors are all good and fun but not when it’s about murdering our favourite characters.

Tasha Suri: 
What if this is about Luca, Sara? What then?

C.L. Clark: 
NO ONE I DON’T LIKE ANYONE

Tasha Suri: 
FOILED AGAIN

Sara: 
Omg she can choke yes.

C.L. Clark: 
Hahahahaha [REDACTED]

Tasha Suri: 
Sara can you ask the question we’re meant to answer again lol, we’ve chosen chaos.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Characters are like plot twists. You only have them to spend once, you have to spend them when it makes the most impact.

C.L. Clark: 
Mmmm… this is helpful… but also… how do I know a better time won’t come later?

Sara: 
I love the chaos. 😂

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
I love your power question, ask it again.

Sara: 
But. My question was, that you all have characters who are pretty powerful, in different ways, in a world that makes them powerless in theory. How do you manage to write that?

C.L. Clark: 
Ah, a good one. (All of these are good questions, Sara, this is great)

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
I think at the character level, power comes down to agency. And agency doesn’t even have to be freedom of action, it can be freedom of how to think. At the start of She Who Became the Sun, Zhu is probably the most powerless person in the world. But she makes one decision: she won’t give up and die. That’s all. But I think that’s enough—that decision to choose to live, even if you might fail and die anyway. That’s agency in a powerless situation.
Refusing to believe you’re worthless, when everyone tells you that you are. That’s a kind of power. Does it make any difference to the outside world? No, not without action, but the joy of books is that you see into characters’ heads

C.L. Clark: 
I really appreciate that take on it.

Tasha Suri: 
There are lots of different types of power, and I think some are afforded respect (in any world built as patriarchal and imperial or colonial) and some are not. And what I think all three books do is say, okay, this person has a certain kind of power that isn’t afforded respect, that they may be looked down on for, but they’re going to win using it.
‘Win’.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
I love that about your book, Tasha. That women use everything available to them.

Sara: 
I think my favourite character of The Jasmine Throne so far is Bhumika because she has this… matter-of-factness about her own influence and what she can and can’t do, an empathetic pragmatism in a way.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Bhumika is the MVP for sure.

Tasha Suri: 
Aah thank you. I love her too.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
I love a character who can overcome societal shame and be like “I know you despise me for being like this, but I’m going to use it against you.” That’s strength. Some of the ‘strongest’ people in a society are the most fearful of what other people think—and that weakens them, that bounds them.

Sara: 
Zhu is a humble monk, and she milks that for aaaall it is worth. 😂

C.L. Clark: 
For me, I think the structure is society. Like, the Sands are trained fighters but they’re outnumbered, outgunned, and while they might have escaped barracks, they would have been hunted down. That part has been beaten into them again and again and… some of them do buy that powerlessness and some of them just don’t care. They’ve become apathetic. So they don’t feel that agency. Touraine is definitely one of them—she doesn’t feel like she has a lot of agency while she’s surrounded. On the other hand, we have the Shalans—with potentially this devastating magical power, but thanks to some semi-ancient fuckups, the predominant sect didn’t want to use it. Eventually, it was forgotten, except by a few outcasts. Now book 2… that will be me exploring more of this. Because [REDACTED].
Also I do NOT like BHUMIKA. REPEAT I DO NOT LIKE HER.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Characters who believe that their masculine privilege affords them power… well, it does, but it’s also their biggest weakness, because it traps them within the rules of masculinity.

Sara: 
Hehehe nice try Cherae.
But yeah don’t kill her off plz.

Tasha Suri: 
TOO LATE CHERAE

Sara: 
Noooo

C.L. Clark: 
TASHAAAAAAA

Tasha Suri: 
I’ve already drafted book 2!! Whatever happens happens.

Sara: 
…authors are EVIL

Tasha Suri: 
Shelley, ‘rules of masculinity’. I am drawing up my little chair and sitting down, I would like to know more.

C.L. Clark: 
I’m emailing Priyanka now. 😠

Sara: 
Touraine is also pretty bound by her torn loyalties and that’s a really fascinating thing. Because from my comfy, “fuck empires” point of view I was yelling at her to betray the fuckers who kidnapped her buuuut I guess it’s harder when you’re brainwashed into bending the knee.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
That’s so fascinating to me, Cherae—the character path from believing the message of the oppressor, of believing in your own powerlessness and worthlessness, and then gradually getting some power and learning about: what it’s like, how to use it. I can’t wait to see where you take Touraine!

Tasha Suri: 
Touraine is just!!! Aaah, I just love her!

Sara: 
“Use those arms to smash imperialism” or something.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Tasha, I’m so into this idea of the self-defeating fragility of masculinity—or of gender conformity, in general. Because you’re so afraid of breaking the rules, and being shamed, that for the sake of that fear you’ll give up what you really want. The opportunities for tragedy are endless! And you know how I love a tragedy, Tasha.

Tasha Suri: 
Alas I do know.

C.L. Clark: 
I think her big question—and Pruett’s even more so—is… betray them to… where? And that’s such a big question in decolonization, in dismantling any system of oppression. It’s a system. It is… running, It’s moving a lot of pieces that keep some semblance of life moving onward. The basics are provided for X amount of people, and even if it’s not everyone, it’s more than no one. And if you’re being provided for at least somewhat… looking at what happens after you smash the house you live in, even if it’s a bad house… it’s hard.

Tasha Suri: 
‘Even if it’s a bad house’. Oof. Yes, this.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
As someone who worked in post-conflict reconstruction, yes, a thousand times yes: building a functional and fair state out of rubble is HARD.
Rubble and trauma.

C.L. Clark: 
OHHHH Shelley… do you want to write aNOTHER book 2? 👀

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Sorry, I only write escapist power and revenge fantasies, there is no messy aftermath in my books.

C.L. Clark: 
lol

Sara: 
Ok I kinda want to keep you all three here forever to talk about these topics because, wow, but I do have to free you eventually. 😂

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
I’m sorry Sara, I feel like we were all over the place! 😅

Sara: 
It’s honestly amazing.
Like, seriously, I was fangirling so hard with Hiu about it all. 😂

C.L. Clark: 
Okay well, when is part 2?
Same time next year? lol

Tasha Suri: 
I don’t want to goooo this is so much fun!

Sara: 
Hahaha omg would love to, you have an open invite!

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Yes, because then I’ll have finished MY series, and I will be laughing. LAUGHING!

Sara: 
Shelley, no.

C.L. Clark: 
😡

Tasha Suri: 
We’ll get the knives out.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
The people who write standalones are the truly galaxy brains.

C.L. Clark: 
All of the rest of my plot bunnies are for standalones. I don’t know how I’m going to have a career, oops.

Sara: 
Maybe a fun question to wrap up…

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Thank you for having us, Sara (and Hiu, and the Inn!)

Tasha Suri: 
Yes thank you so much!!! You’ve made it such a great experience.

C.L. Clark: 
Yes, this has been a blast! I’m game anytime!

Sara: 
If you were to steal a character from the others’ books, and add them to your own, who would it be?

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
DIBS ON BHUMIKA

C.L. Clark: 
AHHHH NO

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Hahaha, I won!

C.L. Clark: 
She needs to slap some sense… man, oh Bhumika and Pruett and Malika would have a field day with Touraine.

Tasha Suri: 
HAHAHA
I’m taking Cantic for maximum chaos.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Hmm you know, I also actually really like General Cantic. Like, not ‘like’ like, but I find her interesting and I feel like she’d be a good addition to my mix of problematic people.

C.L. Clark: 
I think that means I should steal Zhu but I don’t want to inflict that on my poor kids.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
OH TASHA WE ARE THE SAME PERSON!

Sara: 
😂

Tasha Suri: 
AHAHA OH GOD we are!

C.L. Clark: 
No no! I know who I want—who is Zhu’s funny friend, Shelley??
I want him.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Aww my One Good Boi. Xu Da.

Tasha Suri: 
Can I also take Ouyang?

Sara: 
Aww but Zhu is great… with kids…

C.L. Clark: 
Touraine needs [REDACTED] for… obvious reasons.

Tasha Suri: 
…Cherae.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
You brought this problem upon yourself, Cherae.

C.L. Clark: 
😬

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Would she get along with Rao?

C.L. Clark: 
I think so!

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
He’s nice.

C.L. Clark: 
He’s nice and they could spar every once in a while.

Tasha Suri: 
Wholesome.

C.L. Clark: 
Lots of jokes.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Nice guys never last.

C.L. Clark: 
He probably wouldn’t survive long.

Sara: 
SHELLEY

C.L. Clark: 
lol exactly.
I mean.
Oops

Sara: 
NO

Tasha Suri: 
You take my character only to murder him???

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
What were you planning on doing with him, Tasha. NOT MURDER I hope!

Tasha Suri: 

C.L. Clark: 
suspishchicken.gif
Oh wait little Rao no no no no, I thought Shelley was saying that was Zhu’s friend.
No, Touraine loves kids.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
In summary: everyone should stay in their own books, where they’ll probably die anyway, but at least amongst friends.

C.L. Clark: 
Hahahahahahahaha, Shelley has a point.

Sara: 
Y’all just want us to suffer.

Tasha Suri: 
….Yes. A wholesome conclusion.

Sara: 
This has honestly been the best thing I’ve done in all 3… 4? What is time? Years of blogging.
Thank you so so much for your time and your passion! ❤️❤️

C.L. Clark: 
This is such a great idea. You guys should make it a thing. With us, obviously, but in general. It’s cool, interesting, unique. And embodies your… chaos brand. 😬

Tasha Suri: 
Seriously. 100%

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
You know we love and appreciate you bloggers. Thank you for YOUR love and passion!

Tasha Suri: 
Though I can imagine Hiu will uh, not enjoy trying to make this readable.

C.L. Clark: 
Really glad to hang out with you and talk at length for once, too.

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Poor Hiu. I’m sorry, Hiu.

Sara: 
This makes me enjoy it even more, Tasha.

Tasha Suri: 
Ahahahaha

Sara: 
But I’m a terrible person.

Tasha Suri: 
You’re not! Well, no more than the rest of us.

Sara: 
😇
I’m probably gonna crash soon but goodnight/excellent day to you! ❤️❤️❤️

C.L. Clark: 
Goodnight everyone!

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
Go to bed, sleep well! Bye everyone!

C.L. Clark: 
Good morning Shelley! lol

Shelley Parker-Chan: 
A full day of work awaits, haha!

Tasha Suri: 
Haha goodnight/morning!

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So there you have it! It was such a blast to have Cherae, Tasha and Shelley at the inn, and they’re all welcome back at any time! For our readers… sorry about those redacted parts (or are we?). We might repost this with those sections un-redacted in August. But hey… if you read the books in the meantime, then you can probably make some educated guesses! And talking about the books…

Book Information

I mean, wow. Look at those covers! Need to know more about them? Here’s some blurbs and some relevant links:

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The Unbroken by C.L. Clark

Touraine is a soldier. Stolen as a child and raised to kill and die for the empire, her only loyalty is to her fellow conscripts. But now, her company has been sent back to her homeland to stop a rebellion, and the ties of blood may be stronger than she thought. Luca needs a turncoat. Someone desperate enough to tiptoe the bayonet’s edge between treason and orders. Someone who can sway the rebels toward peace, while Luca focuses on what really matters: getting her uncle off her throne. Through assassinations and massacres, in bedrooms and war rooms, Touraine and Luca will haggle over the price of a nation. But some things aren’t for sale.

The Unbroken is available now! Add it on Goodreads, or buy it now from Bookshop.org, Amazon US / UK, or other retailers.

Check out our reviews of The Unbroken from Sara and from Hiu!

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The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

One is a vengeful princess seeking to depose her brother from his throne.
The other is a priestess searching for her family.
Together, they will change the fate of an empire.

Imprisoned by her dictator brother, Malini spends her days in isolation in the Hirana: an ancient temple that was once the source of powerful magic – but is now little more than a decaying ruin.

Priya is a maidservant, one of several who make the treacherous journey to the top of the Hirana every night to attend Malini’s chambers. She is happy to be an anonymous drudge, as long as it keeps anyone from guessing the dangerous secret she hides. But when Malini accidentally bears witness to Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled . . .

The Jasmine Throne releases on the 10th of June! Add it on Goodreads, or buy it now from Bookshop.org, Amazon US / UK, or other retailers.

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She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty plain, a seer shows two children their fates. For a family’s eighth-born son, there’s greatness. For the second daughter, nothing.

In 1345, China lies restless under harsh Mongol rule. And when a bandit raid wipes out their home, the two children must somehow survive. Zhu Chongba despairs and gives in. But the girl resolves to overcome her destiny. So she takes her dead brother’s identity and begins her journey. Can Zhu escape what’s written in the stars, as rebellion sweeps the land? Or can she claim her brother’s greatness – and rise as high as she can dream?

She Who Became the Sun releases on the 20th of July! Add it on Goodreads, or buy it now from Bookshop.org, Amazon US / UK, or other retailers.

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For more author interviews, check out the other episodes of Common Room Conversations, and our podcast!