Fantasy Chat with Rebecca Roanhorse

And by another fabulous author, Rebecca Roanhorse. Rebecca, how are you? I'm good. So you are a science fiction author, but you have so many accolades under your belt when it comes to books. So tell us a little bit about who you are and what sparked your journey into becoming an author. Yeah, so I am, I guess, sort of a science fiction fantasy with a touch of horror author. I sort of cover all the bases in speculative fiction. I write for, I write novels, of course. I also write for TV, comics, and games. So I just love the genre. And I love bringing representation to the genre. So a lot of my characters are characters you don't normally see in science fiction and fantasy, like Native Americans, African-Americans, queer characters. So I love to bring that to the genre. And I guess I really started, I won a poetry contest in third grade. Me too! I was gonna say, that's my start. Oh, good. Nothing like a few accolades to motivate you. But yeah, and so I was writing, you know, just for pleasure forever. I've had a number of different careers, including I was a lawyer for a decade. And then, you know, I think I had never seen people that look like me, particularly like, you know, Black and Native women in science fiction and fantasy. And so I didn't really realize that was even a career I could have as a young person. So I went to school and I, like I said, I became a lawyer. I did a number of other things. And then once my daughter was a little bit older, I decided to write again, just because it brought me joy. And then I sort of went on this journey to publishing and it all sort of worked out. So here I am. You have a long list of history when it comes to this, but your books are doing so well. And I remember a couple, actually a couple people that I've had on the show that are fellow book lovers have actually mentioned, you know, one of your books, Black Sun. And I was like, I've never heard about this. And I said, let me look her up. And that's how I got to dig in, you know, more into you and your work. And so I know within that series of Black Sun, you actually just finished the final installation of it, which is Mirrored Heavens. And so tell anybody a little bit about what is involved in this series, if they haven't read it yet. Yeah, so there are three books. It's a trilogy, you know, traditional fantasy often comes in a trilogy. So it is Black Sun, Fevered Star, and Mirrored Heavens. And I'm a huge fantasy fan. I love reading, you know, the Tolkien and George Martin and all those kinds of books. But I wanted to write one that was not set in Europe or, you know, sort of a fake Europe, I guess, but in the Americans, because we have such, you know, rich cultures and history and all sorts of things to inspire us. But I'd never really seen it, at least in English. So my series, it's called, the trilogy is called Between Earth and Sky. It's set in the pre-Columbian Americas. So it is inspired by cultures like the Maya and the Aztec and the ancestral Puebloans and the Mississippi Mound Builders, like all sorts of cultures that you don't normally see inspiring epic fantasy. And now what's gonna be next for you? I know this series is like one and done. Are you gonna create another series? Is there gonna be another standalone? What's next in your literary journey? Yeah, so I will say this, the Between Earth and Sky trilogy does have a tabletop game coming out sometime in the next few years. So if you like Dungeons and Dragons, but you wanna play sort of more interesting characters, I think, you will have the opportunity to do that in my world. And next for me, gosh, I have, I actually have a Star Wars book coming out. I write for Star Wars and Marvel as well. And the Star Wars book comes out September 15th. It is inspired by the Andor timeline. So if you watched Andor on Disney+, this is your chance to sort of spend some time with some of those characters. It's more political intrigue, spy thriller type book. So that's next. And then of course, I'm always writing a novel. So I'll have a new novel coming out of my own work next fall. I can't wait for the game. One of my coworkers, he plays Dungeons and Dragons. So I'm gonna have to let him know, like, hey, he liked it, like his whole, like, I think he just redid his basement for like the theme of the video game. It's so cool how he did it. And shout out to Dylan. And I'm gonna be like, hey, I think you need to get this game. So I'm definitely gonna recommend that to him. So Rebecca, before I let you go, is there anything else that you would like to say to like fellow book lovers out there? Oh gosh, you know, just support the authors that you love. It is, no new contract is guaranteed in our lives. We have to sell books to keep working. So if there is a book that you love, go buy it. If you can't afford it, go to the library. That counts too. Awesome. Well, Rebecca, thank you so much for taking the time to come and chat with me and fellow book lovers out there. I greatly appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me.