Ask the Author: A.K. Caggiano
Answered Questions (17)
A.K. Caggiano
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A.K. Caggiano
Hi Maria! So I've sprinkled a few m/m and f/f couples in my other books, but they're usually side characters, so I don't explore their relationships, just sort of let them happily exist in their worlds. Right now, I do have one f/f main couple planned! They're meant to be in a spinoff of Dragon Race, though, which is shaping up to be 7 books, so they're set quite a far way into the future. You'll see them early on in that series and hopefully I can slip enough sidelong glances and lingering touches between them that it will be obvious they're getting their own book down the road.
I've wanted to diversify my writing for a while, but I'm also trying to be careful not to speak for anyone else's experiences. It's definitely worth doing, I just need to hone my skills and do more research before throwing my own take out into the world :) With that in mind, I will happily accept any sapphic fantasy romance recommendations!
I've wanted to diversify my writing for a while, but I'm also trying to be careful not to speak for anyone else's experiences. It's definitely worth doing, I just need to hone my skills and do more research before throwing my own take out into the world :) With that in mind, I will happily accept any sapphic fantasy romance recommendations!
A.K. Caggiano
Hi Katie! One of my biggest challenges in general is being concise (which you'll know if you've read any sentence I've ever written haha), so writing something that felt complete in less than 35k words was daunting. (Especially since I think I sneaked in an extra thousand or so words.)
I wanted Roan and Maewyn to feel like real people who the reader could connect with, and I wanted their love to feel earned and organic, and the way I usually do that is to make my characters suffer one another's company for chapter after chapter of quests and gut-spilling and domestic life until they learn who the other person truly is and decide that they want all of that other person for their own. That's a lot harder in just fifteen chapters!
So I cheated a little with the tether and the fated mates stuff :) But that proved its own challenge because I didn't want it to be too easy either! I also left a lot of world building to sort of be shimmery ideas on the perimeter of the story instead of well explored on the page. I know how most of the magic in that universe works, but I hoped the reader would be all right just getting glimpses and quick explanations while I focused on feeding them more about the characters and their relationship. Faeted to Fall definitely subsists on vibes over a hard magic system!
But weirdly, I might be most proud of the *vibes* of the story. Not just the autumn aesthetic, but the voice and the fairytale-esque nature of the world. I like that it feels a little like reading through a veil, that it's sort of charming and unnerving, and that Maewyn and Roan's love is simple, in the end.
I wanted Roan and Maewyn to feel like real people who the reader could connect with, and I wanted their love to feel earned and organic, and the way I usually do that is to make my characters suffer one another's company for chapter after chapter of quests and gut-spilling and domestic life until they learn who the other person truly is and decide that they want all of that other person for their own. That's a lot harder in just fifteen chapters!
So I cheated a little with the tether and the fated mates stuff :) But that proved its own challenge because I didn't want it to be too easy either! I also left a lot of world building to sort of be shimmery ideas on the perimeter of the story instead of well explored on the page. I know how most of the magic in that universe works, but I hoped the reader would be all right just getting glimpses and quick explanations while I focused on feeding them more about the characters and their relationship. Faeted to Fall definitely subsists on vibes over a hard magic system!
But weirdly, I might be most proud of the *vibes* of the story. Not just the autumn aesthetic, but the voice and the fairytale-esque nature of the world. I like that it feels a little like reading through a veil, that it's sort of charming and unnerving, and that Maewyn and Roan's love is simple, in the end.
A.K. Caggiano
HI Denise! I would never say never on writing more Amma and Damien in the form of super short stories since they're so close to my heart, but I don't have anything planned right this moment. I have half an idea for a really silly short about goblins and sewage systems and Aszath Koth bureaucracy, but I'm not sure it will ever see the light of day. Maybe in 2025!
A.K. Caggiano
Hi Badea! I can confidently answer your question now that YES, Bound to Fall and The Elven Days of Christmas will both have their own audiobooks as well as my other V&V spinoff Bound and Tide! They're being produced by the same company, and we've secured Ellen Quay and Seth Podowitz, the voices of Amma and Damien, to do them all which has me utterly elated!
I believe all three should be released before the end of 2024!
I believe all three should be released before the end of 2024!
A.K. Caggiano
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A.K. Caggiano
Hello, Elise! The original V&V is a trilogy that consists of Throne in the Dark, Summoned to the Wilds, and Eclipse of the Crown. Those three books tell Damien and Amma's story completely. There are two spin offs as well, but they don't follow Damien and Amma. Bound to Fall features Celeste and Reeve, two characters who are only briefly mentioned in the original trilogy, and Bound and Tide (which hasn't been released yet) features Xander, Damien's rival from the original story. So there are (or will be) five books total consisting of a trilogy and two spinoffs. Thanks!
A.K. Caggiano
Hi C! I'm actually working on some special editions of V&V now! The idea is in a verrrrry early stage because I have to price everything out and get the funds together (and it's tax time so that's it's own detriment right now lol) but once I have that all worked out, I'm hoping to have hardbacks available! My hope is that they will have some additional illustrations and formatting inside as well :)
Thank you for asking and I'm so glad you enjoyed the series! 💜
Thank you for asking and I'm so glad you enjoyed the series! 💜
A.K. Caggiano
Oh, how I've wanted to sit down and build Damien in D&D! So, I know you didn't ask this specifically, but I think he would be the most human-looking tiefling in Neverwinter and his class would *have* to be Blood Hunter. He'd take dueling as his fighting style and we're gonna cheese it a little and give him Rite of the Dead as his Crimson Rite right off the bat so he can deal necrotic damage (which is shadow damage, in my head). I'm going to make up an order for him: The Order of the Infernal Brotherhood, but I'm giving him Pact Magic (with Zagadoth), and an imp familiar (Kaz, of course!)
As for his level, I think he's somewhere around 10ish? I like to think truly high level characters are very few and far between. Damien's still young, and he has a lot of room to grow, and I think he's got enough renown to be up there, but he might think about multiclassing at some point (maybe into Cleric???), so I'd like to leave him open to those possibilities. But I could be very wrong about levels and their power--I'm super into the backstory building of characters in D&D and giving them weaknesses and bad scores on purpose and I never optimize, so I'm sort of a terrible player when it comes right down to it :)
As for his level, I think he's somewhere around 10ish? I like to think truly high level characters are very few and far between. Damien's still young, and he has a lot of room to grow, and I think he's got enough renown to be up there, but he might think about multiclassing at some point (maybe into Cleric???), so I'd like to leave him open to those possibilities. But I could be very wrong about levels and their power--I'm super into the backstory building of characters in D&D and giving them weaknesses and bad scores on purpose and I never optimize, so I'm sort of a terrible player when it comes right down to it :)
A.K. Caggiano
Hello! There are a few reasons that Amma has her name and most of them are kinda dumb (lol) so bear with me!
I've always really liked the name Amalie, and knew I wanted the FMC of Villains & Virtues to have both a full first name and a shorter nickname, so that left me with "Ama" as the shorter version, but I didn't like the way "Ama" looked on the page. I'd recently read "Sharp Objects" by Gillian Flynn when I was drafting V&V, and even though my Amma is *nothing* like Flynn's Amma, I was normalized to it being a first name, just the same as Anna is treated in American English.
Honestly, by the time I started calling her Amma, I just kind of forgot that everybody doesn't use it as a common first name! I really liked the way both "Amma" and "Ammalie" looked written out, they had a whimsical, fantasy feel while also being pretty and sweet sounding, so they stuck!
It was a little later I realized "Amma" is used in Tamil and Ghanaian (and I think some Native American languages as well) as a term for mother. "Amma" also means "breastfeed" in Swedish I think?? So it's a very mother-centric name, and I bet there are loads of other languages that have something close. I considered changing her name at one point, but I think the argument can be made that the way Amma loves and accepts those around her (Damien included) often feels unconditional and selfless and all that is very maternal. So it was an accident at first, but it ended up sticking because it was right!
I've always really liked the name Amalie, and knew I wanted the FMC of Villains & Virtues to have both a full first name and a shorter nickname, so that left me with "Ama" as the shorter version, but I didn't like the way "Ama" looked on the page. I'd recently read "Sharp Objects" by Gillian Flynn when I was drafting V&V, and even though my Amma is *nothing* like Flynn's Amma, I was normalized to it being a first name, just the same as Anna is treated in American English.
Honestly, by the time I started calling her Amma, I just kind of forgot that everybody doesn't use it as a common first name! I really liked the way both "Amma" and "Ammalie" looked written out, they had a whimsical, fantasy feel while also being pretty and sweet sounding, so they stuck!
It was a little later I realized "Amma" is used in Tamil and Ghanaian (and I think some Native American languages as well) as a term for mother. "Amma" also means "breastfeed" in Swedish I think?? So it's a very mother-centric name, and I bet there are loads of other languages that have something close. I considered changing her name at one point, but I think the argument can be made that the way Amma loves and accepts those around her (Damien included) often feels unconditional and selfless and all that is very maternal. So it was an accident at first, but it ended up sticking because it was right!
A.K. Caggiano
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A.K. Caggiano
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A.K. Caggiano
Hi Ashley! (Hey, that's my name too!) I've been asked about that little sh*t so much that I just miiiiiight consider it. He's fun in small doses, but can he carry a whole book? Maybe! We'll see ;)
A.K. Caggiano
Hi Bee! I'm so glad you enjoyed V&V, and thank you for your kind review of the books, it means so much to me! You have totally picked up correctly on the D&D vibes! I've been playing since about 2019 in various groups, and I love it. I was also a big fan of Critical Roll's second campaign (I tried to slip in a little CR Easter Egg into Summoned to the Wilds), and Zagadoth is heavily inspired by Brennan Lee Mulligan's characters (I love that man to pieces!)
I just think D&D has such a goofy, nonchalant vibe while also having rich lore and the opportunity for sentimentality and real human growth through roleplay and character achievements, and I wanted to borrow from that to craft a campy but heartwarming story. I'm writing another fantasy romance series for release sometime in mid to late 2024 and that's also got some D&D vibes. I'm just a sucker for a quest and falling in love along the way!
I just think D&D has such a goofy, nonchalant vibe while also having rich lore and the opportunity for sentimentality and real human growth through roleplay and character achievements, and I wanted to borrow from that to craft a campy but heartwarming story. I'm writing another fantasy romance series for release sometime in mid to late 2024 and that's also got some D&D vibes. I'm just a sucker for a quest and falling in love along the way!
A.K. Caggiano
Hello! Hopefully yes, the series will come out in audio eventually, but I don't have any dates right now for it. Audio is very expensive and time consuming to produce, so V&V might not begin the process until 2024. Thank you for asking!
A.K. Caggiano
Hi Brianna! There are three V&V books and those complete the series and Damien and Amma's story, but I am currently working on a spinoff standalone called Bound to Fall featuring new characters, so there will a fourth book in the same world! It'll probably be out this summer :)
A.K. Caggiano
Hello! Thank you for asking, I'm so glad you're interested in the series! Right now I am exclusive to Amazon with the ebook because they are enrolled in the Kindle Unlimited program. I only produce my paperbacks through Amazon right now because of time and cost: I do all of my own formatting, and Amazon provides me with a free ISBN, etc. So right now, Amazon's the only place where you can get most of my work. I might go wide with paperbacks in the future so they're available on other retailers, and I might produce a "fancy" hardback omnibus of Villains & Virtues in the future too, but the project is only in the "dream" stage now :) If you do pick any form of the books up, I hope you enjoy!
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Oct 14, 2024 12:18PM