Natalie asked Erika Johansen:

The world of the Tearling is so complex and vivid, and I can't wait to read about how the kingdom descends into darkness! How do approach your world building and what from our own world has inspired you?

Erika Johansen Well, I love the tropes of fantasy. Thus, in physical terms, the Tearling is pretty easily recognizable as your standard castles-and-swords fantasy world. But fantasy is often wooden; what interests me about the process of world-building is taking these tropes I love and fiddling with them so that they reflect our actual current humanity a bit more. Thus, in a world where there's an overindulged nobility, of course there would be horrors like the Creche. With an enormous impoverished class whose members have no hope of advancement, of course there would be morphia addiction. For me, the standard fantasy world acts as an outline that I try to fill in with human realism. Thanks for reading!

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