Goodreads asked E.M. Prazeman:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

E.M. Prazeman I was watching "The Fault in Our Stars" after rereading the book (again) and it struck me how deeply human the characters were, as opposed to the more heroic (and sometimes too melodramatic) characters in many fantasies who are struggling with the reality of their imminent deaths. I think that's one of the reasons that Game of Thrones appeals to so many readers (and viewers.) The lives, suffering and deaths of the characters aren't very pretty, and as Hazel declares, the problems can't be solved by a Peter Gabriel song.

Fantasy is definitely a good place to escape and I'm not a super-gritty fantasy kind of person, but I did want to write a fantasy where the main character, in a prolonged way, faces mortality without it being too pretty, while still honoring the tradition of classic S&S heroism. So that got me going on The Kilhellion. It would have been out by now, except that like Hazel read Imperial Affliction over and over I sort of got obsessed (okay, I totally became obsessed) with Fault, and so I had to start over because that's what The Kilhellion was missing. Not cancer. But, you know, it was missing people being real people when they faced awful danger and pain, etc. I didn't want it to matter that the danger was magical, or came from a non-existent race, or whatever. I didn't want it to matter that the people had powers to lean on (sometimes). The Fault in Our Stars inspired me to make The Kilhellion, which will be full of the sword and sorcery stuff I love, more ... earthy? Fleshy? Anyway, I hope the book is going to be out later this year. I'm working hard on it!

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