Lucy A. McLaren

Lucy: Hello Kyrie! Thank you for joining me today for a chat about our shared love of writing, gaming and storytelling.

First up, tell me a bit about yourself—as both a gamer and a writer.

Kyrie: Thanks for having me, Lucy! I’m a small-town physician and author who played video games throughout childhood. I loved Pokemon, Golden Sun, Zelda, and Fire Emblem so much that my mind conjured up stories that happened after the game ended. Starting in fifth grade, I began writing hundreds of pages of fanfiction. They’re all still in thick binders somewhere in my parents’ house. In high school, however, I challenged myself to write original stories. The prequel for my debut novel, Healer’s Blade, began as a fun experiment when I was sixteen.

I recently realized I adore the medieval times probably because both the Zelda and Fire Emblem series take place in medieval fantasy worlds, and I grew up with these games. Clean romance and engaging, addictive plots also make these two video game series unforgettable. Likewise, I incorporate adventure, plot-twists, and clean romance in all my writing.

L: Wow, so you’ve really been writing since childhood, influenced by those games you grew up playing. It’s great those fanfictions are still somewhere in your parents’ house! My early writing endeavours are lost to the passage of time, though I think that might be a good thing.

Can you remember how it was at sixteen to go from writing fanfiction to writing an original story? And it’s great that what you wrote then ending up leading on to your debut book, Healer’s Blade. Can you tell us a bit more about that? It’s evident that there are some direct links back to some of your favourite games in terms of setting and content. 

K: The biggest challenge to writing an original book is (not suprisingly) building my own world.

I spent a summer in high school researching medieval everything- food, clothing, hairstyle, housing, weird habits, sanitation conditions, etc. While researching, I plotted a story my teenage self thought was pretty good. I endeavored to create complex characters like those in the Fire Emblem games, which were becoming my favorite series as I grew up.

This original medieval novel, Seeker, was supposed to be a standalone… Until readers (i.e. the friends I begged/bribed to read it) asked me if my protagonist, Kato, died at the end! I was flabbergasted. I thought I’d made it clear he survived, but obviously I didn’t. 

A sequel began to take form in my head to clarify Kato’s fate. This sequel took form for uh… all four years of medical school! Finally, as a resident, I began writing again as a way of escaping while stuck in the hospital for long hours. Seeker’s protagonists (Kato, Evelyn and Aelfric) are the secondary characters of Healer’s Blade (Enemy’s Keeper Book 1).

While writing Healer’s Blade, I had the amazing plot twists of Golden Sun 1 and 2 for Gameboy Advance in my head. For the first game, you played as Isaac. For the 2nd game, you played as the supposed enemy of Isaac, Felix. So how can both protagonists be good, or “right”? The revelations that led to an ultimate reconciliation between the two young men had blown me away as a high schooler (who binge played 8 hrs a day one summer :D). 

The Enemy’s Keeper series vaguely follows the same route: two young men who begin as mortal enemies. As the series progresses, the lines between enemy and ally begin to blur. Forgiveness and reconciliation are major themes of the series. 

L: Yes, absolutely—worldbuilding can be a huge part of story writing, and it sounds like you really went into it full steam with the research on medieval elements to include. How did that help you in creating your world? And what was the most interesting part of your research, do you remember?

Also, wow, you wrote Healer’s Blade whilst in medical school! That is so cool and extremely impressive!! So you mentioned that Golden Sun 1 and 2 were huge influences for you. The stories for those games sound great, especially with the idea of who is “right”—and it clearly being a matter of perspective! And the complexity of characters from Fire Emblem was something you wanted to emulate in your storytelling too. Which leads me to ask—what is the most important element for you in a story: character, plot, or world?

K: I write in the Fantasy/Sci-fi subgenre of “Alternative History”. My research was paramount to creating my story world, which is historically accurate except for certain purposeful deviations. In my case, one deviation stemmed from the most intriguing fact I discovered during my research: China had manufactured gunpowder-based weapons before the 11th century, but it took 200+ years for “gunpowder” to be documented in English literature (in a work called the Opus Majus). The Silk Road existed long before the 11th century; silk and other products entered Europe, but gunpowder didn’t for a long time. Why? The historical record is silent.

For illustrations of early gunpowder weapons from a 1044AD Chinese military manual. This proto-bomb inspired the “thundercrashers” in my Enemy’s Keeper series:

I couldn’t help but wonder: what if some clever English resident smuggled gunpowder and these amazing explosives into England during the reign of William the Conqueror? In the Enemy’s Keeper series, my rebel male protagonist is that smuggler.

Among character, plot, or world, character is most important to me. I can deal with lackluster world-building as long as the characters are relatable and complex, and their motivations are compelling!

L: Okay, so the research really is an important part of your storytelling. Thank you for sharing some of it, that’s fascinating! In terms of your ideas for deviations from history—did you have a vague idea of what those would be going into your research, or did the research inspire the ideas (such as the smuggler of the gunpowder). As an aside, I am so excited to read Healer’s Blade and to see where the deviations lie!

I completely agree about characters being the most important. I think characters who draw us in and make us care about them (whether they are “good” or “bad” or anything in between) is essential to us wanting to follow them on their journey. I’ve tried to push myself through books with lacklustre characters and… oof. It’s a slog.

You’ve spoken about the video games that have inspired your stories. Are there any particular video game characters that have inspired the characters you’ve created?

K: Now that I think about it, Eliwood from Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade may have subconsciously influenced the personality of Tobias (Toby) Boltan, the rebel knight/smuggler. I had a ridiculous, intense crush on Eliwood while playing the game as a teen, hahaha…  the Eliwood I remembered was loving and protective of those in his team, humble despite his elevated status, but also overly idealistic, which got him into trouble. Toby is similar. My Healer’s Blade readers love him, and so do I!

As for my choice of deviation from history, I knew I wanted the English (Anglo-Saxon) rebels to obtain something clandestine that would give them the upper hand over their Norman overlords. In this case, my research stumbled upon the curious history of gunpowder I’d just mentioned. I knew immediately that gunpowder would be that secret something!

I’m super happy you’re interested in reading Healer’s Blade, by the way!

L: Hahah look, you’re not alone in the video game crushes (mine was Wakka from Final Fantasy X) so no judgement here. Eliwood sounds like a great character, as does Toby! I’m sure if I thought deeply about it, I’d find links between some of my favourite video game characters and the characters I’ve written too. I think, as writers, we are always absorbing the things we love and putting little pieces of those in our stories.

Ooh that’s so cool, I love that! It sounds as though you had a vague idea of what your plot would be, but your research really helped to cement it for you. I really am excited to read Healer’s Blade, it’s ready and waiting on my kindle.

So, what are you working on at the moment? Are you continuing on from Healer’s Blade?

K: Thank you for you support, Lucy!

Currently I’m building my launch team for The Thief’s Keeper (An Enemy’s Keeper Series Prequel). The book features young Aliwyn as a petty thief, dying from a mysterious illness, and a runaway thrall (medieval slave) named Aelfric. He must decide between pursuing freedom or staying behind and saving her. 

Meanwhile, Aliwyn is no damsel in distress. She uses her wits to keep Aelfric and a lost little boy safe from the thrall masters. The Thief’s Keeper is a fast-paced, suspenseful and yet heart-warming coming-of-age story set shortly after William the Conqueror conquered England.

I’m giving away bookmarks and stickers internationally to my launch team!  Synopsis, first chapter, all available at kyriewang.com/arc. 

L: That sounds fantastic. What made you want to write a prequel for the series? And how did you find writing another story set before Healer’s Blade—was it something you’d always planned to do?

I was never happy with the fact that Aelfric, my FMC’s Aliwyn’s best friend and childhood crush, never had his story told in Healer’s Blade. In fact, I the author didn’t know how Aliwyn and Aelfric met before Healer’s Blade, and this made the series difficult to write! After three attempts at a prequel, I finally nailed Aelfric’s backstory and character arc. Once I did, The Thief’s Keeper almost wrote itself. He’s now one of my favorite characters in the series– an outspoken, stubborn runaway thrall boy with a tender heart. He just won’t admit it.

So yes, I have always wanted to write a proper prequel to Healer’s Blade (not counting the Seeker novella I wrote in high school), but it took me a few attempts!

L: It sounds as though it was important for you as the author to understand these characters in more depth, so writing how Aliwyn and Aelfric met was part of that. I love the character art and it’s clear the characters are so vivid in your head, I’m certain they must be so on the page as well. Thank you for talking us through your journey on writing these two books!

You’ve mentioned about signing up to be on the ARC team for The Thief’s Keeper—but where can we keep up to date with you and all of your stories?

K: Thank you so much for having me here, Lucy!

You can keep in touch with me via:

– My newsletter (https://kyrie-wang-author-d6k8k8.mailerpage.com/). I give a free medieval coloring book to all my subscribers! 

– Instagram: http://instagram.com/authorkyriew/

– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkyrieW