Author Interview- "Florence"

 Florence is a fun new take on the underwater world of the Mer-people. I had the chance to read an advanced copy of this book and I loved it! The best part was that I was able to talk to the author and ask him some of my burning questions! I will be posting my "Florence" review on July 1, which is the same day the book will be released. Make sure to check back here for more information and a teaser within the next week! I hope you enjoy the interview with author Ciye Cho and that you read his awesome book! 

 First, a little about the author:

 And now for the interview, 


1. What made you decide to set your story in the underwater kingdom of Niemela?
I thought it would be cool to create a world inside a coral dome... surrounded by deep-sea volcanoes... at the bottom of an ocean. If you study nature, you'll find that life can thrive in even the coldest, deepest, darkest places.

2. What made you decide to have your main character be a human stuck in a world full of merpeople?

I thought it would be interesting to take a shy outsider... and place her in a wonderland where she has nowhere to hide and no choice but to take a stand.

3. How many books are you planning on having in this series?

I'd like to write two more. There's so much I want Florence to experience in Niemela.

4. I'm sure you will have millions of fan girls fighting over them, but which merprince do you prefer? Rolan or Kiran?

I do favor one prince a little more, but I won't say which one (in case my answer reads like a spoiler :-)!)

5. Which of your creatures of darkness is your favorite?

The Borgamont. Ordinary starfish are practically inanimate, so I wanted to create a version that was fast, humongous... and grisly.

6. If you had a choice, would you rather be a merman or a creature of darkness?
Merman. But I'm not sure if I would fit in among the Niemelans. (I'd probably be an outsider like Florence.)

7. What is the hardest part of coming up with the story? How did you come up with this story?

The hardest part was bringing each character to life.

I've always been fascinated by merfolk, and I wanted to put a new spin on mer mythology. I had all these images in my head of multicolored mer weaving castles out of kelp and fighting creatures of a dark ocean.

Most mer myths feature themes of order and belonging... so I wanted to take those ideas and push them further. Niemela is a place where every thing, animal, and person has a role to play, but none of the main characters truly fit in among their kind. (And I hope that readers can relate to this--for who hasn't felt like an outsider at some point?)

8. I'm not sure if this is a spoiler or not so you don't have to answer, but I loved how the merpeople turned into bubbles and basically became part of the sea when they died. What was the inspiration behind that?

Many people believe that merfolk dissolve into foam when they die. This was my take on classic mermaid mythology.