The Winner’s Crime Author Marie Rutkoski Talks Writing Trilogies, Power Plays, and What Comes Next

The world you’ve created for this series is so big and fantastical. What in your background inspired it? 
My education did inspire me to some extent. I was an English major in college, but I toyed with the thought of being a double major in English and Art History. I didn’t actually complete a double major in Art History, but I took several classes and a seminar on ancient art. I remember my teacher explaining how, after Rome conquered Greece, there was this strange sort of dynamic between the Greeks and the Romans, because the Romans had revered the Greeks for so long for being wonderfully artistic, for being philosophical, for being writers, and so forth. But the Romans were considered by the Greeks to be these sort of savage barbarians with no manners. So suddenly, this whole population that the Romans revered were slaves in their household and teaching their children and reciting poetry. And I just thought that was such an interesting dynamic, and it stayed with me. That wasn’t necessarily the direct inspiration, but it was definitely something I drew from when writing the book.
I would also say my love for Jane Austen filtered into the text. I love how in Jane Austen, not a lot necessarily happens in terms of the plot, but so much happens emotionally on the page and words can mean so much. I was just really interested in painting this world where people were really gossipy and where there were high emotional stakes in what somebody might say in addition to what they might do.
It’s interesting that you touch on the emotional depth of it, because you have this girl who has grown up in this world who’s having to fight against everything she’s known. What are the challenges of creating a character at odds with her own culture? 
One thing that was very important to me when writing Kestrel was that she never betray herself. So even though she does struggle against her own culture, she does it more so in book two than in book one. Book one is in some ways about her opening her eyes to the world around her and to what her people have done. But book two is really when she begins to awaken as sort of a rebellious figure. So, I suppose the real challenge was making sure that no matter what she did, she didn’t betray herself. And, if she betrayed people she cared about, she did so for a reason that was sympathetic and understandable.
Were you conscious of writing in a way to make her receptive to the plight of the Herrani? 
I was, and that’s one of the reasons I created the character of Enai, who’s Herrani and has been taking care of Kestrel for a very long time. One of the reasons she’s so receptive is because there’s a Herrani she has loved as a second mother. I do think Kestrel is a compassionate person and doesn’t like to see other people suffer. I also think that although she’s in a position of privilege, the pressure she gets from her father and the pressure she gets from her society make her feel sympathy toward the enslaved. She knows the pressure she feels is not the same thing as being enslaved. Yet at the same time, she can see a bit of herself in the experiences the Herrani suffer.
You’re dealing with big themes like slavery and war, and there’s always a lot of talk about YA authors and their responsibility to put morals in their stories. When you’re writing about these themes, do you ever feel a responsibility, and does it affect how you write it?
I don’t feel I have any moral per se that I want to convey. But I will say I really like books that consider ethical issues, like Ian McEwan’s. He’s an author who’s really interested in how people deal with ethical problems and how they sort them out. What I want to do is ask my readers ethical questions so that they imagine what they would do in this situation. So what do you do when there is no good choice? The book begins with a choice that seems good but is also ethically problematic. Kestrel’s decision to buy Arin is immoral because it’s wrong to buy another person. But on the other hand, she recognizes if she doesn’t do that, this person will likely be sold into hard labor and forced to work until he dies. So she thinks she can offer something better than that fate, and she decides to step in and purchase him. So it’s at once horribly, horribly wrong, but also kind of the only moral thing she can do given the choices she has.

When you conceived the idea for The Winner’s Curse, did you know it was going to be a trilogy? 
No. I wrote a trilogy for middle grade readers that began with The Cabinet of Wonders. And let me tell you, it’s really, really hard to write a trilogy. So when I sat down to write The Winner’s Curse, I thought standalone. But as I was writing it, I was getting closer to the end and I couldn’t really envision it, which is rare for me. Usually I know the last lines and the whole emotional feeling I want to give at the end of the book, and it just wasn’t happening for The Winner’s Curse. When I examined why, it occurred to me that it was because I was trying to write an ending that wasn’t true to my characters or the world I created or the story I was trying to tell. Then I thought of what ending would be true to all those things, and I came up with the ending that is the actual ending of The Winner’s Curse. I realized that if I wrote that, I could leave it at that, and I would be okay with it.
Oh my god, it would have killed everyone else. 
I did consider that. I considered that my readers might be very unhappy, so I thought about whether or not I wanted to continue Kestrel and Arin’s story beyond that and what it would look like. I could see the shape for each of the next two books. So initially, I didn’t know it would be a trilogy, nor did I want it to be a trilogy. But then about three-fourths of the way through the first book, I knew.
Can you walk me through your typical day of writing? Do you have a process or a ritual? 
I don’t. I’m a professor of English literature and a mother of two small boys, so I pretty much write when I can. I try to cram all of my teaching into two days. Sometimes that means on the other three days I have to grade papers or prepare for classes I have to teach. When I’m not, I try to write. I have a beautiful view of the north of Manhattan. I can see the Empire State Building, which is great, but I shut the curtains when I write. My desk is right in front of the window, and I shut the curtains  and that helps me concentrate. So that’s one ritual of mine. Otherwise, I pretty much just write when I can.
Were there any books you read growing up that made you want to write for teens and children? 
Absolutely. I loved Robin McKinley’s books. When I was a teen, The Hero and the Crown was huge for me. Also, Tamora Pierce’s Allana books. I loved Cynthia Voigt, Jackaroo but even more so her contemporary books that began with Homecoming. Oh, and Katherine Paterson.
What YA books have you been reading recently?
I loved I’ll Give You the Sun, by Jandy Nelson.  I want to read Bone Gap, by Laura Ruby, because I’ve heard really good things. I loved The Wrath and the Dawn, by Renée Ahdieh. It’s a retelling of Shahrzad’s A Thousand and One Nights. It’s so refreshing to read fantasy inspired by Arabic culture instead of European, and the characters are wonderful. It’s a great book. There’s a YA book coming out by a friend of mine called The Tenderness of Thieves. It’s a contemporary novel that’s a dark moody beach book, which is rare. Read it on Cape Cod, maybe. I love Sarah Dessen, and I think her latest one, Saint Anything, is a really strong one. But my favorite will always be The Truth About Forever.
What about other media? Any TV shows, movies, or movies that inspire your writing?
I wouldn’t say inspires. I don’t write to music, but sometimes I do find a song that seems to fit the emotional mood of the scene I’m trying to write. Like for The Winner’s Kiss, one of the songs is U2’s Bad. I will run on the treadmill at the gym, and I will just listen to the song over and over and over again. I can spend half an hour listening to the same song. I can feel that there’s a connection, so part of what I’m trying to do is sort out what the emotion is I’m trying to reach so I can re-create it in the book. Another song that’s been really important to me for both book two and book three is the Florence and the Machine cover of “Take Care.”
I don’t think any TV shows inspire me. Buffy is probably hugely influential on me as a writer, but I don’t think The Winner’s Curse is very Buffy-esque. But I love Buffy, and I love Veronica Mars. I’m really into The 100 these days, and I fully ship Bellamy and Clark. I’ve also been watching Outlander, which is slow in a way that I love and that makes me happy. And it’s so pretty—everything they wear, the mountainside. The director, Ronald Moore, also directed Battlestar Galactica, which is another one of my favorites.
Any hints as to what we’ll see in The Winner’s Kiss?  
There’s kissing in the The Winner’s Kiss. There’s war. You see more of Roshar, who is a character I loved to write in book two. And he becomes even more important in book three. What else do you want to know?
Will these large power differentials that have defined Kestrel and Arin’s relationship from the beginning be further explored?
Yes, they will be further explored. Something I wanted to do from the beginning was explore how poisonous it can be when there is a big difference in power between two people, no matter how perfect they are for each other. I mean, Kestrel and Arin are pretty perfect for each other, and it’s not their fault there’s this huge imbalance of power, but there is. And it does poison their relationship. So I will say, that they can’t be together until their equal.
Any ideas for your next books already starting to form?
I have a couple ideas. I think I’m going to take a little bit of a break, or at least write more slowly. My first book came out in 2008, so by 2016, I will have published seven books. Seven books in eight years is kind of a lot, and it’s hard with the other job and having two kids. So I’m going to slow down a little bit for the next one. Sometimes I think about writing another fantasy book set in this world. It wouldn’t be Kestrel and Arin, but I might have something in this world.