– Thanks for joining us here at YALC. We would love you to introduce yourself
Hi, I’m Camille Chong, the debut author of a sapphic fantasy rom-com Love, Gods and Sinners. I write vibrant, high-octane and impulsive stories, and otherwise spend my free time dabbling in hobbies or chasing my cat.
– Can you give our readers an overview of your YA novel Love, God & Sinners
Love, Gods & Sinners is a sapphic fantasy rom-com about two girls assigned to defeat the other behind secret identities – without realising they’re flatmates behind their masks. When they start falling for each other outside of the mask, it’s only a matter of time before their secret identities catch up to them.
– And, if you could do it in just 5 words or less, what would they be?
Lethal combat but they’re girlfriends!
– Who was your favourite character to write and why?
I really loved writing Harper as a character. She’s so funny, and I wanted her to be impulsive and quick and rebellious. That made her character voice extra fun to write because in many places, I got to ask myself: what’s the funniest, most non-conventional, and maybe even vaguely unhinged way I can put this? And then I could do it, and no one could stop me.
– Is there a character that you relate to?
People have mentioned that Harper reminds them of me! I don’t know how to feel about that. I put the quicker, more impulsive parts of myself in Harper, and my quieter, more anxious traits in Tia. It’s great for my self-development that they fall in love.
– How does the story explore the difference between love and obsession?
They’re pretty obsessed with each other in the book, actually. I don’t think love should be obsessive, but I do think that young love feels very dramatic and world-ending. I did want to put that across in the book, but I’m not endorsing love as obsession. We have a movie about that now.
– Is there a particular scene that felt rewarding to write?
The pivotal scenes are always fun, but I workshopped their identity reveal scene several times before landing on the final version. It’s the right amount of drama and angst, and it’s also a little campy and action-movie-like, which is a great reference to the general action-movie and animation inspirations for LGS.
– How does the book explore the idea of ‘sin’?
In an enemies-to-lovers rom-com like this one, ‘sin’ is really just the other person. You know you’re not meant to be together or to be doing what they’re doing, that it potentially goes against the values you’ve been raised with. Of course, they do it anyway.
– Are the characters shaped more by their choices or by their circumstances
On one hand, Harper and Tia are both very high-agency characters. They’re choosing to get into fights with each other, choosing to reach out where they shouldn’t. They’re making very bad choices, very misinformed choices at times, and then they have to deal with the fallout after.
On the other hand, they’re both raised in their own rigid systems, and those circumstances do constrain them. I wanted that feeling of being pushed around by their systems because it’s such a common feeling for younger adults freshly navigating the world: the feeling of having to follow systems you don’t understand and don’t know yet if you agree with.
– Is there another character’s backstory you would love to explore in another book?
Maria, Harper’s ex-girlfriend. You either love her or hate her. She doesn’t get much screentime in the book, but she’s just as quick-witted and twice as acerbic as Harper. I think that’s a character worth fleshing out in the future. (Hint, maybe?)
– Did you have to do much research before you started the writing process for the book?
I had to do a lot of research on the mythologies that the characters were descended from. They initially even had different origin deities. It was hard because there are so many iterations of the same deity or myth. Harper is the descendant of a Chinese Fox, but there are famously also fox deities in Korean (gumiho) and Japanese (Nine-tailed Fox) culture, where their powers and portrayals are different. Even the powers of the Chinese Fox vary widely between iterations.
In adapting the myths, I also wanted to maintain a very soft, flexible magic system, as an underlying theme for the characters is that their powers have faded over generations of descendants. It mirrors how myths have eroded and changed over time, especially amidst a growing sense of distance from our traditions in a modern and globalised society.
– How did you come up with the title? Was it a hard process?
I’m bad for this. I made a bunch of titles with several possible buzzwords that the book reminded me of, then asked people on Twitter to vote. We initially had a very long title, but my publisher, agent and I decided unanimously to halve it. The half we stuck with is Love, Gods & Sinners. Not advising anyone to do this, though I do love our result.
– Where do you write?
I was quite busy with my personal life for most, if not all, of the time that I wrote and published LGS. This means that writing was something I had to carve out time for. I draft on a document that syncs between my phone and computer, so sometimes writing looks like typing into my phone while I’m in a queue or on public transport. Sometimes I sit in a cafe for eight hours and switch between writing and university assignments. I’ve had to adapt to not having a writing spot, just to make sure I can keep getting words in.
– What is your favourite genre to read?
SF/F, a.k.a sci-fi and fantasy! I think the genre lends itself to exploring concepts about political or environmental themes through fascinating and novel ideas or premises. My recent favourite is Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, and When They Burned The Butterfly by Wen Yi Lee. I’m really excited for Bound By Fury by Noelle Monét and Mirrorwoven by Bori Cser. I also love horror because it exposes a generation’s fears. They Bloom At Night by Trang Than Tranh was absolutely great as queer horror and climate horror.
– Where can our readers find you on social media?
Instagram mainly, for professional stuff: @camillecscribbles. Twitter if you want to see me be very, very silly: @camiscribbles.
– Finally can you give us your favourite quote from a novel (it can be yours!)?
I think about this line from Nona the Ninth every week at minimum: “You can’t take loved away”. Love that has passed or been lost – grief, essentially – is such a horrible thing. To know that what’s most important is that the love existed – just the pure fact that the love was there at any point in time, even if it cannot be now – is comforting.
Camille Chong, author of LOVE, GODS & SINNERS (First Ink, HB £16.99), out now.