I was really fascinated by this idea of peeling back the layers of the London underground.
And I wanted to unpack that darkness.
The backstory is that there are these three bastard brothers who were all born on the same day.
Avon Books
Essentially, theyre smugglers.
The first book is the first brother, Devil, this is his story.
She has been betrayed by society.
Shes too old, too plain.
And of course, its not true.
Its a revenge story.
Im writing these dudes who live in Covent Garden and work in the darkness and are criminals, essentially.
Noble criminals, but criminals nonetheless.
Its likeTaboomeetsHarlotsmeets I-dont-know-what-else, lots of things.
So I got really excited about writing hot thieves in ice holes.
[Laughs] If Kristoff wasnt such a doofus, he would be a Bareknuckle Bastard maybe.
It has an edge to it.
It has a darkness to it …
But also Im obsessed with all these period, dark BBC shows.
When I came up with the idea, I was watchingRipper Street.
Its Victorian so its later, but its set in a police precinct.
We are not the aristocracy.
I didnt want them to be slavers.
I wanted them to be upstanding men with a code.
Theres the truly criminal crime and the crime thats entertaining to watch.
I got really interested in the character of thievery.
The cover design seems to echo this new direction for you.
I wanted it to feel like its a different world, and it is a different world.
Would it make it more modern?
Would it make it feel edgier?
Would it make it feel darker?
I wanted it to have that sort of monochrome darkness in the background.
Tom Hardy makes frequent appearances on your Twitter feed.
Can we expect to see a character inspired by him in the new series?
[Laughs] Pretty much like half of my heroes are inspired by Tom Hardy.
Heres the thing about Tom Hardy hes such a great grunter.
Hes always an antihero.
I love that he resists it.
That makes for a really great romance character as a centering character trait.
At least in my mind, in this world, thats whats happening.
I say often that dirty talk in romance novels is just ongoing consent.
First of all, I think people who have problems with romance often havent read it ever.
Weve been policing womens pleasure for millennia.
Ultimately, that will serve romance because romance is about fantasy and pleasure and partnership and parity.
Now were finally coming to a place where we can see that its both.
And have that too?
How did that come about?
My general state in the world is as a romance recommender.
Readers are conditioned to be ashamed of what they read.
Its really damaging, and its really exhausting, frankly.
Because it was just what I did.
For me, romance has always been about feminism.
I appreciate that theres a lot wrapped up in feminism as a concept for romance.
But where else do you get the female gaze?
And so thePostarticle, NPR, you guys, were at a sea change in national media covering it.
It keeps the lights on in publishing.
But, boy, it feels harder now than it ever has.
The Wicked and the Wallflowerhits shelves June 19.
