Bree Grenwich & Parker Lennox | A Dear Fantasy Author Interview

Summary

Episode Summary: Bree Greenwich & Parker Lennox | A Dear Fantasy Author Interview

Podcast: Dear Fantasy Reader
Host: Hannah, Kinsey, and Karly
Guests: Bree Greenwich & Parker Lennox
Release Date: July 3, 2025
Transcript Length: Approximately 99 minutes

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1. Introduction and Welcome

The episode opens with Hannah welcoming listeners to a special Dear Fantasy Author interview segment, introducing the guests—Bree Greenwich and Parker Lennox, the creative minds behind the Espritian Trilogy (Riftborne and Dustbound) and the upcoming Asimmerian Duet (Asundid), set to release on October 7, 2025.

Hannah (00:04): "Dearest Fantasy Readers, welcome to our Dear Fantasy Author interview where we get to talk with the brilliant minds behind our favorite Romantasy novels."

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2. Fandoms and Personal Interests

The hosts engage the authors in a light-hearted discussion about their personal fandoms outside of writing. Bree reveals her unashamed love for the K-pop group BTS, while Parker shares her annual obsession with the reality show Love Island. The conversation naturally transitions into their shared interest in Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), highlighting how their gaming experiences influenced their writing.

Bree Greenwich (02:23): "I am a huge fangirl of the K-pop group BTS. Oh yeah, like unashamed. Like I love them."

Parker Lennox (02:50): "Every summer you can expect, without a doubt for it to be Love Island."

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3. Origins of the Espritian Trilogy

The authors delve into the genesis of the Espritian Trilogy, explaining how their D&D campaigns sparked the creation of their expansive fantasy universe. Parker recounts how detailed backstories and collaborative brainstorming sessions evolved into the elaborate plotlines of Riftborne.

Parker Lennox (06:37): "We were really gearing up our backstories for the next one. This was going to be our third campaign... it spiraled into an entire plot of a series."

Bree adds that their attachment to their D&D characters and the emotional depth cultivated during gameplay seamlessly transitioned into their writing partnership.

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4. Writing Process and Co-Authoring Dynamics

A significant portion of the episode focuses on the authors' collaborative writing process. Bree and Parker discuss their evolution from meticulously plotting every chapter in Riftborne to adopting a more flexible, synopsis-based approach in Dustbound and the upcoming Ascended. They emphasize the importance of mutual trust, consistent character voices, and real-time collaboration via Google Meet for drafting chapters.

Bree Greenwich (09:50): "With Ascended, we took everything we learned and decided to only do a synopsis instead of an outline."

Parker Lennox (14:14): "Some of the chapters that tend to maybe run long in the melodramatics are most likely me."

They also touch upon the challenges of balancing individual strengths—Bree excels in visualizing action and romantic scenes, while Parker focuses on internal dialogues and emotional depth.

Parker Lennox (18:00): "My strength is... the more like internal things, like the internal aspects and inner dialogue."

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5. World-Building and Series Structure

The conversation shifts to the broader structure of their fantasy universe, revealing plans for seven books that interweave multiple series. They clarify that the Ascended will take place decades before the events of Riftborne, allowing new readers to start with either book.

Parker Lennox (19:14): "There will be seven books total. Ascended takes place decades before the events of Riftborne."

They also announce the upcoming Illustrian Duet, the third series linked to their main trilogy, and tease interconnected storylines without divulging spoilers.

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6. Character Development and Themes

Bree and Parker discuss their commitment to creating realistic, flawed characters, with a particular focus on mental health representation. The protagonist, Fia, embodies anxiety and isolation, offering a contrast to the often flawless heroines prevalent in the genre. They highlight how Fia's journey towards embracing her vulnerabilities adds depth to the narrative.

Parker Lennox (30:53): "If we were to take our worst moments of that and pour it into something, it's a very isolating feeling and it's almost like a constant sense of dread."

The authors aim to foster relatability and empathy, ensuring that readers can connect emotionally with Fia's struggles and growth.

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7. Easter Eggs and Subtle Foreshadowing

Throughout their works, Bree and Parker incorporate subtle foreshadowing and Easter eggs, which serve to enrich the reading experience without overwhelming the narrative. An example discussed is the unintended Easter egg involving Aether being referred to as "Princess," which later plays a pivotal role in the story's twists.

Parker Lennox (45:26): "When she looks like a princess, which is so not Fia."

This technique encourages readers to engage more deeply with the text, searching for hidden clues and connections.

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8. Creative Inspirations and Original Elements

The authors proudly state that all creatures and elements within their universe are original creations, inspired by but distinct from existing myths and lore. They describe the Vorter as a "carnivorous pony," emphasizing their dedication to crafting unique and memorable mythical beings.

Bree Greenwich (56:46): "We wanted to create a new creature... so we’re gonna create a really co—carnivorous pony."

This originality extends to their magic systems and world-building elements, ensuring a fresh take within the fantasy genre.

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9. Upcoming Releases and Special Announcements

A major highlight of the interview is the announcement of Book Three of the Espritian Trilogy, titled "Realmblade," set to release on May 26, 2026. The authors unveil the cover art, which features intricate designs symbolizing key thematic elements of the series.

Bree Greenwich (70:34): "Release date for book three of the Esprithian Trilogy is May 26th of 2026."

They express gratitude towards the podcast hosts for sharing this exclusive news and acknowledge the enthusiastic reception from their fan base.

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10. Interactive Trivia Segment

The episode features a fun and engaging trivia segment titled "Are You Smarter Than a Fangirl?" where Bree and Parker compete to answer rapid-fire questions about their own books. Despite the pressure, both co-authors demonstrate impressive knowledge of their intricate world.

Kenise (81:39): "What is the key ingredient to Maz Tonic that allows humans to hold their breath for an extended period of time?"
Parker Lennox (86:54): "Red algae."

The segment concludes with Parker narrowly winning the round, adding a playful and competitive element to the interview.

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11. Reader Appreciation and Closing Remarks

The hosts close the interview with a heartfelt Reader's Letter, expressing immense gratitude towards Bree and Parker. The authors reciprocate the appreciation, highlighting the mutual respect and admiration between creators and their dedicated audience.

Hannah (95:26): "Dear fantasy authors, thank you for curing our book hangovers and then immediately giving us another not once, but twice..."

Bree and Parker share emotional reactions to the letter, emphasizing the meaningful connections formed through their collaborative works.

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12. Final Announcements and Sign-Off

The episode wraps up with Hannah, Kinsey, and Carly promoting upcoming podcast content, including subscription information, Patreon perks, and social media channels. They encourage listeners to engage with the Dear Fantasy Reader community through reviews, discussions, and their Discord chat.

Hannah (100:03): "You can also find more information about our previous and upcoming seasons, episode and events, calendar, other author interviews, our contact form, and more on our newly revamped website that I am so proud of. So please go check it out @dearfantasyreader.com."

They conclude with a playful and warm sign-off, reinforcing their bond with the listeners and the shared love for fantasy literature.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Hannah (01:00): "As fans, brace yourselves. There are quite a few incredibly exciting Esprithian reveals coming later in this episode..."

• Parker Lennox (06:37): "It spiraled into an entire plot of a series."

• Bree Greenwich (09:50): "With Ascended, we decided to only do a synopsis instead of an outline."

• Parker Lennox (30:53): "Fia's journey to embrace her vulnerabilities adds depth to the narrative."

• Bree Greenwich (56:46): "We’re gonna create a really co—carnivorous pony."

• Hannah (95:26): "Thank you for writing characters who are shaped by pain but still choose empathy..."

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Episode Highlights:

• Origin Story: How D&D gaming sessions evolved into a full-fledged fantasy series.
• Co-Authoring Insights: Transition from detailed plotting to flexible storytelling.
• World-Building: Seven-book plan with interconnected series and original creatures.
• Character Depth: Representation of mental health through the protagonist, Fia.
• Easter Eggs: Subtle clues and foreshadowing for attentive readers.
• Exclusive Announcements: Release details for the upcoming Realmblade.
• Interactive Fun: Engaging trivia showdown between the authors.
• Heartfelt Connections: Emotional exchange of gratitude between hosts and guests.

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Closing Thoughts:

This episode of Dear Fantasy Reader offers an in-depth look into the creative minds of Bree Greenwich and Parker Lennox. From their collaborative writing journey and rich world-building to heartfelt interactions and exclusive future plans, listeners are treated to a comprehensive exploration of the Espritian Trilogy and beyond. Whether you're a long-time fan or new to the series, this interview provides valuable insights and an exciting glimpse into the expansive universe crafted by these talented authors.

Transcript

[Parker Lennox]

Foreign.

[Hannah]

Dearest Fantasy Readers, welcome to our Dear Fantasy Author interview where we get to talk with the brilliant minds behind our favorite Romantasy novels. I'm Hannah.

[Kinsey]

I'm Kinsey.

[Carly]

And I'm Carly.

[Hannah]

Today we are chatting with Parker Lennox and Bri Greenwich, authors of the Espritian Trilogy, Riftborne and Dustbound, and the Asimmerian duet, book one, the Asundid, which releases October 7th of 2025.

[Carly]

The first portion of this episode will be spoiler free, but we will be diving into spoilers in the second half before our bonus segments, Are youe Smarter Than a Fangirl? Trivia and the Reader's Letter to Close, both of which do include spoilers. You can find the timestamps for each section down in the show notes.

[Kinsey]

Due to the nature of this book, this podcast is rated R for content and language. If you'd like to watch this episode ad free and full video or audio only if you prefer, you can. It's available now on Patreon and we've dropped that link in the show notes as well.

[Hannah]

As fans, brace yourselves. There are quite a few incredibly exciting Esprithian reveals one, two, maybe three or more coming later in this episode and we cannot wait for you to hear it from the authors themselves.

[Carly]

And if that's not enough, we also have a bonus question segment exclusive to Patreon listeners, which you can access through the link in the show notes.

[Hannah]

Please welcome to the podcast, the brilliant minds behind the Asprithian Trilogy and the Asimmerian Duet, Parker Lennox and Bri Greenwich. Yay. Hello. Hello. We are so, so insanely honored that you guys are joining us today. We're honored.

[Bri Greenwich]

We're the ones that are honored.

[Hannah]

I don't think our listeners are ever going to see me fangirl as hard as I will today. I absolutely adore both of you. Your writing is incredible and I cannot wait. We have so many insanely fun questions that we are going to ask you guys today and some exciting news coming. So we are huge Romantasy fangirls here. What is one thing, book related or not, that you are each an unashamed fangirl of? And there are no wrong answers.

[Kinsey]

I'll go first.

[Bri Greenwich]

I am a huge fan girl of the K pop group bts. Oh yeah, like unashamed. Like I love them. They have all just been discharged from the military and that's been like where my focus has been. Well outside of writing, I've been like if I'm online, I'm looking up bts.

[Parker Lennox]

She's underplaying it.

[Hannah]

She's.

[Parker Lennox]

She's obsessed.

[Hannah]

I love that, though. I'm a huge Taylor Swift fan and I understand, like, the fandom aspect of. Yes, yes.

[Parker Lennox]

I love Taylor Swift, too, but I tried to think of a different answer for this. So I tend to go in and out of obsessions because I get hyper fixations. But every summer you can expect, without a doubt for it to be Love Island.

[Bri Greenwich]

So.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah.

[Hannah]

What a ton. As of right now. That's a great thing to talk about. I don't watch it, but it's all. I feel like I do because my. For your page right now is nothing but Buddha and Love Island.

[Parker Lennox]

Yes.

[Hannah]

I always love this answer because I feel like we get to know even more. But I'm actually surprised that neither of you said Dungeons and Dragons, we haven't got to play.

[Parker Lennox]

That's such a given.

[Bri Greenwich]

Yeah.

[Hannah]

Oh, you're like, you should have known that.

[Parker Lennox]

We haven't played in almost two years now. I think is. Is the real thing we used. We played every Sunday for nine hours for four years.

[Bri Greenwich]

Then Dungeon Master vanished on us.

[Parker Lennox]

Oh.

[Bri Greenwich]

And it kind of was a good thing because without that, you know, Riftborne was created through the backstories for our next campaign.

[Parker Lennox]

So that never got to happen. And if it had happened, then maybe we would have never written a book ever.

[Bri Greenwich]

So.

[Hannah]

Oh, my gosh.

[Kinsey]

Is nine hours pretty typical for a Dungeons and Dragons?

[Parker Lennox]

No, we're just.

[Hannah]

You're like. We're excessive.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah.

[Kinsey]

It's a whole day affair. That's fun, though.

[Bri Greenwich]

That was so much fun.

[Parker Lennox]

It was so fun. Yeah.

[Kinsey]

If you had to sum up Riftborne for a brand new reader, what would you say?

[Parker Lennox]

I will preface with this is one of the hardest things for at least us, and I think a lot of authors to do because we have the whole story in our head, like, constantly, so. But if I were to try to do it justice. Riftborne is about a girl named Fia who is very isolated from the outside world. And she's hiding this ability that scares her that she doesn't know how to control. And she stumbles upon this situation in which that power erupts. And possibly the most terrible person to witness such a thing is the sole witness of that. And she basically is offered a choice. Join this military that is the same force that colonized your homeland, or die. And that's basically where the story takes off. We were very inspired. The magic system was very inspired by Dungeons and Dragons and X Men.

[Hannah]

Ooh. I just have to say, you did a fantastic job of summarizing that without, like, getting into spoilers. That was. You did a great job.

[Kinsey]

Great job. Okay, now, if you had to sum up the Ascended for a brand new reader, what would you say?

[Bri Greenwich]

I would say that the Ascended is following our new FMC Thais and her twin brother as they navigate being demigods. And they get pulled into this trial hosted by the Asimmerians. And there's a bunch of vengeance and romance and just a whole bunch of exciting things to look forward to. I don't want to give away too much, but that's the basis of it.

[Hannah]

I'm already hooked. Yeah. Safe. As if there was a reality in which I would have to Riftborne to Dustbound. So can you tell us what first. And you started to a little bit earlier. Can you tell us what first sparked the idea for Riftborne?

[Parker Lennox]

This was actually before our last D and D campaign ended, but we were near like, we had two weeks left before it was over. And so we were really gearing up our backstories for the next one. This was going to be our third campaign we were playing. And so we got really into the backstories. We were like D and D experts at this point. And we wrote these way too detailed backstories. I mean, they were like short stories in themselves. And so we were just talking about them on the phone one day and as we tend to do, we started spiraling and just like imagining what the campaign would be like. Like, I wonder if the Dungeon Master will go this direction. Or I wonder if he'll go this direction with it for so many possibilities. Obviously. Like, it would be so cool if he did this and that. Literally within like an eight hours. We were on the phone for eight hours and it spiraled into an entire plot of a series. Of an entire series.

[Hannah]

Not just a book, so the universe.

[Bri Greenwich]

The entire universe.

[Hannah]

So for those listening who don't know a lot about D and D Dungeons and Dragons, and we don't pretend to either, but our understanding is that you build these characters and then you see how they play out in a scenario that the game master comes up. Is that like a decent way? And so you were coming up with your own characters, but then you actually stepped into the game master role and you just built it all.

[Bri Greenwich]

Exactly.

[Parker Lennox]

And these campaigns just for scope. Each one that we played was two years long. So we're playing these characters for years.

[Bri Greenwich]

You get very attached to your characters.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah, it becomes very real and emotional. And I think, like, just to go off of that, I think our world building was shaped by D and D. I don't know if we har like we possessed that skill before we started playing.

[Hannah]

Creatively. I'm so in awe. That's fascinating.

[Kinsey]

I know. I'm like, I need to get into D and D now. That's incredible.

[Parker Lennox]

If you have a good dm, it's incredible.

[Hannah]

I may be getting ahead of myself here, but you mentioned that you were preparing for a new campaign and that's kind of like what Riftborne spiral from. But do you have past characters that you had created that have made their way into your. Oh, I see your face. Is that a yes?

[Bri Greenwich]

Names for sure.

[Parker Lennox]

Names.

[Hannah]

Okay, okay.

[Bri Greenwich]

Names for sure.

[Parker Lennox]

Asta was a name from one of our friends of a previous campaign and we loved the name so much. Even just little names. Like in Riftborne, the bartender, Shun. Shun was one of the.

[Bri Greenwich]

One of our other friends characters.

[Hannah]

And I would be so honored if like my character got utilized in a book. That's so cool.

[Kinsey]

Now, we'd love to hear about your writing process, especially because you guys are co authors. And has that process changed at all between Riftborne and Duskbound?

[Bri Greenwich]

I mean, I would say definitely with.

[Parker Lennox]

Riftborne, I would say that is the most prepared we ever were to write. Like, as in, we were very much plotters instead of pantsters. Our outline for Riftborne was 40 pages long, and we had every chapter detailed to what would happen. And I will say that is a great way to go because it makes the writing process a lot easier. But what we learned from that was that once the story builds on itself, it changes. And so with Dustbow, we did something similar, but we didn't make it as detailed. I'd say that outline was about 20 pages long and we had a synopsis of the entire story. So we had both things. And with Ascended, we took everything we learned and decided to only do a synopsis instead of an outline. We did like a seven or eight page synopsis of everything that happens. And we've been writing it very much as not chapters planned out. Like we'll plan out a chapter beforehand, but it wasn't like from an outline, we'll make an outline as we go of the chapter that we're writing. And that seems to work well.

[Hannah]

Correct me if I'm wrong or if I'm misremembering this, but did you say that for Riftborn you did every other chapter? You kind of like each one of you headed one chapter and then the next and vice versa. And then for Duskbound, that changed a lot. And I'm so fascinated by this, but I don't want to be the one to spoil it. So do you mind sharing about that and how your actual writing process changed? So, you know.

[Parker Lennox]

Yes.

[Bri Greenwich]

Riftborne, because of the outline, it really helped me be like, okay, I know that Parker did this chapter, so let me go and review the outline for the chapter that I'm going to be writing. And, you know, we weren't on the phone 247 doing. I mean, we would go back and edit each other's chapters and things like that, make sure that they flowed into each other. But for duskbound, we did switch it up and we. I mean, we're on a Google Meet call for the entire day and we write every single chapter together. We kind of like, take turns in typing and sometimes Parker needs to pace around and think.

[Parker Lennox]

It's very hard for me to sit still and think.

[Bri Greenwich]

And we actually found that we enjoy that better because we're kind of getting to edit as we go and make decisions as we go instead of having to make bigger changes to the chapters each time because we've both agreed on everything.

[Hannah]

That is one of the most fascinating things I have ever heard. The fact that you sit down together and you wrote like a whole book from basically like a zoom. That's crazy. And also awesome. I want to say that I was really shocked to find out that you both kind of took on every other chapter in Riftborn because you can't tell. You can't. It's seamless. And I think, Carly, you had also commented on that when I had shared with you that this is their style.

[Carly]

Yeah, I was really, really, really surprised because you couldn't tell a difference at all in voice or pattern or word choice. Everything felt so seamless. And so I was really, really surprised. It was incredibly impressive. But I always think it's so cool that you guys write together because I always hear authors say that writing is so isolating. And so I think it's cool that you have each other to bounce ideas off of and work together.

[Parker Lennox]

I can't imagine doing it alone.

[Bri Greenwich]

Yeah, honestly, no, I can't. And it means so much to us that you say that it flowed. Well, we always joke that we have the same mind, but I do think that it also falls into us just having, like, we just know Fia inside and out.

[Parker Lennox]

Truly, that's really important, is to know your character really well before you start. And editing each other's chapters really helped keep voice consistent. But I do think there is a small tell that I will reveal because I've noticed it more and more as we write. I have a tendency to get very melodramatic sometimes.

[Hannah]

We love a self aware queen.

[Parker Lennox]

So I think some of the chapters that tend to maybe run long in the melodramatics are most likely me. For instance, you know, there's a chapter at the beginning of Riftborn where she's in the apothecary with Ma. I'm trying to keep this spoiler free and she kind of goes on this like, internal rampage. That internal rampage was cut down pages, pages and pages. So that was me.

[Hannah]

Do you sacrifice more darlings than Brie does when you have to cut down in a book? Like there's a scene that you absolutely love. They say, am I saying the phrasing wrong? There might be like a kill your darlings.

[Parker Lennox]

Oh, I've never heard of that before.

[Carly]

It's when you have to like cut favorites for sake of plot.

[Parker Lennox]

Oh, we both have to do that.

[Bri Greenwich]

Yeah.

[Parker Lennox]

In different ways, though. Like mine is I just get carried away and I over explain things. I have a very. In real life too. Like I. I will explain the same thing three times in different ways for everything.

[Hannah]

We will be following up on that question. It's either in our spoiler section or our Patreon bonus question section where we'll be asking about what got deleted. Okay. Was co authoring something you always imagined doing together? Or I suppose were surprised by Dungeons and Dragons and how that kind of transpired?

[Bri Greenwich]

We never knew that we would be co authors. We have owned a business together since Parker was 19 and I was 20.

[Hannah]

Wow.

[Bri Greenwich]

So we always knew that we worked seamlessly together. And obviously when the book came up, it just seemed so natural for us to continue working together.

[Parker Lennox]

I mean, it was literally like, one day we're not writing a book and the next day we're writing a book because we tend to be impulsive as well.

[Bri Greenwich]

Yeah.

[Parker Lennox]

So it just. It was never something we thought about, like, are we going to do this together? It was just like always inevitable, I guess. But we had each written things when we were younger. Not got very far into them or anything. But I would say other than D and D backstories, in the last five or six years, we haven't written anything.

[Carly]

It does sound like a very natural evolution of like, where y' all were at with like DD and your creativity process that you ended up here even if it wasn't planned.

[Bri Greenwich]

That's how we feel.

[Parker Lennox]

It does.

[Bri Greenwich]

Yeah.

[Parker Lennox]

It was fate.

[Hannah]

Yeah. I think it's also really cool that you guys were on the same page, pun intended. But I was thinking, like, the trust that you have to have, the vulnerability when you're editing each other's work to go through and be like, I know you love this scene, but here's my constructive feedback on it. And to have that evolve. And it's clear to us that the writing benefits from whatever process you guys have because it is so good. I feel like I'm just going to say that in 13,000 different ways, but it's so good. Thank you.

[Carly]

That's so addictive. Do either of you tend to take the lead on certain types of scenes, like battle scenes or spicier moments? Or is it pretty evenly split between you taking up those?

[Bri Greenwich]

I would say, like, in the beginning, I was definitely like, I want to do the spicy scenes. But I think that especially going into Duskbound, in doing everything together, it wasn't. I don't think that we like, lean one way or another. We really like to have each other's opinions on it all.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah, we've both grown and learned how to do kind of all of it. But I will say at the beginning, I would go out and say that Brie is much more. She can visualize things better in her mind. So when it comes to the spicy scenes or even when it comes to action sequences, I think she's naturally more inclined to that because she can visualize it better in her mind. Whereas I think my strength is. And it can be overdone is the more like internal things, like the internal aspects and inner dialogue. Things like that.

[Bri Greenwich]

For sure.

[Parker Lennox]

Like I said, I think we both learned that as we've gone on.

[Hannah]

Oh, my goodness. I think first of all, we are, at this point, we're like the entire interview has just been about your writing process because we've all been so, so excited to learn more about it. But we would like to talk about other things too, because we can. Yap. Yeah. Can you walk us through how many books are planned in this world, this universe, and where exactly the Ascended fits in? Specifically? Like, we know it's not a Spritian book three. So we just love to hear more about how it all connects. A spoiler free version, of course.

[Parker Lennox]

There will be seven books total. I don't know how much to say about how they all fit together, but I will say the Ascended takes place decades before the events of Riftborne.

[Hannah]

Like three or four.

[Parker Lennox]

I don't know. I don't know.

[Hannah]

I won't say anything else for spoiler purposes. Okay, cool.

[Parker Lennox]

And then, Bri, I think if you wanted to talk about the other series?

[Bri Greenwich]

Oh, yeah. We'll be having a third duet that is also linked with this series. Seven total. We do have the name of the third one. Just the. Not like the name of it.

[Parker Lennox]

The series name.

[Hannah]

No, I was gonna ask.

[Parker Lennox]

We don't even know the book name yet.

[Hannah]

No, that's fair. Up to you. Totally. But we're biased and we're gonna tell you. We wanna know. Yeah.

[Bri Greenwich]

So, yeah, we don't feel like it' too much of a, you know, huge giveaway because it. It is talked about a bit in some of the series, but it will be called the Illustrian Duet. Duet.

[Hannah]

Oh, I got chills. Same. So excited.

[Bri Greenwich]

So, yeah, we have the Esprit, the Asimmerian or the Espritian. Asimmerian and Illustrian Duet.

[Hannah]

I love how, like, you come up with such beautiful names for characters for the world. Like, I've. I mean, I've used the word fascinated like a million times as well, but truly.

[Carly]

So for readers just discovering the Asparathian world, can they start with the Ascended or would you recommend beginning with Riftborn and Dustbound?

[Bri Greenwich]

They can absolutely start with the Ascended.

[Parker Lennox]

Okay. It can be read alone. What we'll say is that each one of these series can be individual. It's just more enriching to read the other ones as well.

[Hannah]

We've got these three different series with different names. Do you have an overarching name for the world itself, for the universe?

[Parker Lennox]

We will.

[Hannah]

Okay. Okay. Okay.

[Bri Greenwich]

It's coming.

[Hannah]

I'll take that.

[Kinsey]

Before we shift into the spoiler portion, is there anything else either of you would like to share with readers who might be considering picking up Riftborne, Duskbound or the Ascended?

[Parker Lennox]

I feel like we should have something.

[Bri Greenwich]

We should definitely have something. Honestly, if you love, you know, fantasy romance, if you love a good balance.

[Parker Lennox]

Of plot and romance, I will say.

[Hannah]

That if you're looking for a new book boyfriend or book husband, this is they deliver. All right, it is now time for the spoiler filled portion of the interview. So if you haven't completely finished both Riftborne and Duskbound, this is your formal spoiler warning. We recommend saving the episode and coming back to hear the spoiler section once you've turned the final page. And we will be here waiting for you. And trust us, you will want to come back because there is some exclusive Espritian news dropping in the spoiler section that you definitely do not want to miss. And I feel like that's an understatement. Can I accurately say that that is an understatement?

[Carly]

Massive understatement.

[Hannah]

We're getting a lot.

[Kinsey]

If you're pausing here, you can find the links in the show notes to grab Riftborne and Duskbound in print, ebook, Kindle Unlimited or audio. The audiobook for Duskbound has already been submitted to Audible and should release any day now. Hopefully by the time this episode goes live. You'll also find Bree and Parker's social media linked below so you can follow along on their journey. And if you're interested in becoming an arc reader for future releases, they'll be opening up submissions through their socials, so keep an eye out.

[Hannah]

There are now special editions of riftborne and Duskbound that are incredible. They're so beautiful. Mine have not come in yet, but they're going front and center on my bookshelf and we'll also link those down in the show notes as well.

[Carly]

They are really gorgeous.

[Hannah]

They're so the foil.

[Carly]

Yeah. Have there been reader reactions to the series that have surprised you?

[Bri Greenwich]

Yeah, for sure. I can't think of a specific one, but, you know, we always love hearing theories and, you know, ideas.

[Parker Lennox]

We love DMs. Like, hop into our DMs. If you have something positive, kindly hop into DM.

[Hannah]

Yeah, kindly hop into our DMs.

[Parker Lennox]

I mean, we squeal whenever we. We hear someone reach out to us individually. Like, it's really quite an experience to have that happen.

[Hannah]

Were there reactions to specific characters that surprised you?

[Bri Greenwich]

Yeah, Asta, funnily enough, there's actually a lot of people that do not like Asta.

[Kinsey]

Really?

[Hannah]

I would say that's a red flag.

[Bri Greenwich]

A whole army of people that think that Asta is the red flag.

[Hannah]

What is their reasoning? Or do you know it? She's perfection. So how do you.

[Parker Lennox]

I think I understand the reasoning. I think that some people think that at least when they start Riftborn, I think that they're under the impression that maybe she's not. Does not have Fia's best interest in mind. Which is funny because, you know, Asta was always supposed to be Fia's foil. Like, Fia doesn't want to do anything. She's not necessarily an unreliable narrator, but she's a dramatic narrator. You know, she has her issues and Asta's there to almost blindly ignore them, which isn't always the best, but sometimes it is what Fia needs. And I think that's where it stems from. Like when she was so insistent that Fia give all of this a chance, I think people were like, red flag. Why is she telling Fia to do this? But that's just Asa's character. She's like, you gotta get some help, girl. Like, you gotta figure this out.

[Hannah]

That explanation does make me feel like they're a little more reasonable than I immediately assumed. Yeah, I could see that. I understand. Now, were you surprised by how deeply readers. It's me, I am readers connected with Duskbound, or did you sense while writing it that it was going to hit in a different way or both?

[Bri Greenwich]

So we for sure knew that Dustbound was gonna hit in a different way because it was actually the original idea of the entire story, Riftborne. We felt if we were to just start, We're Duskbound, that you would be missing the growth of Fia and also, I mean, bringing in, you know, Lauric, he was such a stepping stone into who she became. And so without meeting him, without her going through what she did in Riftbourne, you know, I, I don't know if Dustbound would even be as appreciated as it is, but some people, you know, like to think that, oh, we could have just started with Dust Bound. But I, I, that is something I disagree with because I think that the story is so much more vivid and fulfilling to have that lead up to Duskbound.

[Parker Lennox]

It's also one thing to tell people, okay, there's this other land that's so prosperous, and so, you know, they have almost no problems and everyone's fine. There's little poverty. And it's another thing to, like, see it. Like, it goes into this whole idea of Show Don't Tell and Riftbourne is, in my opinion, a very big, overarching example of that. Like, we needed to show so that you could understand the difference between these two worlds.

[Carly]

That was definitely my experience of it. And I liked that we got, like, immersed in her current reality before we took her somewhere else and was like, hey, there's a bigger world out there.

[Bri Greenwich]

Absolutely.

[Carly]

Between Riftborne and Dustbound. Was there a scene that surprised you and how hard it was to get on the page?

[Bri Greenwich]

So we really struggled with, well, I wouldn't even say struggled with getting it out. It was more of something that we kept going back to was the Valkyn and Draxon scene when he.

[Parker Lennox]

Interrogation scene.

[Bri Greenwich]

The interrogation scene. We wanted it to. We wanted the readers to feel as scared as Fia felt, and we didn't want it to just feel, like, rushed, that, that whole portion. So we did keep going back to that one and wanted to make it, you know, really intense.

[Parker Lennox]

I'd say we rewrote that one. Probably, like Eight or nine times to get it to where it was. Yeah, it was just one chapter originally, and it stretched into two, so.

[Hannah]

Well, you know, I smiled at the beginning because my mind immediately went to how it ended. And then I was like, wait, no, this is serious, like, calm. And of course, I'm referencing a through there. What you were saying with the progression from Riftborn to Dustbound, that Dustbound is my favorite book. I'm in love with that story. I always tell people I love Riftborn as well, and you have to have it. I would not appreciate it as much. And so you executed that perfectly, knowing that that was the original story. And then you guys being like, wait, we can't touch it yet. We've gotta get through this. I don't know how you have the self restraint, but thank you. It was hard.

[Parker Lennox]

We had scenes from Dustbound that we wanted to write before we started writing Ripborn.

[Hannah]

Did you or did you wait?

[Bri Greenwich]

We waited.

[Parker Lennox]

No, we waited.

[Bri Greenwich]

Oh, we waited.

[Hannah]

But then when we got to those.

[Bri Greenwich]

Scenes, it was like. I know. We were screaming, like, running around and everybody, okay, okay, okay.

[Parker Lennox]

Let's do this.

[Hannah]

Which ones were they?

[Bri Greenwich]

Actually, the main one was when Aether explodes, everybody.

[Parker Lennox]

That was the scene we were most excited to write out of the entire series, to be honest.

[Kinsey]

You know, it was a good scene.

[Hannah]

Yeah.

[Bri Greenwich]

Like, this is better than the spicy scenes.

[Hannah]

Like, y' all possess control. I do not have. I would not have the restraint to wait.

[Carly]

I'd have to write that first.

[Parker Lennox]

See, the problem is, I think one of the reasons we were able to not do it is because we knew that was going to happen. But at that point, we didn't have Valkin as a character yet, so we didn't know the circumstance in which it was going to happen. We just knew there was going to be a scene where he did that, and that was going to be a turning point in their relationship. That's all we knew.

[Hannah]

So it did help the work that you guys did for the, like, the heavy lifting that the three words, all of them did in that scene, you know, like, oh, my God. Anyways, you're just gonna keep fangirling. It's fine. It's fine. Yeah.

[Kinsey]

How important was it for you to represent mental health in your writing?

[Parker Lennox]

It was really important. Both Bri and I have anxiety and we're able to function most of the time, but it has its spikes and all. And I don't think that either one of us have it at the level in which Fia does. But I would say, like, if we were to take our worst moments of that and pour it into something, you know, it's a very isolating feeling and it's almost like a constant sense of dread. And that's definitely how Fia starts out in Riftbourne. And I understand how a lot of the way she is at the beginning of that book can be frustrating with readers, especially with the market so oversaturated with just these badass heroines that, like, know what they're doing, they know their worth. But I want to say it was frustrating to write Fia at certain points, but we were never going to go out of character for her. We had to stay in that and it had to be a part of her journey to grow and try to. I won't say she is recovered from anxiety, but she learned better how to embrace it and work with it rather than letting it control her whole life. And that was important for us to have in there.

[Hannah]

Well, I'd also say that a lot of the circumstances she finds herself in, her thoughts and reactions are so valid. Like, I think that sometimes can get, like, underrepresented in these, like, super high stakes, like, life is on the line moments. And I feel like that quite often she was being entirely realistic and reasonable in her experience of things.

[Parker Lennox]

Yes. I would classify Fia as a pessimistic realist.

[Carly]

I appreciate that as someone who struggles with anxiety, because I liked that you could see her struggle and figure out her own way through things. It felt to me like Hannah was saying, like just more realistic.

[Bri Greenwich]

Right. And it was very important for our characters to feel imperfect and feel real because we want people to be able to, you know, relate.

[Hannah]

You get to experience as the reader, so much of her development through books one and two that, like, had you started a little closer to what is the perfect character that she is by the end of Duska? I know that that's not entirely true from a writer's perspective, but I love her. So getting to experience that, it's a big part of what makes the book so rich.

[Parker Lennox]

That's very nice to hear. We appreciate that.

[Hannah]

Of course. So this next question is a listener submitted question. Have there ever been any major plot points where you've massively disagreed about the direction the book should take? End quote. And I'm going to add my personal addendum. Are there any small, fun ones also that you would be willing to share?

[Bri Greenwich]

I think that for the most part, we are always on the same page. The only thing is that I always want more spice. I always want. And so I'm always like, okay, no they should probably like kiss here. And Parker's like, no, we want them like screaming at the book for them to kiss. They can't kiss here. And so she always has to dial me back on that because I'm like, I love love. Like, let's more of that.

[Parker Lennox]

But I want them more begging for it.

[Kinsey]

Yeah, they're allowed to kiss in the next book. I'm just gonna say they've cross that boundary.

[Parker Lennox]

Yes, I'm very excited about that boundary.

[Hannah]

I'm very curious on what that implication was there, Parker.

[Parker Lennox]

That's all I'll say. All right.

[Kinsey]

Okay. We do have another listener submitted question. Are there any fun focuses we haven't seen yet that you can tease and expect to see in future books?

[Bri Greenwich]

I will say in the third book, there's going to be someone that you will come to love that has an affinity to working with the gargoyles that are all over the place in Ambrathia. In Ambrathia.

[Hannah]

That's so unique.

[Kinsey]

Interesting.

[Carly]

Very excited about that.

[Hannah]

A little army. No comment.

[Bri Greenwich]

So no comment on that one.

[Hannah]

But that's so cool. How much. I mean, this is totally off. A little bit from the direction we were going with this. But when you decide your focuses, how do you do that? For one, do you draw inspiration from Dungeons and Dragons, I assume. Oh, okay.

[Bri Greenwich]

Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, Dungeons and Dragons is like a never ending spellbook, honestly.

[Parker Lennox]

There's so many possibilities.

[Bri Greenwich]

So many possibilities. And it definitely inspires us when we're writing and coming up with the focuses.

[Hannah]

So we have a couple Riftborn specific questions. Then we'll go into Duskbound specific questions and then the Ascended and then a Spythian book. Three specific questions. So just a heads up on how we're gonna format this. First, did you know how the trilogy would end? Which I think you've already kind of answered this in part before you started writing Riftborn specifically. But I guess I should change that and say, did you know where the whole universe, like how that would end before Riftworld?

[Parker Lennox]

No.

[Bri Greenwich]

Yeah, but we knew how we thought.

[Parker Lennox]

It was going to be a trilogy.

[Bri Greenwich]

Yeah.

[Parker Lennox]

Oh.

[Bri Greenwich]

But then one night, Parker called me with this idea that once again had us screaming and running all over the place.

[Parker Lennox]

What I tell you guys, we called all of our family members to tell them, expecting them to be as excited as we were, because Bri and I are actually crazy. And some of them were really excited and others were like, that's cool. I haven't read the book yet, so.

[Bri Greenwich]

I don't know what any of that.

[Kinsey]

Means next time you can call us and we'll hype you guys up. We'll be excited.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah.

[Carly]

Did you know from the beginning that Laric wouldn't be the main love interest?

[Bri Greenwich]

Yes.

[Hannah]

Well, that's because you had Duskmount in mind first. Yeah. Correct.

[Bri Greenwich]

Yeah. Laric was written into Bea's D and D backstory as her, like, warlock patron. Yeah. For D and D. Okay.

[Parker Lennox]

Thea was Brie's character that she was going to play.

[Hannah]

Yeah.

[Bri Greenwich]

For the context. Sorry, I just kind of jumped into that.

[Carly]

It was really interesting.

[Bri Greenwich]

But, yes, he was written in, and we kind of always knew that he was just going to be an extremely important character in her growth, but not her end game.

[Hannah]

So did you want us to fall in love with him in Riftbourne, or were you sort of, like, walking the fine line of, I don't really want you guys to love him too much because he's a red herring? Like, I'm about to bamboozle you guys in Part two?

[Parker Lennox]

Well, we didn't want anyone to get a Laric tattoo.

[Hannah]

Yeah.

[Parker Lennox]

So I'll start out by saying, yeah, that's good.

[Hannah]

I know exactly what you're referring to.

[Parker Lennox]

So we did take that into consideration for all of the readers and their bodies. And with Laric, I think that Laric is the most complex character probably in the trilogy. We have our own feelings about him. But I will say, just from reading Riftbourne and Dustbound, like, we wanted it to be realistic. We wanted him to be a true morally gray character, because we find in so many books in this genre, morally gray means morally gray to everyone except for the fmc. And we knew before we started it that he was going to be morally gray to everyone, including the fmc. And we've all had that friend or been that person that dates the guy that everyone's telling you is a bad idea. And Lauric is that while simultaneously being the only reason that Fia goes on the journey that she does, so many things can be true at once. For Fia, she's, like, in this place of isolation, she doesn't open herself up to the world. She's been jaded. She's learned not to. And when you're in that dark of a mindset and there's this person saying, you can be more than you think, you almost latch onto that in an unhealthy way. And it was always supposed to be that concept. So is it good or bad, their relationship? That's just up to individual readers. Like, it's bad in some ways and beneficial in others. And that's how it was planned to be from the beginning.

[Carly]

Yeah. I really felt like you felt, like, the complexity of that relationship, that it's. It's not black and white, like, everything.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah.

[Carly]

It's just complicated.

[Parker Lennox]

Exactly. We wanted it to be like a real relationship.

[Bri Greenwich]

A real relationship. I mean, you know, Larek never lies about who he is, you know, from the get go. He always says, I don't do monogamy. I don't get into just, like, any kind of relationship at all. He saw Fia, though, when she wasn't being seen.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah.

[Kinsey]

I definitely finished the first book, and I was like, I don't feel super connected to this character. I don't know why. I wonder if it's intentional by the authors. And then I started Dustbound. I'm like, that was why. Definitely. That was why.

[Hannah]

But that was such a satisfying payoff. I want to ask, are we safe to get, you know, for any readers who may be out there considering this, are we safe to get an Aether tattoo?

[Parker Lennox]

Yes. Yeah.

[Hannah]

Okay.

[Bri Greenwich]

100% safe.

[Hannah]

I probably won't do that.

[Kinsey]

Yeah, get like, a symbol or something. Not like, his name. Your partner will be like, who the fuck is Aether?

[Hannah]

Oh, he knows. He knows.

[Parker Lennox]

I love that.

[Kinsey]

Well, moving on to our Duskbound specific questions. Which scene were you most looking forward to writing in Duskbound? I guess you kind of did mention.

[Hannah]

It a little bit earlier.

[Kinsey]

Did it live up to what you imagined?

[Bri Greenwich]

I think it lived up to what we. So it was the seated Draxen. Yeah, him, you know, going in. And. Yes, it lived up. Probably more so because there was just something, you know, at the time, we had only just pictured, like, his. The destruction and his powers.

[Parker Lennox]

We hadn't pictured the dialogue or anything.

[Hannah]

Right.

[Bri Greenwich]

And so when we got to get to him, like, immediately, like, shifting from this super scary, you know, immediately being so worried that Fia is going to be scared of him and being so gentle, and that was, like, really rewarding.

[Hannah]

And, yeah, we have to talk about the Princess reveal. It is one of my most favorite scenes, which is saying a lot in this book. First of all, I love the way that you set up the whole scene so intentionally. What was going through your minds while writing that scene and how early did you know that twist was coming?

[Parker Lennox]

So the twist was always an idea from the beginning, I will say. We weren't always sure we were gonna go in that direction, but it was always on the table. We had some other ideas too, but, yeah, I mean, we were always leaning towards it. And writing that scene was I shy Away from the word complicated. Because it was fun. The whole discovery of it was fun to write. Parts of it were frustrating because we wanted the reader to be on the same page as Fia. So we wanted the information to come out in a way that the reader was realizing it at the same time Fia did. And so there was a lot of reordering things and figuring out what hit the best. Like, we wanted it to be like the mic drop thing, where Fia realizes it and then the reader realizes it because Fia does. We wanted it to be equal like that. Like, at the same time.

[Hannah]

It worked. It worked for me. It worked. I remember messaging you and being like, oh, my God, this scene is written so, so well. I absolutely loved it. I have to know, though, were you still teetering on how you would or whether or not you would utilize that idea when you finished Riftborne?

[Bri Greenwich]

I would say so, that we were still teetering on the different ideas.

[Parker Lennox]

The reason why we were teetering. And that's a spoiler.

[Hannah]

Okay. Okay. The reason I'm asking is because of Aether calling her princess at the end of the book. And I was so intrigued at the beginning of Dustbound, because, of course, we're all thinking, like, oh, shit, she could be. And then you start reading Dustbound and you're like, oh, it's explained away. Like, that's not what's going on. And so by the time you do get to the reveal, you've already thought of that idea and thrown it out as not actually being what's going on. So then you, like, get bamboozled in the best way. But I had to know if that was an Easter egg you were laying in case you did go through with it. And then you just navigated how to explain it without revealing too early in Duskbound.

[Parker Lennox]

What do you think, Bri? Because I'm not sure we actually had it that thought out.

[Bri Greenwich]

Yeah. I want to say that for him, calling her Princess, it was actually because, you know, the circumstances in which he found her and she was giving off that vibe. I mean, you know, she. She looked like a princess, which is so not Fia. And so we just wanted her to be so frustrated with him, assuming that that was always the idea person that she was. Cause it was such the opposite. But, you know, when he finds her, that's the picture that was painted for him and.

[Parker Lennox]

Cause I think that chapter, when we wrote it, I don't think we knew that we were going to do it yet. You have to understand, with Riftborne, we took a very long time to write it. Much Longer than we took with Dustbound because it was our first book we were ever writing together. We took a three month break in between. And so when we wrote that scene, that was six months before the book came out. And we continued to edit and theorize for the next book as we were doing that. And by the time Riftborne came out, we knew that that reveal was going to come. But I think when we originally wrote that scene, our idea was we want FIA to be so frustrated that someone's calling her a princess when she's anything but because they captured her on the one day that she's wearing a fucking dress.

[Hannah]

I love that it ended up being like. And maybe this is not the phrase for it, but like inadvertently an Easter egg. Like, in retrospect, you're like, oh, I did actually leave that clue there and didn't even know that I did that.

[Kinsey]

Subtle foreshadowing.

[Hannah]

Y. Yeah, yeah.

[Carly]

Are there any deleted scenes from Duskbound you can tell us about or moments that didn't quite make the final cut but you still think about?

[Bri Greenwich]

We were thinking that it's probably like the opposite because we kept going in and adding more to Duskbound. Kind of like, I would say, up.

[Parker Lennox]

Until two weeks before release.

[Bri Greenwich]

Yeah, up until two weeks of release, we were adding things.

[Hannah]

Do you remember what. What are the last things you added was?

[Parker Lennox]

It was the forest scene after the fire. We did not originally have that in there. They needed to have a little bit more friendly banter in that part. For pacing before, it was just, she saw him because, you know, she walks away from the bonfire and she sees him and originally she just kept walking.

[Hannah]

Thank you for adding that. Yeah, it did work for the pacing.

[Parker Lennox]

Good.

[Hannah]

But then like, how do you ever stop? Like, when do you. Do you give yourself like a cutoff of like, okay, I can't add any more after this point.

[Bri Greenwich]

It's really difficult because there's even release.

[Parker Lennox]

Date is the stop.

[Bri Greenwich]

Yeah, release date is the stop there. There's always times even now, that we're like, oh, it'd been so cool if we had done this, or whatever. But I think that if we get too much in our heads, we would never even release the books. So we have to be like, okay, it's good.

[Hannah]

Yeah. So you had mentioned earlier that there were a couple things that had gotten deleted out of Duskbound in the spoiler free section.

[Parker Lennox]

I did just think of something that we did take out that I can't expand on if that's the question you were about to ask next. There was supposed to be another huge reveal in this book that was going to be a part of it throughout the entire writing process. But we decided once we got to that part that it would be much better for book three, because we ended up having a lot of good reveals in Dustbound. We didn't want to overwhelm it. We wanted to save it. And it is probably one of the most important ones in the whole series.

[Kinsey]

Ooh, is it about Aether, perhaps?

[Parker Lennox]

No. Ooh.

[Kinsey]

That's actually surprising to me, because I'm fully expecting an Aether reveal in book three, but.

[Hannah]

Well, we definitely have been set up for one.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah.

[Hannah]

But that's so exciting because that means two. At least two.

[Bri Greenwich]

Yeah.

[Carly]

Can I ask just where in the book it was supposed to take place? Like, beginning, middle, end.

[Parker Lennox]

The last chapter.

[Hannah]

The last chapter.

[Carly]

Okay.

[Hannah]

Okay. Oh, it was going to be a.

[Parker Lennox]

Scene after the last chapter that we had written.

[Carly]

Okay, that makes sense. And it sounds like it's probably. It's easy to move forward.

[Hannah]

Okay, my wheels. Can you see all of our frames? Just like.

[Parker Lennox]

I'm like, does this mean Ma's alive?

[Kinsey]

Justice for Matthew.

[Parker Lennox]

I know.

[Hannah]

I don't want to talk about it yet. Back to Aether. We'll keep spiraling. This is probably, like, one of my most anticipated questions. Where did Aether come from? Literally and creatively? How did you conceptualize him? Like, what inspired such a God of a man? And also, thank you for him. I think it's abundantly clear at this point that I am in love with him, so I will. Yeah, stop talking.

[Bri Greenwich]

We are also in love with him. So he was another Dungeons and Dragons backstory that Parker had written for one of our friends that plays with us. And, you know, once again, we were kind of just talking about everyone's backstories and little things that would be like, oh, that could link. And my character.

[Parker Lennox]

I'll just put it out there. The character I was going to play for the next campaign was Bexa.

[Hannah]

Oh, I love her.

[Parker Lennox]

She changed a bit in. In the book, but that. That was the character that I was gonna play. But continue.

[Bri Greenwich]

I feel like I'd be using too much, like, Dungeons and Dragons slaying. But that is, you know, where he came from, where we conceptualized him. He. If you look up Dungeons and Dragons, he would be like the Shader Kai race.

[Hannah]

And somebody write this down.

[Parker Lennox]

All of the umbra are Shader Kai. That's what they're based off of. They're the coolest race in D and D, hands down. You cannot convince me otherwise.

[Bri Greenwich]

Okay. And then he would have been an oath breaking Paladin as well. So if y' all. If you want to. You know, if. If it intrigues you to look up those things.

[Hannah]

Oh, it does.

[Kinsey]

I'm gonna have to do research later.

[Carly]

Yeah, y. I'll have my brother break it down for us.

[Bri Greenwich]

And, Parker, can you think of anything else that wouldn't be spoilers? Because there's. I mean, obviously our. Our man is a big mystery.

[F]

You know?

[Parker Lennox]

He is. Yeah. He's supposed to be. I don't know if I can think of anything else that wouldn't. Wouldn't. Oh, I almost just gave something, uh.

[Hannah]

Oh, okay. Okay.

[Parker Lennox]

Big away. Don't fluster me. I'm. I'm an open book.

[Hannah]

Otherwise, what was it like writing between him and Lauric?

[Parker Lennox]

We definitely wanted them to be almost complete opposites. Where Laurec has this suave, say whatever you need to hear type of energy. We wanted Aether to be almost brutally honest to his detriment, no matter what setting he was in. I hate to go as far as to say he's very much the Jon Snow at the end of Game of Thrones when he reveals all the stuff he's not supposed to out of honor, but I'd say he's a little bit more couth than that. But it's similar.

[Kinsey]

I'm, like, really nervous that the Jon Snow reference.

[Bri Greenwich]

Not gonna lie.

[Hannah]

I don't know if you saw all of us, like, visually reacting to that.

[Kinsey]

Because I was like, oh, I love Jon Snow. And then you're, like, at the end.

[Parker Lennox]

And I'm like, oh.

[Hannah]

And I have not watched what that. So I. Actually, that was one. One reference that I did get, but now I'm terrified. Yeah, but you said it was. I was safe to get a tattoo, so, like, I'm gonna lean to that more.

[Bri Greenwich]

So, like, the honesty to his detriment kind of thing.

[Parker Lennox]

That's what I'm not.

[Kinsey]

How he got him as shafted and started back at.

[Parker Lennox]

We won't even discuss that. It didn't happen. We don't accept that ending.

[Hannah]

I just have to say, on behalf of Romantasy readers everywhere, I am launching a highly professional campaign for more scenes with Aether and glasses. Preferably in the library. Yeah, preferably shirtless. You know, maybe a couple more piercings. That would be fine.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah. I don't think you'll be upset.

[Hannah]

Oh, okay. The artwork of that scene, I'm not making that up. You have artwork of him with the glasses in the library, Right? That's not just like my mind can't conceptualize to the extent that the beauty is for that piece of art. Literally. And yeah, speaking of artwork.

[Kinsey]

Yeah, we did have a listener reach out and they said, I need some of the art prints of Aether. Will any ever be for sale?

[Hannah]

And that one, the library one specifically.

[Bri Greenwich]

Okay.

[Parker Lennox]

Can we sell that one? Do we have.

[Bri Greenwich]

That's one that we commissioned. I'm not sure. I would need to look at the contract that we signed with that. But we also have made quite a lot of art of our characters that will definitely be on our website.

[Parker Lennox]

And by the time this episode comes out, it will be on the website.

[Hannah]

So we will link that down in the show notes as well.

[Kinsey]

And the Duskbound special edition does include some of the character artwork within it too, right?

[Parker Lennox]

Yes, yes.

[Hannah]

And a large amount of the character artwork. Parker, you do?

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah, I decided that I wanted to do that one day, so I went out and bought an iPad in France.

[Hannah]

Well, I just do not want to understate how incredible it is. Like, I will also link that down in the show notes. We're going to have, like, so many links for you guys, but it's all going to be accessible because it is incredible. Like, jaw dropping.

[Parker Lennox]

Thank you. It became a hyper fixation for me.

[Carly]

Yeah.

[Kinsey]

Well, I mean, you're a woman of many talents. How can you not just, like, share.

[Parker Lennox]

It all with the world? Exactly.

[Hannah]

And we are grateful.

[Carly]

Yeah. I know the art. The art is incredible. I love it.

[Parker Lennox]

Brie did a digital painting of our MMC from the ascended and it is one of my favorite of all of the art that we've done. It's so good. I look at it all the time.

[Bri Greenwich]

I do too. I'm in love with him.

[Kinsey]

I can't wait to see it.

[Hannah]

I know you both started an Instagram specifically. Parker, was that for your art?

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah.

[Hannah]

Is there a place where we. This is a totally selfish question, but also for other readers. Can find, like, a hub of the art that has been like, organized potentially by each of you and commission pieces that we can marvel over all of it. Because I didn't even know, Bree, that you had done one. And now I'm like, want to see this?

[Bri Greenwich]

Yeah. We can make a gallery that we can put together right now. It's just all over our social medias and so probably lots of scrolling would have to happen, but we could definitely work on making that easier for people to access.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah. Gallery on the websites.

[Hannah]

The scrolling is worth it. But like, I would love to have that.

[Parker Lennox]

That's A good idea. I love that idea.

[Hannah]

Sometimes we have this.

[Carly]

We had another listener submit a question. They're wondering, what was the inspiration for the border.

[Bri Greenwich]

So we definitely wanted to create, like, a new creature. And we were like, okay, so if things can be shifted and changed from the void, we were like, what's something that is an animal that would be around. Okay, a horse. And then the void might do some changing. And now it's a horse that has bat wings. And now it's a horse that, you know, eats meat. And so it just kind of.

[Parker Lennox]

Carnivorous pony.

[Bri Greenwich]

Yeah. And, you know, vorter is a word for, like, guardian or. And it. I think it represents, like, a spirit that follows you from birth to death. And so we just kind of wanted to, you know, have something that everyone loves. An amazing, like, animal and, you know, creature, beast, mystical. And so we were like, yeah, we're gonna create a really co. Carnivorous pony.

[Parker Lennox]

Ms. Parker just said, I'll follow up and say that at least in this universe, if there's ever any type of creature, it's always going to be something that we've created. We're not going to use anything that exists already, or at least we'll make it our own type of thing.

[Kinsey]

Well, I was so impressed because you gave the description of the vorter. And then I was like, ooh, like, I want to, like, search this up and look at photos of it. And then I was like, they made this up. I was totally expecting it to just be some creature that is not as well known and exists in mythology. And then when I realized you guys had created it, I was like, shut up. So I was really impressed with that, and I look forward to see what else you may have invented.

[Hannah]

Can you tell that we are just thoroughly impressed with just about everything you guys do?

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah.

[Hannah]

Like, I feel like this episode has just been us. Like a testimonial from us to you about how much we love your writing and your art and your ideas and your thoughts and, and, and, and, and.

[Bri Greenwich]

And that's why I'm like, I'm smiling over here. My cheeks are gonna hurt after this talk.

[Parker Lennox]

Seriously.

[Hannah]

Well, we are now going to ask our Ascended questions. And to clarify, we've talked about this in the episode so far, but just in case you've missed it because we've talked about so many books so far, the Ascended is the next book in the universe and has not been released yet. But it is not a book 3. So can you share a bit about what inspired you to write the Ascended before wrapping up the trilogy, the Aspartian Trilogy itself. Like, what drew you to explore that part of the universe first?

[Parker Lennox]

Originally, we weren't going to do that. We were going to come out with the third book first. And Bri just called me one day and was like, I actually think we should put out this first. And I hadn't even thought about it because I was just. My mind was like, let's finish the trilogy, because we know that's probably what people want too. But when she laid it out, I was like, you're right. It has to be done that way.

[Bri Greenwich]

Because I truly think that it will be a so much more vivid third book. If you read the Ascended first, you.

[Parker Lennox]

Don'T have to, but it will enrich the experience.

[Hannah]

Oh, we will be. Oh, yeah, but good clarification for listeners. But we will be.

[Carly]

We are all about enriching our reading experience, so we're gonna be all over that.

[Parker Lennox]

Amazing.

[Carly]

You're pretty far into writing the Ascendant. Do you have a favorite book so far in the series? Or is it like choosing a favorite child?

[Bri Greenwich]

You know, whatever we're writing at the time, that's gonna be our favorite. Right now, as we're writing the Ascended, we're like, this is so. I mean, our whole. Everything is into this book. But, you know, when we were writing Duskbound, that's how we felt as well. I'm interested to see how we will feel once all seven books have been done. And I think at that point that's.

[Parker Lennox]

A better time to ask.

[Bri Greenwich]

Yeah, I think at that point we'll be able to. Oh, we plan to.

[Hannah]

Yeah.

[Parker Lennox]

I have a hard time imagining for me personally, and I hope I prove myself wrong, because otherwise that would suck. But as of right now, I can't imagine liking a book more than the Ascended, like, coming from us, but that's because we're writing it right now. You know, I, I, I want to prove myself wrong because I just want everyone to get better and better as they go. But I've been listening to it back with Speechify, because sometimes you just have to do that. And it's hearing it is different than reading it. You find so many other errors that you need to fix. And I've just been finding myself getting caught up in the world instead of editing, which is really hard when you've written something and it's so fresh in your mind. And I think that, to me, is a testament because it's been very hard for me to do that in the past.

[Hannah]

Duskbound is literal perfection. So I have a really hard time finding, mentally wrapping my head around anything ever being better than it. But I'm like, hearing you guys and how excited you are and how much you love the Ascended, I'm like, oh. Like, I. I think you're close to ruining every other book for me with Dustbound. So now I'm like, if you're. If you're trying to top that, like, I'm so excited.

[Parker Lennox]

It is very different than Dustbound. So I think it also is what. It's what you want in a book.

[Bri Greenwich]

You know, maybe the surprises are just out of this world. That's all I have to say.

[Kinsey]

Can't wait.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah.

[Kinsey]

So you did mention that the Ascendant takes place a few decades before, like the Asperithian trilogy. Have we already met the main character of the Ascended in Riftborne or Duskbound or any of the characters in the Ascended?

[Bri Greenwich]

Fia has not met the main character. The main FMC character.

[Kinsey]

That seemed very specific. Yeah, I'm like, so Fia hasn't, but maybe someone else has very carefully answered.

[Hannah]

I think we could make some assumptions with that idea.

[Kinsey]

Yeah, like her grandmother or her parents.

[Hannah]

Or people who happen to be forgetting their whole memory. Maybe a couple. Anyways.

[Kinsey]

Interesting.

[Bri Greenwich]

Okay.

[Carly]

We'll speculate on that for days.

[Hannah]

Yeah.

[Kinsey]

But we haven't seen any of them, like, on page yet. Any of the characters.

[Parker Lennox]

Fia hasn't talked to them all.

[Hannah]

They didn't say that.

[Bri Greenwich]

Now what did you say, Parker?

[Parker Lennox]

I don't know. Should I say anything? I think that's answer Fia has outspoken to them.

[Kinsey]

Oh, okay.

[Hannah]

Okay. Well, wait, wait, wait.

[Kinsey]

When they were in the cave, who was speaking to the ghost? I call them a ghost. I know they're not a ghost.

[Hannah]

But it's interesting. That's where your mind went. I went to a different place. Oh, really?

[Kinsey]

Because I was like, was it eighth or something? Okay, anyway, I'm gonna stop.

[Hannah]

Yeah, we're gonna have to like, walk.

[Carly]

Into the wall, pull on our annotations, and spiral about that.

[Hannah]

You can already see it several times throughout this episode. I'm like, wheels are turning. Wheels are turning.

[Bri Greenwich]

We can't wait until that reveal. And we hope that everybody reaches out to us and screams, will do.

[Hannah]

Will do.

[Carly]

Only if it's not too spoilery. Would you be open to sharing a line or teasing a scene from the Ascended that you're especially excited about?

[Parker Lennox]

So we sit one over.

[Hannah]

They did. And I did not tell Kenzie and Carly because they asked me to read it and. So sneaky. Yeah. Now you guys get in real time reactions all right. Okay. I'm gonna try and do this justice. Okay. And I also should add that I read the first half of it, and I was like, wait. I want to wait.

[Kinsey]

So is it the first scene of the book or is it like a randomly.

[Hannah]

This is no context.

[Parker Lennox]

Oh, no. Okay.

[Hannah]

I think that's intentional. Yeah.

[Parker Lennox]

Okay. Yeah.

[Hannah]

Let me.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah.

[Hannah]

Get ready for my performance.

[Carly]

I need to prepare myself and contain it. The excitement.

[Hannah]

I just really hope I do it justice. Okay. Are we ready?

[Parker Lennox]

Ready.

[Hannah]

I say that, and then I get nervous. I took a step back, away from them all and lifted my face to the bleeding dusk above. Power writhed beneath my skin, begging for release after days of being confined. I let it loose with a shuddering breath, feeling that ancient, wild magic spark through my veins like lightning given form. It started as a whisper in my fingertips before roaring up my arms, reaching, reaching, reaching for something that called to me from the infinite dark. One star flickered in answer, a single defiant pulse against the dying light. Then another and another. Like warriors answering a battle cry, they blazed to life. Dozens upon dozens of stars igniting with savage brilliance. The arena drowned in their light as I dragged night into day with nothing but will and that feral thing inside me that had always belonged more to the sky than the earth. I have actual chills. I have chills. Oh, my God. It's not done. The world went utterly, terrifyingly still. Every contestant had frozen. Every breath in that goddamned arena had ceased. I could taste their shock on my tongue, could feel the weight of their stares like brands against my skin. The legend's attention was a living thing pressing against my shields. So I bared my teeth in something that might have been a smile and pulled. I'm not. Okay.

[Kinsey]

The descriptions.

[Hannah]

I need this book so bad, the way you write. First of all, I stopped reading right around the stars part earlier. Is this. I'm treading lightly, but also you just say, no comment. Is her powers actually related to the stars? That was the reaction. I was like, I wish I'd gotten that on camera earlier because.

[Kinsey]

I'm like, oh, my God, who is it?

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah, Yeah, I think.

[Bri Greenwich]

I think it's a non spoiler because we've definitely posted about it that she is a star wielder.

[Kinsey]

I love that.

[Carly]

I want this book.

[Parker Lennox]

We had the coolest, like, images in our head before we even started writing. Like, we were so excited for this power.

[Hannah]

I have genuinely full body chills right now.

[Kinsey]

Yeah, I'm like, can she, like, move the constellations and then, like, change the season? Because some constellations are Only visible at certain times of the year? Or is it like just turning things into night? Or is it just like the heat of the star?

[Parker Lennox]

Like it has more to do with energy and light.

[Kinsey]

Energy and light. Okay, okay, I'm still like that description.

[Hannah]

Yeah, just wait till you can actually read the text. Sorry, guys. I did make you just listen to that via audio first.

[Kinsey]

Oh, my goodness.

[Hannah]

Oh, my goodness. First of all, thank you for sharing that with us.

[Kinsey]

And I'm like, who's the legend?

[Hannah]

I know. I was like, oh, I can't.

[Carly]

And we're not even to the big reveal of this episode yet.

[Hannah]

No, this whole episode.

[Carly]

Oh, this has been so exciting.

[Kinsey]

We know you can't say much, but is there anything else you're willing to reveal about the Ascended that readers should be excited for?

[Hannah]

As if you haven't already? So, like, no pressure. You have brought so much.

[Parker Lennox]

Well, this isn't necessarily a secret cause we posted about it, but we're very excited about our mmc, who is a necromancer prince.

[Hannah]

Ooh, forgive me. What does that mean?

[Bri Greenwich]

So a necromancer is someone that can animate the dead.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah.

[Hannah]

Learned a new thing today. Yeah.

[Parker Lennox]

To put it in simple terms, he is the Prince of Hell.

[Hannah]

And that's the mmc.

[Parker Lennox]

Yes.

[Bri Greenwich]

He's a dark boy.

[Hannah]

She literally, her power is star wielding. And he's. Okay. Yeah.

[Carly]

We just have to make.

[Parker Lennox]

I cannot wait to crawling.

[Kinsey]

Trying not to breathe.

[Hannah]

Oh, boy.

[Bri Greenwich]

We're so excited to share it.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah. And he has a very dirty mouth, so. Whoa.

[Kinsey]

Based off of what he says or where he puts that mouth.

[Parker Lennox]

That was perfect.

[Kinsey]

Sorry, I can be a little out of pocket sometimes.

[Parker Lennox]

I love it. It's a valid question. I mean.

[Hannah]

And now for our unnamed Asprithian book 3 section. We have been teasing this big reveal all throughout the episode and readers everywhere are dying to know what it is. So, Bri, would you like to take it away?

[Bri Greenwich]

Yes. We are so excited to share. First and foremost, the release date for book three of the Espirithian Trilogy is May 26th of 2026. Another thing that we are very excited about is the name reveal, which is RealMblade. Yes. And just how he had done with Duskbound. It is teased a little bit in Duskbound. How Duskbound's name was teased in Riftborn. And last but not least, we actually are gonna show you guys the COVID We're so excited.

[Parker Lennox]

Oh, this is.

[Hannah]

She's beautiful.

[Kinsey]

I think that might be my favorite one of the entire trilogy.

[Hannah]

And that's saying a Lot.

[Parker Lennox]

Ye.

[Hannah]

We love it, too, because your cover.

[Carly]

Art is some of my favorite cover art of any series. And this one is just, like, even just the next level up.

[Hannah]

They're so good.

[Kinsey]

Did you illustrate that yourself or.

[Bri Greenwich]

Yes, Parker does all of that. It took us a minute to figure out exactly what we wanted, but when this. When we got to this point, it was like, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. So.

[Carly]

Well, it's gorgeous. And I have to say, your guys's cover designs for your series are perfection. Like, throughout. I love them.

[Parker Lennox]

Thank you so much. We really wanted them to stand out amongst a lot of covers. There's a lot of covers that look similar, and there's nothing wrong with that, but that was our goal, is that we wanted kind of this very different, almost minimalistic look.

[Carly]

Yeah, they have a very specific vibe. And it's like the second you see that, like, you know, like, if I would have seen the third cover without realizing it was your book, I'd have been like, oh, I bet you that's the next one. Because they have. It just fits that vibe so well.

[Hannah]

I love how cohesive they are.

[Kinsey]

It looks so good.

[Hannah]

Yeah, I'm already. I'm jumping way ahead here, and I'm like, I can't wait for the special edition with that. That to see it with foil. Agreed.

[Parker Lennox]

We're very excited for that, too.

[Hannah]

Well, first of all, we have to say how honored we are that you guys trusted us and chose us to help you release this, because you haven't announced it anywhere yet. Not just one of those things, but all three.

[Bri Greenwich]

All three of those things.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah. We're so happy to do it. We were excited for this. This is, like, such an exciting way to do it. We were so excited.

[Hannah]

Fangirling too close to the sun over here. This is going to be the highlight.

[Carly]

Of our whole summer.

[Hannah]

We were looking forward to this for so long.

[Carly]

We were so excited. So thank you so much for trusting us with it.

[Hannah]

We, of course, have lots of questions for you, though. Yeah, so many questions.

[Kinsey]

So when did you know this was going to be the title? Did you both immediately agree on it? Did it take a while for you guys to kind of figure it out?

[Bri Greenwich]

When we wrote the line, she's the blade of the realm, that's when we.

[Hannah]

Were like, yeah, I literally have it written in here. Was that an Easter egg?

[Bri Greenwich]

And sure enough, similarly to in Riftborne, you know, when it was said, she's bound to the dusk, we had to, you know, sprinkle that in a little bit.

[Kinsey]

So I love that. You guys do that, though.

[Hannah]

I do, too. I also love that you didn't give, like, the exact full word or full title. You used bits of it and switched them around both times.

[Bri Greenwich]

Both times.

[Hannah]

That actually makes me wonder is, are there other Easter eggs for other titles in the books already, or will there be?

[Parker Lennox]

Not right now, but we will continue to do this.

[Bri Greenwich]

Yeah.

[Hannah]

Because it's coming. So keep your eyes peeled. Yes.

[Kinsey]

Be like. That's suspicious.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah.

[Carly]

I know we've already talked about this a little bit, but can you tell us a little about the design process and how you decided what visual elements went on each book?

[Parker Lennox]

Obviously, there's the, like, animal aspect for each cover, and we wanted that to always be the centerpiece for each one. And whether it's symbolic, like the serpents, or whether it's something more like physical, like the vorter, that was always going to be the centerpiece for the covers for Esprithian. So, yeah, that's what I'll say about that.

[Hannah]

Have you seen the. What would you call that, like, magical being that is on Realm Blade's cover? Have we been introduced to that being before?

[Parker Lennox]

No, he has. You have not been introduced to it, but you have been introduced to where it is. Ooh. Ooh, I love that.

[Hannah]

I'm gonna have to, like, listen back to this interview and take my own notes. Yeah. For things to spiral on. Yeah.

[Kinsey]

And then reread the books and cross reference. So you briefly mentioned the symbolism of the snakes and vipers. Can you break that down a little bit for us? I know that it's a recurring motif across the series, and we'd love to hear more about what they represent thematically or emotionally, if that's not too much into spoiler territory.

[Parker Lennox]

It's not spoiler territory. The serpents themselves, while being the symbol of. She was, I guess, an Easter egg. If you tend to look at the stereotypical relationship people have with snakes, which is that they're not always trustworthy or not always looked at in a good way. So that was always gonna be an Easter egg for that. But it's also layered in the way that sometimes your reputation can be layered as a snake when it might not be the full answer or the full truth.

[Hannah]

You are a Swiftie, aren't you?

[Kinsey]

Just thinking about that Reputation album.

[Parker Lennox]

And then there's Taylor Swift's Snakes. And it's both. It can mean both.

[Hannah]

Ah. If I didn't already love this series. Yeah.

[Carly]

Not that you haven't already given us more than enough, but we have to ask, what can you tell us about.

[Parker Lennox]

Book three, you're going to see a different Fia.

[Hannah]

Okay.

[Bri Greenwich]

Oh, she. You know, as you saw how the last book ended, our girl Thea is going to be on a war path. You know, she's the strongest that she's ever been at this point, and we're going to really get to see that. And we're really excited to write about it, too.

[Hannah]

Can we safely assume that there's going to be a happily ever after?

[Parker Lennox]

Yes.

[Bri Greenwich]

For.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah. Yes. What I'll say. And don't take too much from this, but the trilogy. Yes, I will. But just so you're aware, just because the trilogy ends doesn't mean the story is over.

[Hannah]

Okay. Okay. I will take a lot from that.

[Kinsey]

Try not to. Try not to. But I'm also thinking the same.

[Hannah]

Okay. Yeah.

[Parker Lennox]

What I meant by don't take too much from this is. I didn't mean that when stories continue, that will then not be a happy ending. That's what I didn't want you to take from that.

[Hannah]

Yeah. Thank you for that clarification.

[Bri Greenwich]

You will feel a sense of closure with Realm Blade for sure. And it's going to be happy closure. But as Parker said, the story doesn't end.

[Hannah]

I'm already excited for the duologies after.

[Parker Lennox]

Yay.

[Kinsey]

Is there a character you can confirm is absolutely safe?

[Parker Lennox]

No. Okay, I figured it is.

[Kinsey]

I thought that'd be our answer, man.

[Bri Greenwich]

Unfortunately, you know, we are going into a really big war in this next book, so.

[Kinsey]

Can we expect to cry?

[Bri Greenwich]

Yeah. Because I think we'll probably cry.

[Kinsey]

I'm a big crier, so. Okay.

[Hannah]

Forgive me. And you totally just told us. No, but I'm gonna ask anyways. And I can't remember his name, but. Feas. Vorger. Are they safe? Because I do not do well with.

[Parker Lennox]

We're not going to do that. No.

[Kinsey]

Animals are safe.

[Parker Lennox]

Animals are safe.

[Hannah]

Okay. Okay. And this is another one that I just thought of because you mentioned that you're Swiftie Parker. Not to put you on the spot, but to totally put you on the spot. If you had to give Aether a.

[Parker Lennox]

Taylor Swift song, I mean, we all know what it is. False. God.

[Hannah]

That entire scene. Hannah's not okay. Oh, my goodness.

[Kinsey]

Look, I'm not a Swiftie. I don't know what that song means, but I'm just going off the title.

[Hannah]

And what I think it's playing in my head as we speak. Fia.

[Parker Lennox]

It depends on what book. I mean, obviously the next book is. She's in her reputation era for sure.

[Hannah]

So I'm a rep girly. That is my album, so that I can't wait for this book. Okay, if you don't stop me now, I'm going to keep asking you about people. Taylor Swift songs. We'll have to talk about that another time.

[Bri Greenwich]

Yes.

[Hannah]

This is my actual last song. What? This is my actual last question before our theory. Rapid fire questions. I am begging as we see Fia step into the role of princess. Or maybe more. Can we please get more of the you will never speak to her that way again? Energy from Aether sprinkled throughout. Or just like entirely. The book is just that.

[Parker Lennox]

I think you'll be very pleased with the way things go.

[Hannah]

Oh, my goodness. I don't like jealousy. Right.

[Parker Lennox]

You like the jealousy part. Okay, well, the.

[Hannah]

Touch her and die.

[Parker Lennox]

Buckle up.

[Hannah]

I mean, I was impressed by, like, the one bed, turned one chair. Like, we talked about that. I was like.

[Kinsey]

I was already anticipating this book and now I'm just like, damn it. I have to put in a countdown.

[Hannah]

To wait and count the gap the minutes. Don't worry, we have things planned to help us potentially count down. Anyways.

[Kinsey]

So, moving on, we've got a few theory level questions. Feel free to say pass if they fly too close to the book. 3 Sun. And feel free to respond yes. No past. Or expand. Totally up to you. Is there a significance to Laric's eyes being described as a deep shade of emerald?

[Bri Greenwich]

No significance.

[Hannah]

Okay, cool.

[Parker Lennox]

We like that color.

[Bri Greenwich]

All right.

[Carly]

Will we learn any more about Ma's twin, Miguel?

[Parker Lennox]

Pass.

[Hannah]

Is there a chapter or scene in Riftborne or Duskbound that we should all revisit for research purposes in Duskbound, Fia's conversation with Laric. Oh, okay.

[Parker Lennox]

I will.

[Hannah]

I was expecting you to say pass.

[Kinsey]

I wasn't expecting a conversation.

[Parker Lennox]

Okay.

[Kinsey]

Are there any Easter eggs you'd be willing to point out that might come back around in book three? Besides this conversation with Laric, there's huge.

[Parker Lennox]

Easter eggs that we have not seen anyone on any capacity discuss in any way. Which we're surprised about, actually, if we can't say them. But we'll say that.

[Kinsey]

Challenge accepted.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah.

[Hannah]

You best believe when the Duskbound audiobook releases full reread of both.

[Carly]

Oh, yeah.

[Hannah]

It's gonna be marked up. Okay.

[Carly]

Are there only two rips in this world, or are there more we haven't discovered yet?

[Parker Lennox]

More.

[Hannah]

Ooh.

[Parker Lennox]

Ooh.

[Hannah]

If we wanted to speculate about Aether's life 35 years ago, before the Void, would we find any hint or Easter eggs for that in Riftborne, Not Duskbound because we assume that there are some there.

[Bri Greenwich]

Not in Riftbourne.

[Parker Lennox]

Not in Riftbourne. Okay. Okay.

[Carly]

This is a listener submitted question. Will we get another Fia or Aether Lark face to face confrontation?

[Parker Lennox]

Yes.

[Hannah]

I feel like that one was. Yeah, that was an easy. Yes.

[Parker Lennox]

Yes.

[Kinsey]

Can the pocket mirrors be used by anyone if they accidentally fall into the wrong hands?

[Bri Greenwich]

Also yes.

[Parker Lennox]

Yes.

[Kinsey]

Oh, I figured that's what happened with, like, the ending of Duskbound. Oh, no.

[Hannah]

You know what? I'm actually quite surprised that you guys gave as much as you did. Thank you. I was expecting. Yes.

[Parker Lennox]

No pests. The reason we said that is because we never clarified in Dustbound that there were those rules around it. Because Fia is just passing them out to people, essentially. There's no connection with that person that she gives it to. So even though maybe it's not clarified that it doesn't have to be that way. We never clarified that it does. And so that's why we don't feel like it's as much of a spoiler.

[Kinsey]

Is there another focus that can, like, intercept the mirror messages that are happening, or is it only.

[Parker Lennox]

That's a cool concept. Yeah.

[Hannah]

Like, write that down. Write that down.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah. Don't. Don't do it. Thank you. Well, we'll have to stew on that a little bit.

[Hannah]

Or are you just saying that to throw us off?

[Parker Lennox]

I don't know.

[Hannah]

Oh, I like it. You guys are getting good at this.

[Parker Lennox]

Oh, God. We're just stumbling our way through it, really.

[Hannah]

No, you're doing great. It is now time to shake things up with our Are youe Smarter Than a Fan Girl? Segment. Except for this time, we are putting the authors head to head. So are you smarter than your co author? If you will.

[Carly]

That's right. Today, Parker and Brie will be battling each other to see who remembers their own books better under pressure.

[Kinsey]

Here's how it works. One of you will take off your headphones while the other answers as many rapid fire trivia questions about Riftborne and Duskbound as they can in under two and a half minutes. Then we'll switch. Once both of you have answered, we'll tally up the scores and see who reigns supreme as the ultimate Isprithian expert.

[Parker Lennox]

Disclaimer. We are so far into Ascended, our brains are mush. At this point, I would like to compare it to when Taylor writes all of her own music. But when she tries to perform right where you left me live, that might be what happens here. You know, you can't remember all the words even though you wrote it. So I just wanted to preface it with that.

[Hannah]

I'm so impressed by that lore drop right there.

[Kinsey]

It makes it more fun.

[Hannah]

So do not feel like you have to get everything right. It's kind of funny if you don't. So it's.

[Parker Lennox]

We're trying our best, but I.

[Hannah]

We also have a lot of questions for you, so feel free to say pass at any point. If, like, you're like, oh, there's no way I'm spending time trying to think that hard about that. Like, it's totally. And some of these are really detailed, so, like, it's. Okay, great. Okay, so Kenzie is going to be our game host. Carly is on scorekeeping duty, and I'll be your official timekeeper for selfish reasons, because I wanted to be able to watch. And we are, of course, all fangirls.

[Kinsey]

So Parker will be going first. If you don't know the answer, like we've said, feel free to say pass. Bri, headphones off and set your timer to come back.

[Hannah]

And I'm also going to count down for you. I'm also going to count down for you so that you know when to set that timer as I pull it up on my own. Parker, are you ready?

[Parker Lennox]

I'm ready. Okay.

[Hannah]

Three, two, two, one, Go.

[Kinsey]

What is the key ingredient to Maz Tonic that allows humans to hold their breath for an extended period of time?

[Parker Lennox]

Red algae.

[Kinsey]

What password does Asta use at the Enclave?

[Parker Lennox]

Pass.

[Kinsey]

How many years ago did the Queen find Aether in the void?

[Carly]

30.

[Kinsey]

What mountain range is woven into a tapestry that FIA admires at the marketplace in Luminaria?

[Parker Lennox]

Redanthian mountains.

[Kinsey]

What are the five factions that make up the Guard?

[Parker Lennox]

Fang Venom Scales? Immunity Base.

[Kinsey]

Perfect. Which family line ruled Ambrathia before the Valtiers?

[Parker Lennox]

This was one of those last minute edits.

[Hannah]

Pass.

[Kinsey]

Okay, how does Aether's mind look different relative to everyone else in Ambrathia?

[Parker Lennox]

His is golden.

[Kinsey]

What does the Soleil family crest look like?

[Parker Lennox]

Pass.

[Kinsey]

What is the name of Ma's twin?

[Parker Lennox]

We just said it. Pass.

[Kinsey]

Who is Becca and Jordan's mom?

[Parker Lennox]

Fairbanks.

[Kinsey]

Yes. What is Evelyn?

[Hannah]

The Esgree.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah. Pass.

[Kinsey]

Okay, what color are Laric's eyes?

[Parker Lennox]

Emerald.

[Kinsey]

What are the Wraith like beings that can speak to the dead?

[Parker Lennox]

The Umbra. Oh, wait. Oh, the Wraith like beings. Oh, the Sirens. The Dread Sirens.

[Kinsey]

Yes. Who is the esprit of foresight?

[Parker Lennox]

Tas.

[Kinsey]

What type of potions did Ma frequently sell to the she Guard?

[Parker Lennox]

Breathing tonics.

[Kinsey]

Okay. What is the name of the Umbra Queen's twin sister?

[Parker Lennox]

Vilda.

[Kinsey]

What is the symbol of Rift. Jamar.

[Parker Lennox]

The stag.

[Kinsey]

What is Lord Henrik? Soleil's focus.

[Parker Lennox]

He can read magical signatures.

[Kinsey]

What are the five colors associated with each faction?

[Parker Lennox]

Pass.

[Kinsey]

Which seamstress does Asta work for at the start of Riftborne time? Oh. Okay.

[Hannah]

There is one answer that she should get credit for. Because the question was true for both. The cocktail breathing tonics should also be counted. Carly.

[Parker Lennox]

Okay. Yeah. Ooh. Interesting. Mm. All right.

[Hannah]

Welcoming Bri back. Are you ready?

[Bri Greenwich]

I'm scared.

[Hannah]

You got this. Okay. And three, two, one, go.

[Kinsey]

What is the key ingredient to Maz Tonic that allows humans to hold their breath for an extended period of time?

[Bri Greenwich]

Whalebone.

[Kinsey]

What password does Asta use at the Enclave?

[Bri Greenwich]

Pass.

[Kinsey]

How many years ago did the Queen find Aether in the void?

[Parker Lennox]

30.

[Kinsey]

What mountain range is woven into a tapestry that FIA admires at the marketplace in Luminaria?

[Parker Lennox]

Umbra.

[Bri Greenwich]

Pass.

[Kinsey]

What are the five factions that make up the Guard?

[Bri Greenwich]

Fang, Venom, Scale, immunity and base.

[Kinsey]

Great. Which family line ruled Umbrathia before the Valtiers?

[Bri Greenwich]

The Skull Venders.

[Kinsey]

How does Aether's mind look different relative to everyone else in Umbrathia?

[Bri Greenwich]

His mind is golden.

[Kinsey]

What does the Soleil family crest look like?

[Bri Greenwich]

Pass.

[Kinsey]

What is the name of Ma's twin?

[Bri Greenwich]

Miguel.

[Kinsey]

Who is Becca and Jordan's mom?

[Bri Greenwich]

Lady Pass.

[Kinsey]

What is Evelyn?

[Parker Lennox]

Pass.

[Kinsey]

What color are Laric's eyes?

[Bri Greenwich]

Green.

[Kinsey]

What are the Wraith like beings that can speak to the dead?

[Bri Greenwich]

The Dread Sirens.

[Kinsey]

Who is the esprit of foresight?

[Bri Greenwich]

Pass.

[Kinsey]

What type of potions did Ma frequently sell to the she Guard?

[Bri Greenwich]

I mean, I know what they do, but I don't. I can't remember what we called them. I was gonna say like a passion tonic. Like a tonic. That your passion?

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah.

[Kinsey]

What is the name of the Umbra Queen's twin sister?

[Bri Greenwich]

So she has two names, but I. The one I do know is Ophelia.

[Parker Lennox]

Ooh.

[Kinsey]

What is the symbol of Riftgemmer or Riftjammer?

[Bri Greenwich]

Jim.

[Kinsey]

Struggling here.

[Bri Greenwich]

The stag.

[Kinsey]

What is Lord Henrik? Saleh's focus.

[Bri Greenwich]

He can see magical patterns.

[Kinsey]

What are the five colors associated? Oh, okay.

[Bri Greenwich]

Did I say something wrong? I think I said a name that was wrong.

[Kinsey]

Maybe we could go over what we have.

[Hannah]

I think we should check our answers really quick.

[Kinsey]

We should. Yeah. So the key ingredient for Moz Tonic is red algae. The password Asta uses is Mirage. Both of you guys said 30 years ago, for the queen finding Aether, we had 35.

[Parker Lennox]

You're right. I think we just.

[Kinsey]

Yeah, the mountain range was. I'm probably not going to say this right? Radianthian mountain range. The five factions. You guys both got all of them. Which we said one thing.

[Bri Greenwich]

I think we said them in the same order too.

[Kinsey]

Yeah, but we have base immunity.

[Carly]

Scales.

[Kinsey]

Fang and Venon.

[Parker Lennox]

Right.

[Kinsey]

Venom. And the family line that ruled Ambrathia before the Valtiers was the Serndor line.

[Parker Lennox]

Cyrandor.

[Kinsey]

Serendor. Okay.

[Parker Lennox]

I knew it.

[Kinsey]

And then you guys both got. Aether's mind is golden. The Soleil family crest. Neither of you got this? It was a roaring sun with crossed swords.

[Bri Greenwich]

I knew it was a sun, but I knew it was more than just a sun.

[Hannah]

Yeah.

[Kinsey]

Maz twin's name is Miguel. Becca. And Jordan's mom is Lady Nessa Fairbanks. For Evelyn. The answer we have here is winter. The phase of the year where cold begins and light disappears from the sky earlier in the day. Laric's eyes, emerald green. The Wraith, like beings, dread sirens. The Esprit. The foresight. Sybil. What type of potions Ma makes. So the breathing tonics and then the libido boosting cocktails.

[Hannah]

So I think both of them should get a point for that.

[Kinsey]

I think they should. The name of the Umbra queen. Twin sister. We had Vilda, but now Ophelia.

[Parker Lennox]

So Ophelia is her name that she's gone by in she. And Vilda is her.

[Carly]

Okay.

[Parker Lennox]

Her real life. Okay, great.

[Kinsey]

The symbol. The white stag lord. Henrik. Soleil's focus. You guys both got that? He picks up on traces of essence and can see where they come from. Then we didn't quite get to the five colors associated with each faction, but we had deep forest green for base, a blend of moss and beige for immunity, silver for scales, burnished gold for fang and black for venom.

[Hannah]

We had more prepared in case you did get stunned. It was just in case.

[Kinsey]

Just trying to go fast.

[Hannah]

I'm impressed. I will say. Yeah, I'm impressed. Really.

[Parker Lennox]

I'm disappointed in myself because I was.

[Bri Greenwich]

Like, oh, my gosh. Like, not only am I going to start spoiling things for the ascended, like, I'm going to start saying names from the ascended. So. Okay, maybe.

[Hannah]

Maybe that was intentional. I'm just kidding.

[Kinsey]

Maybe that's our goal.

[Parker Lennox]

We survive.

[Kinsey]

I would have definitely been like, pass for a lot of these.

[Hannah]

Do we have a score?

[Carly]

We do. It was very close.

[Parker Lennox]

Ooh.

[Carly]

But Parker squeaked out with just a couple more. But I think it's only because you got to a couple more questions. So I think the time was the issue.

[Hannah]

What were the numbers?

[Carly]

15 and 13.

[Hannah]

That's impressive.

[Kinsey]

That's close.

[Hannah]

That's impressive.

[Parker Lennox]

I think it's funny that we got a lot of the same ones wrong, too, depending how fresh they are in our mind. Or not.

[Kinsey]

Yeah, you guys definitely got the same ones right and wrong.

[Hannah]

So, basically, there could be clues for what's more important to.

[Parker Lennox]

Sure.

[Carly]

Well, before we let Parker and Brie go, we're going to close with a little tradition. We're calling the reader's letter a short appreciation letter to the author, shared only if, of course, our guests are comfortable with it.

[Hannah]

So this is going to be something that I read out loud to you guys. Are you ready?

[Parker Lennox]

Yes.

[Hannah]

Yeah. Dear fantasy authors, thank you for curing our book hangovers and then immediately giving us another not once, but twice. You gave us a story that interrogates systems of power while honoring the cost of resistance and the care behind every choice. Came through deeply. Thank you for writing characters who are shaped by pain but still choose empathy even when it would be easier not to. For showing what it looks like to begin seeing beyond yourself and to take a stand for what is right, even when it hurts, even when it's hard. Thank you for representing the kind of love that is chosen because not all motherly love is biological and not all families are born. You gave us not one, but two found families we'd follow through the rift and back. You gave us aether. And we thank the gods every day. The two of you have done your finest work with that man so far. Few authors write devotion with such tension, tenderness, and emotional precision. And listen, I have severe fear of commitment when it comes to naming a number one book boyfriend. So he is technically tied, but the second you put him in glasses, it is over. For everyone else, thank you for bringing us readers into your world and for making dear Fantasy Reader, part of the Asprithian journey. There is absolutely no way we could fit how grateful we are for both of you into a single letter. But please know this. We are thankful for your words, your characters, and your hearts. You have given us something extraordinary. Will be here spiraling until the ascended and then again until I have a Sprithian book three in here until realmblade. And as long as you continue to write with so much love, your fantasy readers and forever fangirls.

[Bri Greenwich]

I actually started tearing up. That's so.

[Parker Lennox]

I'm trying so hard not to.

[Bri Greenwich]

Thank you. Like, thank you.

[Parker Lennox]

You have no idea how much it means to us. Seriously.

[Bri Greenwich]

I mean, it means the world.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah, it really does.

[Hannah]

I was gonna say thank you again, but I Think. I think I did that a lot.

[Parker Lennox]

I mean, we're just still shell shocked that y' all wanted to interview us, and we're just so honored and we love the podcast so much. And, like, I watch all of your deep dives and it's just. Yeah. I don't know, you guys. Like, when I first reached out to you, I was just like, oh, my.

[Kinsey]

Gosh, I hope they email back.

[Parker Lennox]

And like, so this is just a dream come true for us.

[Hannah]

Seriously, I cannot tell you how grateful I am that you. You reached out to me about Riftborn. What was that? Like? It was. It was early. The podcast had only existed for like a month or two at that point. And so it feels. I was telling Kenzie and Carly, like, so serendipitous and so, like, there just aren't words to describe, like, the parallels of getting to see yalls growth and people realizing how incredible you both are and your stories and then to have it somewhat full circle, if you will, for you to come on here, like, you're saying that you're shocked that we wanted you. No, like, we are. We are so, like, over the moon about both of you, and I just can't say enough.

[Carly]

Yeah, we're so grateful you came on.

[Parker Lennox]

I'm gonna love her.

[Bri Greenwich]

Yeah. No, we're your fan girls.

[Parker Lennox]

Yeah. Seriously.

[Kinsey]

All the praise that you have received is well deserved and everybody needs to know it.

[Carly]

Yes.

[Parker Lennox]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[Kinsey]

Oh, well, listeners, we have linked Bri and Parker's socials down in the show notes so you can follow along and stay up to date on the series.

[Hannah]

As a reminder, we are asking Bree and Parker more questions that you can find over on our Patreon. So, Bri and Parker, we will see you over there. Thank you again for coming on.

[Bri Greenwich]

Thank you so much.

[Parker Lennox]

Thank you for having us.

[Kinsey]

Oh, that was so fun.

[Carly]

If this is your first time listening, welcome. We are Hannah, Kinsey and Carly, three book besties who deep dive, Theorize, fangirl and crash course your favorite fantasy read. So you're always ready for what's next next.

[Hannah]

Occasionally, we get to interview amazing authors like Parker and Brie. And if you're wondering who's coming on next, we will be announcing all upcoming author interviews over on Instagram, so be sure to follow us there.

[Kinsey]

We just wrapped our season three chapters by Chapters Deep Dive of Onyx Storm and are working hard on our next prep season for Burn of the Everflame that will include recaps, world building and lore breakdowns, and more.

[Carly]

We also have a book club that selects a fantasy or romantic book and meets to discuss it on the live stream on the last Wednesday of every month. You can join on Patreon where you can access all of our episodes ad free a day early and in full, video plus extras like weekly PDF annotations, shoutouts, bonus resources and more.

[Hannah]

Just a quick note that we will not be having a July book club, but we will be picking up with.

[Kinsey]

August right after you'll find our Patreon link in the Show Notes along with all the ways you can support the show, whether that's joining a tier, subscribing, leaving a review, or just sharing us with your fellow Romantasy readers.

[Hannah]

You can also find more information about our previous and upcoming seasons, episode and events, calendar, other author interviews, our contact form, and more on our newly revamped website that I am so proud of. So please go check it [e-mail], also linked down in the Show Notes.

[Carly]

We'd love to hear from you. Send us your thoughts, tag us on Instagram, or come fangirl with us over your favorite fantasy books in our free Discord Chat.

[Hannah]

Until next time, dearest fantasy readers, May your chapters be spicy, your book boyfriends morally gray, and your TBR organized just just enough to justify one more pre order.

[Bri Greenwich]

You're welcome.

[F]

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