Tricia Levenseller Talks Romantasy, Crafting Characters & “The Darkness Within Us”

The Darkness Within Us by Tricia Levenseller

Get ready for a fast-paced and utterly romantic novel in Tricia Levenseller’s new release The Darkness Within Us.

Tricia Levenseller, known for her best-selling YA duology Daughter of the Pirate King, solidifies her expertise as a romantasy author with this companion novel to the darkly compelling The Shadows Between Us.

While Shadows is a standalone novel, readers and fans were hungry for more stories set in this world. And their voices were heard with Levenseller’s newest romantic and adventurous release that introduces Alessandra’s big sister, Chrysantha Stathos.

In The Shadows Between Us, Alessandra Stathos is wicked and power-hungry, a woman with her eyes set on seducing the mysterious Shadow King to take over his throne. In The Darkness Within Us, her little sister Chrysantha hides devious intentions behind a smile that forges innocence. She becomes a rich duchess after marrying her powerful aging husband. While Alessandra was clear about her intentions toward others, Chrysantha quietly tries to gain her own power and counts down the days until her husband passes. Then, she can finally live a life of freedom, full of comfort and wealth once he’s gone.

With Alessandra and Chrysantha, Levenseller has created bold sisters caught in the trenches of a dangerous sibling rivalry who are not afraid to follow their goals while disregarding repercussions. And the men not only tempt, but also carry their own secrets in disguise.

We had a chance to interview Tricia Levenseller about the writing process and the characters inside the immersive fantasy world of The Darkness Within Us.

Your books are not only fantasy, but they also add the perfect dash of romance. As the popularity of the Romantasy genre grows, why do you feel readers are so drawn to these kinds of stories? What draws you to these kinds of books, as a writer or as a reader?

I think the unique thing about romantasy is that it’s able to find its target audience so well. When a book is simply fantasy, you don’t know if you’re going to get romance or mystery or action/adventure thrown into the mix as well. But when we use the term romantasy, readers who want a lush fantasy world to get lost in while reading about two characters falling in love can better find those books. As for me, I love a good romance. It’s almost always my favorite element of any book I read. I love the escapism of fantasy while getting all the emotions in a romance.

In your Daughter of the Pirate King series and The Darkness Within Us, the upcoming follow-up to the immersive The Shadows Between Us, your brave and powerful female characters steal the show. How did you craft these leading women?

Thank you. Crafting characters is such a complicated process, but I’ll try to break it down a bit. The first and most important thing to determine for each character is motivation — more importantly, making that motivation clear on the page. In the case of Alosa, she wants to find a treasure map. In chapter one, we’re going to see her intentionally get herself kidnapped by pirates so she can get herself on the ship where the map is hidden. In the case of Alessandra, she wants power and to no longer be overlooked. In chapter one, she lays out her plan to woo, wed and kill the king so she can have his kingdom for herself. She’s going to make herself the most powerful and well-known person in the world.

Backstory is also crucial. I ask myself constantly, What happened to my characters to make them the way they are? If I know their motivation already, I can backtrack to figure out why that’s their motivation. This makes them deeper and three-dimensional. It also helps me know their worst fears and weaknesses, so I can milk them for tension throughout the book.

Finally, it’s important to know what lines they will and will not cross. Alessandra will kill to get what she wants, but she won’t harm children. She can be found carrying a child to safety, even while cutting her feet on glass the whole way. Alosa won’t harm innocents to get what she wants, but bad people are free game. These lines help me define their characters and show big moments in the story. What happens if a character is pushed to the point where they do cross one of their lines? These are all things I think about.

The Shadows Between Us is meant to be a standalone. What made you want to revisit this world in a companion novel, but this time following Chrysantha, the sister of the first book’s main character?

I’m a firm believer in leaving my characters alone once they get their happily ever after. Writing another story about Alessandra was never something I considered. Her story is done, and it’s time to leave her alone. However, I always knew there was more to Chrysantha than what her sister was seeing, I just needed to see if there was any conflict to her story. When Eryx popped into my head wanting to steal everything she’d worked so hard for, I knew I had something.

How do you feel the two sisters compare when it comes to reaching their personal goals in their respective books? Which sister are you most like?

While both sisters are schemers, they definitely go about getting what they want in different ways. Chrysantha is an actress. She can play any role she needs to in order to get what she wants. Alessandra is a seductress. She can get close to any man she needs to in order to achieve her goals. Sometimes I think I’m more like Chrysantha just because I relate to being an oldest sibling, however, I could never do what Chrysantha did to Alessandra after their mother died.

Chrysantha experiences frustration and desperation as she fights for freedom from the life she’s trapped in. Tell us more about crafting this inner turmoil alongside the external conflicts Chrysantha faces.

I created this world that is a reflection of our own history because of my own anger. I hate so much of the misogyny and sexism that is still rampant in the world. It’s easy to feel helpless and trapped, so I wrote these women who overcome their circumstances in their own ways as a way for me to overcome my own emotions.

Chrysantha’s inner turmoil directly feeds into the external. She wants to be free of men so she can live her life the way she wants, yet Eryx is there to try and tell her what to do and take away any financial freedom she may have gained. Eryx’s appearance is a direct conflict to her internal turmoil, which is so fun when playing with tension in the book.

Can readers expect to see more of these characters in your future books?

I don’t currently have plans to write more books in this world, but never say never!

What’s next for you as a writer and creative that you can share with us?

I have four more books under contract that have already been announced. The first is my adult romantasy debut, Hell Hath No Fury. In a kingdom with a shortage of men, a warrior princess must kidnap herself a husband of noble blood from a neighboring kingdom in order to secure her throne.

The next three are a brand-new YA epic fantasy trilogy about a fat princess, gay ranger and orphaned nobody who must save their world from a magically-gifted serial killer.