Author Interview: Sophie Kim

Get the inside scoop on ‘The Winged Game’!

Sophie Kim is the author of our July Adult ‘Playing For Revenge’ featured book: The Winged Game. Read on to get the inside scoop from inspiration to favourite scenes and more!

If you could describe The Winged Game in three words, what would they be?

A slow burn!

What sparked the idea for The Winged Game?

As a reader and certified bookworm, two of my favourite genres are sports romance and fantasy. Soon I wanted to read a blend of the two – I was craving a sports romantasy mash-up! I scoured libraries and bookstores for the novel I was so hungry for, yet couldn’t find anything on the shelves. One of the most wonderful parts of being an author, though, is that you are able to write your perfect book into existence! And that’s precisely what I did with The Winged Game, which combines the exhilaration and magic of a fantasy novel with the high stakes and competitiveness of a sports romance.

We loved that the world was set in a contemporary version of Britain. Can you tell us a little bit about why you chose to use our real world as inspiration?

I absolutely adore writing contemporary fantasy, and bringing magic and myth into our own world. I have always felt as though contemporary fantasy brings hope to readers – hope that our own, sometimes dreary world can be a little brighter, a little less mundane, and just a little bit more fun! And I chose Britain specifically due to its rich football culture, which the culture of carriwitchet is heavily based on – the fans, the pubs, the local pride in teams. It was the perfect setting for this book.

In The Winged Game, the magic system is very unique. Could you tell us how you developed it?

I have always loved the idea of writing with a quill – modern pens and pencils are just so boring in comparison. Using a quill – or, rather, a qyl – to tap into metaphysical Wells of magic appealed to me at once as a writer and stationary-fiend. And with Wingeds so prominent in this novel, it only made sense for a feather to be a recurring motif.

How did you come up with Carriwitchet as a sport?

Carriwitchet is a blend of rugby’s brutality, the complex positions of football (or American soccer), and the high-stakes theft of capture-the-flag. As a child, capture-the-flag was one of my very favourite games. Whenever we would play it in school, I would be utterly thrilled by the sabotage, the trickery, and the stealth necessitated by its players – all, of course, very industrious seven-year-olds. Writing The Winged Game, I wanted to encapsulate that feeling, but to a much larger scale. So: Wingeds. A roaring stadium. The wind screaming in the players’ ears. Draconian jewels glittering atop siege towers. Weapons. Chaos!

If you were a player in Carriwitchet, would you rather be on Taissa or Kion’s team?

I would absolutely want to be on the NCL Stymphs! No question about it.

Let’s talk characters! The banter between Taissa and Kion was electric and full of quippy sarcasm. How did you find writing about their rivalry and dynamic?

Taissa and Kion’s banter was one of my favourite things to write. As an author, you always feel very lucky when your characters start to bounce off each other, when you rarely need to consciously puzzle over what they might say, or do, next. Taissa and Kion came so naturally to me, and certainly made their voices heard. And their rivalry added even more of a wonderful tension to play around with, along with a deeper emotional undercurrent to draw from in those quieter, more serious, moments between them.

What ingredients do you think make a satisfying rivals-to-lovers romance?

1 cup of very complicated history
1 cup of sweetness and spice
2 tablespoons of banter
3 tablespoons of reluctant attraction
4 teaspoons of denial
5 teaspoons of “they only call each other by their surnames until they don’t”
A heaping spoonful of realisation
A sprinkle of a happy ending
Mix together, and bake until steaming hot!

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Write the book that you want to read. The moment you start writing for someone else is the moment you begin to lose passion for the craft. Take it from an author who has been there!

What is your favourite thing about the FairyLoot Exclusive Edition of The Winged Game?

Oh, FairyLoot. I can’t choose just one thing! This edition is quite literally the love of my life. The beautiful, reversible cover with that silver-embossed qyl . . . Kion, looking ever so handsome beneath it . . . the sprayed edges . . . the endpapers of Kion and Taissa . . . the chapter I got to annotate . . . I love it all so much. You knock it out of the park each and every time, creating some of the most beautiful books I’ve ever seen. I keep my copy of FairyLoot’s The Winged Game (and The God and the Gumiho, and The God and the Gwisin) in a place of pride on my bookshelf. I kid you not, sometimes I reach for this edition just so I can give it a hug. Thank you so much for having me!