Author Spotlight: Thea Guanzon

Two hearts circle each other in the eye of the storm in this highly anticipated follow-up to the New York Times bestseller, The Hurricane Wars—prepare for more enemies-to-lovers romance, magical adventures, and political schemes in this Southeast Asian–inspired world.

Thea Guanzon is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of the Hurricane Wars series. With a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies, with a specialization in International Politics and Peace Studies, Thea is also an avid traveler, an enthusiastic fangirl, a Dungeon Master, and an iced coffee junkie. Born and raised in the Philippines, she currently resides in Metro Manila.

What prompted you to write this book?
TG: A Monsoon Rising is the sequel to The Hurricane Wars, a fantasy romance set in a world patterned after Southeast Asian cultures and mythologies, particularly that of the Philippines, where I was born and raised and still live to this day. This series is a celebration of my heritage, but it is also informed by the issues embedded in contemporary Philippine society, such as class divide, regionalism, and environmental disasters. The plot revolves around a forbidden, antagonistic romance between Alaric and Talasyn, two bitter foes on opposite sides of a vicious war, and A Monsoon Rising in particular really dials that up; it's my take on enemies-to-lovers, which has been my favorite trope for as long as I can remember. There's just something about tracking that fine line between two opposite passions—loathing and desire—that is so compelling to me, as both a writer and a consumer of media.

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
The Hurricane Wars took almost two years and several rewrites to come to fruition; it was my first novel and I was still getting my bearings. A Monsoon Rising, on the other hand, was done in a little over six months, because I had already set up the world and the various dynamics and motivations in the previous book and it was a matter of just continuing that story. It was also a bit more fun to write than its predecessor, because most of the heavy lifting was out of the way and I could simply just let the characters take me where they needed to go. Meanwhile, the idea of this series remained mostly the same from pitching to publication, but during the editing process we did throw a major new plot point in there in order to up the stakes and at the same time give Alaric and Talasyn more of a reason to work together in close quarters. I think that this addition made the overall story more gripping and allowed the romance to proceed in an organic manner, so I'm glad that I trusted my editors, Julia Elliott and Natasha Bardon, in this regard.

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
I had a plan for how A Monsoon Rising would go and I was able to mostly stick to that, but whenever Alaric and Talasyn interacted with each other it always came as a surprise to me how much personal baggage was unearthed on both sides. This is not a straightforward love story; there’s progress and there’s also regression, given how tense the circumstances are and how their respective goals are at odds with each other. Getting them to a place where there was a semblance of trust, where they could communicate better and more openly and learn to see each other beyond the confines of war and duty—I would describe that process as similar to wrangling two uncooperative cats into their crates so I could take them to the vet, which, incidentally, is an activity I am all too familiar with.

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
It is my dearest wish that readers will be encouraged to seek out more Southeast Asian writers, because our region is so vibrant and there are so many rich stories here that deserve to be told on the world stage. If there’s one lesson that I hope readers can take away from A Monsoon Rising, it’s that the human heart is messy and chaotic, and that’s okay.

By Robert Lee Brewer
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com 

A Monsoon Rising is now at all good bookstores in Singapore & Malaysia!