Vy Starlit (she/her) is the author of fantasy books spanning from progressive fantasy and Litrpg to Gaslamp Fantasy with horror and mystery undertones. She loves building magic systems and staring into the abyss. You can visit her website at vystarlit.com where you can sign-up for her newsletter, find free stories, and discover the latest news and releases.
Author Links:
Website: vystarlit.com
Links to Vy’s books are here – vystarlit.com/books
Individual Book Links:
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Social Media:
Instagram – @vystarlit
Threads – @vystarlit
Blue Sky – @vystarlit.bsky.social
Facebook – /vystarlit
What was the inspiration behind your main character Ember in Don’t Destroy the World?
Originally, I was inspired to make Ember because I wanted to make a character who fought back and didn’t just take things and had the power to back it up. But as I was developing the story I thought what if she really did that? Wouldn’t she eventually end up a tyrant? Then a series of ‘what ifs’ happened, and Ember became the character of “I had bad things happen to me and, I got revenge and became a tyrant, now I have to do it all over again and what would I change?”
I figure, in Ember’s place, reliving those things, I would still be pretty angry but also would want to do better, so I wanted to show her as a character with that same vengeful streak, but she’s trying to be better, and how that isn’t an easy process.
I wanted her to make mistakes and learn from them, but she also does things that are bad and doesn’t really regret them. I definitely wanted to show a gray character with dark tendency that is trying to be better when in all honesty she could just scorch the earth and call it a day.
What research did you do into past lives, regression and reincarnation for this novel, and what about this drew you to make it a central plot point?
I’ve always thought reincarnation was a idea that brought up lots of questions, so I always sought out those type of stories, but they weren’t easy to find. Then regression stories became popular, and suddenly I had tons of stories to read.
At first it was a feast I couldn’t get enough of, but eventually I realized that all the ones involving female characters were romances. I wanted one focused more on the fantasy aspects that starred a female character.
I still like romance and certainly don’t mind it in stories but I wanted the fantasy to be the main focus. It was hard to find so I decided to make one myself.
How did you go about worldbuilding for Don’t Destroy the World? What was your favourite part of the worldbuilding process?
I love worldbuilding! It’s just so much fun creating a world and seeing how it came to be and building the history. For Don’t Destroy the World, Ember came first. I knew I wanted her to be strong and just keep getting stronger which brought me to my magic system with the Akashic Tree.
Since the story is progressive fantasy, the magic system had to be measurable, but I also wanted it to be flexible so I don’t lock myself out of elements of the story I might want to add later.
Making the magic system surrounding the Akashic system was probably the best part for me. It’s basically the world tree of knowledge, knowing everything that has ever happened.
What are the main themes in Don’t Destroy the World, and how did you interweave them through the narrative?
Probably the main theme of Don’t Destroy the World is recognizing that despite all the horrible things that happen, the world it can still be beautiful.
Ember spends a lot of time being angry and her anger is completely justified, but I think it tends to consume her, and she forgets there are good things in the world.
In her tyrant life, she lost her family and many of the people she cared about. In her new life, she’s trying to not lose those things but her need for revenge and power tends to get in the way.
A lot of her journey is being able to see the good despite all the bad around her. I think it’s a theme that many people can relate to with how difficult life has been these last few years.
Can you tell us about a side or background character in the novel that surprised you, or that you particularly enjoyed writing?
Priest Beslen! The character was supposed to be a character that came and went but instead he has become an important character in the story. He’s playful, mischievous, always has something clever to say and you never know if you can trust him or not. When I dug into his past, I realized he had a story that was just as important to tell and he grew to now be an intricate part of the books and future books I have planned.
Do you have any future publication plans, anything we can look out for?
Yes! Besides working on the second book in the Tyrant Reborn series, I’ll be putting out a gaslamp fantasy series later this year.
It’s Victorian fantasy meets Sherlock Holmes with a touch of Eldritch horror. I was inspired by Lord of the Mysteries and had an idea that just wouldn’t let go. So definitely look forward to that.
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