C. Quince (he/they) is a MENA/SWANA British author who lives in England, enjoys Sci-Fi and Fantasy, History, and Halloween.
AUTHOR LINKS:
Author Site: cquince.my.canva.site
Book Sample: Consorting with the King
Book Pitch to Book Clubs/Readers:
Consorting with the King is a Bridgerton meets Studio Ghibli style Romance, set in a Solarpunk-inspired utopia.
Your m/m romantasy is out now with JMS Books, a small queer indie publisher. Introduce us to Consorting with the King and tell us what romantasy means to you as a genre.
To me, Romantasy is a blend of Romance and Fantasy, and there is quite a bit of PLOT in the story! For Consorting with the King, Prince Francis gets swept up in international match making plans, but nothing is as straightforward as promised, leading to a comedy of errors/Rom-Com situation.
What inspirations and influences did you draw upon while you were writing this novella?
To get into character and era, I watched a lot of shows like Bridgerton, The Crown, and period favourites like any Jane Austen film.
I was also influenced by shows like Versailles, films like the 00s Marie Antoinette, and Three Thousand Years of Longing.
Introduce us to your MMCs, Prince Francis of Sachs-Stormburg & King Omar, with five fun facts about each of them, and what they would choose from a banquet to eat and drink!
Prince Francis is very sweet, he’s German, strawberry blond haired, pale and burns easily in the sun. He’s a shy bookworm, he often hides behind his more boisterous friends at social engagements, which he does try to during the story. Despite his shy personality he is willing and eager to try new foods, and samples the best Istanbul has to offer (even when another guest tries to steal his food!).
Nobody knows much about the elusive King Omar, who is rarely seen in public, and usually hidden behind a screen, much to all his guest’s dismay. (The kind stranger that Francis meets in the garden, however, Haşim, is very fond of sweet treats!)
(kalimpaszmadar.bsky.social)
How did you create a queernormative society as you were worldbuilding, and play with the consort trope/ tournament of skills trope to create the premise for the story?
I don’t write queernormative societies in my opinion, instead I focus on queer friendly pockets of society. One could call them a mini society perhaps!
For example Francis a gay man whose close circle of friends and family know that and support him, but he cannot be out at court or at home, as the ruling monarch is strict and religious.
King Omar’s court in contrast, is a queer friendly pocket set against a sea of heteronormativity. I’ve based this mainly on real history worldwide where queer people would live life under a safe roof, and have their queer parties behind closed doors, so to speak. Those in the know, know; the Allies. And anyone else is otherwise oblivious to this queer underbelly, or in friendlier places they can simply look the other way.
Much of the story with the tournament of suitors takes place in one palace, a controlled environment, and it was fun to place all the men into the royal harem to subvert the usual tropes.
It is remarked upon by one antagonist that he expected ‘sexy belly dancers’, but a harem was mainly the designated place for the women of the palace, the sultan’s wives and family, not just for concubines. And I did put some belly dancers including a male dancer into the story, just not where the reader might expect to see them!
How did you work in solar power and its potential in this setting, and what gave you the idea to centre renewable energy?
I’m very inspired by Studio Ghibli films and other Sci-Fi media that focus on natural and renewable energy sources, and living in harmony with nature. There’s an author’s note at the end of the book about world building and locations, but one specific thing I did was borrow ancient air conditioning from the city of Yazd in Iran: the tall wind towers that have stood for centuries, they capture wind from high up and funnel it down to cool the streets.
In my story I put these structures in Istanbul, mainly because I would’ve loved a cooling breeze there in the hot summer months! I also added solar powered trams (an invention the European characters haven’t seen yet) because I love the electric trams in Istanbul.
I’m a big believer in renewable energy for our own world, and wanted to write something magical and inspiring in homage to this. Renewable energy is our future.
Tell us about the next book you have coming out – what can your readers expect next? Pitch it to us!
My next book is a Medieval Romantasy set in England, told through the eyes of an immigrant from Constantinople (Istanbul). Think Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, and The Last Kingdom.
There’s lots going on, from mad kings to spice trade, magic and epic witch battles. I can’t wait to share more about it late summer! Thanks for having me on your blog!
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