"Beyond the God Sea" - Interview with Author Elora Morgan

Elora Morgan spends her free time pursuing fantasy. Nothing engages her mind like a fantastical new world -- except when that world contains lovers who initially despise one another. She reads and writes these angst-filled pairings from the East Coast of the U.S.

With the final book in the Beyond the God Sea, Crowned in Shattered Stars, set to be released soon, I had the pleasure to chat with Elora about what inspired her fantasy saga.

What inspired you to write this novel?

EM: I wanted to write a coming of age story spanning the gap between Young Adult and New Adult, including the development of a female sexual growth arc. To me it seems that many young adult novels -- especially dystopian or fantasy -- explore the evolution of a character through a journey of violence, but lingering purity culture seems to limit the growth of characters when it comes to intimacy. A series usually ends before transitioning into the topic, treating it as a taboo.

Also, I can in no way imagine a post-apocalyptic world where the autonomy or safety of women takes a turn for the better.

What is your writing process like?

EM: I work every day, but some days are better than others. The best writing for me occurs in an almost meditative or flow state, where I’ve immersed myself in the story so much it’s as if I’m simply watching the events unfold and recording them as they occur. I do, however, take time to daydream and plot out the more complicated twists and character arcs.

How do you approach writing your characters and bringing their relationships to life?

EM: I do my best to fully get into a character’s head. Sometimes I wonder if it’s a bit like acting, because as I sit at my desk to write one POV or another, the more I can “become” that character, the better the outcome. I’m also inspired by other fictional characters and relationships I’ve watched or read from works I’ve enjoyed.

What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?

EM: I have a specific one but it happened late in life. I’m a late bloomer! My boyfriend (now husband) and I had taken my Siberian Husky to the bay, and it turned out that she did not enjoy getting wet. I joked to my husband that the next time I got a dog, I’d first make sure she’s “proved by the sea.”

My husband laughed as he pointed out that I speak a little differently, and he’d been waiting for an example to show me. He said that normally, a person would simply say they’d “get a dog that can swim” or “likes the water.”

This is a very small example, but it was a key moment in my life. It’s when I first realized that growing up immersed in fantasy books (perhaps more than people sometimes), shaped my language to evolve in a way that doesn’t always match up with everyone else’s. I realized that although it makes me a little out-of-step with reality, in books it could be an advantage.

This led to me writing the Beyond the God Sea series, where the post-apocalyptic clans have a manner of speech that is an amalgamation between an antiquated style and a more modern tongue. It is not perceived as odd in their world as it is natural to them, and I enjoy writing it because it feels natural and comfortable for me.

What is the most challenging part of your artistic process?

EM: When it’s an ensemble cast, making sure all the maneuvers and machinations have solid motivations behind them and realistic consequences down the line. And then, in turn, that the countermoves another character makes corresponds to their capabilities and contributes to their own growth.

Doing all this in a multiple POV book where I’m more deeply immersed in a character’s storyline is even more challenging. Trying to ensure that each member of the cast has a compelling arc and character growth that works along with the plot twists is one of the most difficult parts.

What do you hope readers take from this story?

EM: My protagonist, Zaria, possesses a few critical assets, but she’s still just a human girl not much different than everyone else in this world. Zaria is an excellent swimmer and a clever schemer, but the main asset that makes her difficult to defeat is the strength of her resolve.

Zaria has no true magical powers, no dragons, no spells -- they don’t exist in her story. And she initially lacks even the assets that are possible. An army. Knowledge of the world beyond. Skill with a blade. The privileges of a patriarchal system. At times, she’s not even the smartest person in the room.

Her best traits are that 1) she is adaptable. She’ll make difficult choices, take risks, and work with her enemies if she must. And 2) she possesses a determination that is extremely difficult to defeat.

What I hope readers most take from this story is that Zaria’s best assets are not magical or impossible to achieve. They are qualities anyone can possess in this world.

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

EM: Go ahead and start now. You’ll still have to put in all the work, but the sooner you begin practicing, the sooner you’ll be ready to publish.

What’s your favourite under-appreciated novel?

Hokey Pokey by Jerry Spinelli. I think it’s not more well-known, because, admittedly, it has a lot going against it. The genre isn’t one that does well on booktok. The subject matter is not at all relatable to younger generations as the references and the world itself are from a time passed.

And lastly, such heavy surrealism might not have a wide appeal. But I think it’s an absolutely brilliant portrayal of passing through the enchantment of childhood and onto the next stages of life.

What would your advice be to any aspiring writers?

EM: Don’t wait any longer to get started practicing. If you’re not comfortable sharing in critique groups, write fanfiction. Short stories at first, if you struggle to finish, and then longer ones with more practice. Also, read widely -- not just the popular books in your genre. Write to your spirit, not to trends. And, of course, if you want to self-publish, don’t let anyone tell you its “wrong” for any reason.

What are you writing next?

EM: Besides the fourth and final book in the Beyond the God Sea series (which is a departure from the previous three as it expands to multiple POVs), I’m working on a standalone novel that again crosses genres. A Love This Grim is a sci-fi/gothic/paranormal romance coming out in 2025. It has some absurdist, Beetlejuice-esque touches, but it’s primarily an angsty love story.

No man may touch Zaria. Not even her own father.

Envy of the other girls, Zaria was born for the sea. Nobody questions her fate as the chosen braenese to marry Keroe, God of the Sea -- least of all her.

And even if she did, she has no choice.

When Zaria’s wedding day finally arrives, she'll become the only islander of her generation permitted to cross into the God Sea. There’s nothing more she could possibly want.

Until a curious boy washes up on her palm-fringed paradise and Zaria defies sacred law to hide the unconscious stranger.

There are only two possibilities with his strange (and strangely handsome) face: he’s either a village anomaly or the Sea God himself, in disguise. The alluring boy-creature couldn’t have come from anywhere else, because there is no other land in all the ocean.

But when the scoundrel awakens, he has the gall to ambush Zaria.

As three pageants leading up to her wedding turn unexpectedly deadly, and the enigma of its true purpose looms, Zaria is torn between her long-desired fate as Sea Queen and the infuriating boy who tells her that everything her people know is a lie.

*Winner of Independent Book Review's "The Best Books We Read This Year (2021)"*

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Thank you again to Elora for a wonderful interview. Make sure to grab a copy of Beyond the God Sea now!