Author Tasha Kazanjian on Using Real Settings to Build New Worlds

We recently checked in with author Tasha Kazanjian as we anticipated the release of her second teen novel, Bridge of Stars. This installment of The Riven Castle series takes her twin protagonists to a new city, where the use of two ancient branches of magic infuses everyday life in a setting that blends 1960s culture in both the UK and Turkey.

We asked Tasha how she decides how much to borrow from real-world culture and place while creating her fantasy worlds? And what she considers the pros and cons to this approach instead of coming up with a new world "from scratch?" We hope you enjoy her fun answer:

“I walked slowly, savoring it all: the cafés with little filigree tables set in front, the carts laden with sesame rings and skewers of roasting meat and pans of chestnuts, the blinking signs and the click-clack of shoes. Strings of bulbs crisscrossed between the buildings, illuminating the clouds of smoke from braziers and cigarettes.”

I had two different streets in mind when I wrote this paragraph from A Bridge of Stars, one in Istanbul and one in Edinburgh. As usual, I had to cut down the description from the first draft. There were so many details I wanted to include, so many memories. I hope the scene feels as real to readers as it does to me. Of course, the fictional city of Maedalc isn’t an exact replica of Istanbul or Edinburgh. It has elements—not just the magical ones—that set it apart from both. However, my world-building process always begins with the real world.

Technically, though, everyone’s world-building process begins with reality. Imagination might be limitless, but it has to start with what we know. Inventing a world from scratch still means drawing inspiration from our own experiences and interests. Many of iconic fantasy settings are some version of Medieval Europe, whether implicitly or explicitly, and borrow from the cultures of that time and place. I like to do this borrowing very intentionally, which makes my work both easier and harder—easier because I don’t have to come up with everything myself, harder because sometimes that research takes a lot longer than just inventing an answer!

However, I love how research can serve as an inspiration, filling in the blanks I didn’t even realize were there. It makes me think about the bigger picture, how different aspects of a culture mutually influence each other. I might change many things, but I have some basic framework to play with, and a better understanding of how shifting one piece will inevitably shift the others. While much of the world-building I do doesn’t even make it into the final manuscript, all that groundwork still helps me construct the settings, the characters, the plot.

While I definitely did a lot of research into midcentury UK and Turkey while creating the world of The Riven Castle series, I also leaned on my own experiences of these countries. Many of the sensory details come from my memories—the cookies and nut bark my Armenian aunties make by hand and serve with tea, the clamor of Istanbul streets, the narrow stairway alleys in Edinburgh, the wind screaming off the Thames on a winter’s day, a sunrise illuminating the fog in Northumberland. I love bringing this very tangible quality to my stories, and I love that it also serves as a little hidden message to the people closest to me, who read a passage and recognize a shared memory.

That might be my favorite thing about world-building around very real places and events. The story becomes more than an escape into fantasy; it can make readers curious to learn more about history, take a trip, try something new. The everyday, the ordinary, becomes a little more magical.

Read more about Tasha’s books A TRICK OF SPADES and BRIDGE OF STARS at Owl’s Nest Publishers.

Image 1: Goreme town at twilight in Cappadocia, turkey. Designed by Magnific, www.magnific.com

Image 2: A Trick of Spades by Tasha Kazanjian. Link to purchase here

Image 3: Tasha Kazanjian, author of the Riven Castle series. Find out more here

Image 4: A Bridge of Stars by Tasha Kazanjian. Link to purchase here