A Crown of Chains: Interview with Author Erin Phillips
a gritty Bible story retelling you won't be able to put down
Hello Friend!
I know I have been MIA, but as I’m sure many of you saw on Instagram, I am pregnant! This interview has been sitting in my inbox for months and I’ve been either too sick or too busy to get to it.
But today, I am SO excited to share this amazing interview with fellow indie author Erin Phillips!
Perhaps it’s bad form to admit this, but I am a bit of an Instagram stalker. Okay, staker isn’t the right word. I am an Instagram observer. I follow authors who have no idea who I am and I tag along for their writing journeys. I take note of their followings, their posting habits, and their books. I admire them from afar and hope that someday I can become friends with them or catch their attention with my book.
Erin is one of those authors. I have watched her writing journey and (regretfully) dragged my feet buying her book A Crown of Chains.
Funny story . . .
My sister and I each purchased the paperback version of A Crown of Chains for each other as Christmas gifts.
I decided to start reading on Christmas day because I’d met my reading goals for the year and A Crown of Chains is over 400 pages. There was no way I’d finish it before January, right?!
Sort of.
I read it so fast that I had to slow down and force myself to finish it on January 1st.
A Crown of Chains is addictive! It’s about Roxana, a fairy who is kidnapped to the king’s palace with a harem of other young women to potentially become the future queen. The story is inspired by the book of Esther. I’d call it a darker version of The Selection if you are a Kiera Cass fan.
I loved this book so much I asked Erin if we could talk about it.
Keep scrolling to read our interview.
Erin, thank you so much for agreeing to talk to me and my friends. We know that A Crown of Chains is inspired by the Book of Esther. Can you tell us about your connection with the Book of Esther? What made you want to retell such a powerful and iconic story?
Thanks for this opportunity to share, Shelbie! A big reason why I wrote this retelling is because I grew up thinking that Esther was a Cinderella story full of romance, and I never understood why she was heralded as so courageous; after all, why would she be afraid of her loving husband, even if he was the king? Then, around 8ish years ago, I heard a sermon series on Esther that really expanded the story's scope by providing historical and cultural context, and removing the assumptions put into the story. It was mind-blowing! And I spent the next few years studying and diving into her story. Long story short, I felt burdened to tell Esther's story without romanticizing what she had to go through to become a heroine for her people. I found that for me, personally, when I allowed the characters in her story to be people, flawed and sometimes terrible, it made the powerful sovereignty and faithfulness of God so much more comforting in my own life, and Esther's boldness all the more inspiring when I understood the fear she might of had to push through. It was my heart and hope that in writing this retelling, this story might encourage and comfort others in the same ways.
Did you set out to make A Crown of Chains a page-turner or was it a product of your writing process? I’m a writer and I struggle to anticipate how my audience will react to my chapters. I know it’s common for your readers to fly through A Crown of Chains. Can you tell us more about this?
I do hear that quite a bit! I think the reason is two-fold. First, the majority of the books I read as a teen and adult have been thrillers (especially Ted Dekker!), and that kind of stressful pacing has certainly influenced the way I tell fantasy stories. Second, I have a history of writing musicals with my husband, and there is something that we call "time economy"; essentially, you only have the audience's attention for 2-3 hours, and so you have to choose how to use that short amount of time really carefully. The concept of "time economy" has definitely bled over into my novel writing, making every scene count and having a purpose for what to include in the story. That helps to cut out fluff and allow more space for focusing on the nitty gritty, which I think creates a bit more tension in reading because you don't get as much time to breathe.
What was your favorite part of writing A Crown of Chains?
It is hard to pick a favorite part, as there are so many angles and aspects to the story, but Chapter 40 is one of my favorites, because it is a big break-through for Roxana's character, and we get some iconic moments between her and Frederick. I also really enjoyed having a nod toward Daniel within the book. One of my favorite discoveries while studying Esther was how closely her timeline and Daniel's lined up with each, and the parallels between them, so it was really satisfying to get to include that.
So many of your characters carry powerful emotional weight. Roxana. Owen. Sergus. But can we talk about Frederick for a moment? Frederick is the antagonist, but he has a redemptive arc. We are meant to hate him, but somehow we come to accept him. How did you create and then write such a complex character?
Frederick was incredibly difficult to craft. I knew that readers could potentially come into this story with presumptions about the king as the romantic partner, but I wanted to take a more historical approach to his character, someone I would never want to uphold as a healthy love interest. At the same time, it was also important to me that the readers could end the story with a sense of hope for Roxana's future (I think they earned a bit of happiness after all the stress I put them through!). The big thing that helped me with his character was the gullible/pushover nature he has in the Biblical text, which gave me some inspiration for creating a motivation for his behavior, and in turn what would need to change in his heart to correct those behaviors.
Can you please tell us about the dedication and Hebrews 10:35-39 that are found at the front of the book? I feel like you could have plopped Esther 14:4 (And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?) but you chose a verse about perseverance and faith. Can you tell us more about your prayer for this book and who you hope it touches?
After finishing the first draft, I love to take a moment and reflect on the direction the story is going and the themes, and do a bit of my own Bible study about those topics, asking God to bring me a verse that speaks to the heart of the story. While Esther is known for her courage, themes of perseverance and learning to stand up for what's right felt more poignant in Roxana's journey, and I love how Hebrews 10 speaks to that concept. My heart for this story is that it encourages readers who have struggled to stand up for themselves or what's right, and brings them comfort that Jesus' faithfulness is not determined by our successes or failures (1 Timothy 2:13), but that His power is made perfect when we admit our weakness and trust His sovereignty over the things out of our control.
Normally this is the spot where I ask an author where we can find them, but I forgot to ask Erin! I would love if you found her at these links below!
And all the ways you can by A Crown of Chains and Erin’s other books are at this link. Happy reading, friends!
Bonus Question:
This publication is called The Courage Perspective because I continually need courage in my life to walk hard or scary paths. Erin, can you tell us about a time you needed courage, and what happened when you made the choice to persevere through that thing that required bravery?
A recent thing that comes to mind is attending the Realm Makers conference for speculative fiction writers and readers in 2023. I resisted going to Realm Makers all year, even as God continued to open doors and provide the funding, because I am a super introvert, and going to a big conference was quite scary for me. I would be meeting a lot of people I'd interacted with online for the first time, have to be very social and in big crowds a lot, and A Crown of Chains was just starting to get attention (it was a finalist for the Realm Awards that year), which is intimidating. I didn't know how I would fit in, what my place would be, if I would measure up to people's expectations, and if I'd be able to keep up with it all. But God has made it clear that I was meant to go, so I went. And it was definitely very overwhelming (I blacked out for two days straight when I got home just recovering)! But it was also a huge blessing to hug some of my favorite people for the first time (Victoria Lynn and Sara Ella to name a couple), but I also met Emily Bain Murphy, an instant kindred spirit (and amazing author! Go check out her books!) who was a breath of fresh air I didn't know I needed. Before going, I was so focused on the crowds and the 'big stuff', but in the end, what define my time at Realm Makers was the intimate relationships formed and deepened, companionship that has been invaluable on my authorship journey.