The Second Book Episode #04: C.S. Pacat

Duration: 45 minutes

Best known for the Captive Prince trilogy, and now the Dark Rise trilogy, C.S. Pacat is no stranger to the hard work it takes to get a book out into the world. Their first manuscript was rejected by all of the major publishers. But when they published the book online, hundreds of thousands of readers fell in love with the story and traditional publishers followed. Pacat has said their goal has been “to write the kind of queer books that I yearned for as a child, to make high octane escapist fantasy with intense and queer characters.” In this conversation, we’ll learn how C.S. Pacat writes those books, as well hearing their reflections on writing second books in a series & comics in a series. Pacat will also speak about the importance, and joy, of representation on the page, of writing the book you’re looking for whenever you walk into a bookstore, the one you never exactly find, and the way that audiences respond to that representation.