Among Thieves: Inspiration

September 7, 2021 | By Women Writers Women Books | Reply More

Since the deal announcement for my debut novel went out a little over a year ago, I have legitimately lost count of how many times I have been asked what inspired me to write AMONG THIEVES. The super fun thing is that every time someone asks me this question, I suddenly forget every single word I’ve ever learned and just kind of stammer until they ask me something else. It seems like a simple enough question, though, doesn’t it? I mean, I wrote the damn thing – and something had to kick off that writing process. So, now, once and for all, I’ve decided to finally put my thoughts together!

First, though, let’s talk about AMONG THIEVES itself. It comes out 9/7/2021 from Saga Press, and it’s a fantasy heist! Here is the back cover summary:

In just over a year’s time, Ryia Cautella has already earned herself a reputation as the quickest, deadliest blade in the dockside city of Carrowwick—not to mention the sharpest tongue. But Ryia Cautella is not her real name.

For the past six years, a deadly secret has kept her in hiding, running from town to town, doing whatever it takes to stay one step ahead of the formidable Guildmaster—the sovereign ruler of the five kingdoms of Thamorr. No matter how far or fast she travels, his servants never fail to track her down…but even the most powerful men can be defeated.

Ryia’s path now leads directly into the heart of the Guildmaster’s stronghold, and against every instinct she has, it’s not a path she can walk alone. Forced to team up with a crew of assorted miscreants, smugglers, and thieves, Ryia must plan her next moves very carefully. If she succeeds, her freedom is won once and for all…but unfortunately for Ryia, her new allies are nearly as selfish as she is, and they all have plans of their own.

Now that we all have an idea of what THIEVES is about, I can move on to the inspiration for this twisty, gritty heist! From what I can recall (which, forgive my memory, I began drafting this book all the way back in 2016), the inspirations for AMONG THIEVES fall into three categories:

My Love of Heists
This one goes first because it is by far the most obvious. I am an avid fantasy nerd, yes, but I also have been obsessed with heist stories for a long time. The Oceans films, The Italian Job, Six of Crows, The Gentleman Bastard series… the list goes on. Assembling a team of miscreants and having them risk it all for an outrageously complicated or dangerous plan that isn’t even fully revealed to the viewer/reader until it all seems to be going wrong? *Chef’s kiss* perfection.

My Love of Antiheroes
Now, this isn’t to say I don’t love standard heroes too, but like, come on, who is more interesting: Han, or Luke? Sorry, Mr. Skywalker, but to me, the answer is obvious. I love my characters to have a bit of an edge – to be just a bit of an ass. If they’re morally grey, or their motives aren’t perfectly clear? All the better. I had so much fun researching for AMONG THIEVES, because I had to read books on everything from common alleyway card hustles to international art theft. I myself am a law-abiding citizen, but that doesn’t stop the wrong side of the law from being fascinating to me. If you take a look at the cast of AMONG THIEVES, it’ll be pretty clear how this fits into my inspiration for this book. Literally no one in the entire core cast of THIEVES is a knight in shining armor. You’ll find no Captain Americas or Ned Starks in the line-up. Just a bunch of snarky, selfish, a-holes. And I adore them all.

My Fascination with Betrayal
When you’re reading a story, does anything punch you in the gut quite like a surprise betrayal? The main character’s mentor or best friend is by their side all along, then BAM, they pull the rug out from under them with no warning. Oof. As readers, I think we all have felt that gut punch in real life before. Obviously, that’s true for a lot of emotions that appear in novels, but for some reason, the sting of a betrayal is one of the emotions I empathize with most acutely when reading. Not only that, but a surprise betrayal makes for a great twist – come on, no WAY am I putting down a book after reading a bombshell like that!

Alright, so let’s take those three building blocks and add them together. First, I knew I wanted to tell a heist story – dangerous, complex, and populated with a cast of assorted miscreants. Next, let’s make sure all those miscreants are antiheroes. Not “bad boys with hearts of gold,” no. Selfish, emotionally scarred people who are used to clawing and scratching their way through life. Well, those two elements certainly pave quite a neat path for the third, don’t they? Because do we really believe a team made up of people like that would all genuinely work together… Or do we think they would all secretly have their own agendas?

Overall, AMONG THIEVES was an incredibly fun book to write, and I think a big part of the reason for that was because of how neatly all of my inspirations for the story fit together. I love every single one of the characters despite their many, many flaws, and I sincerely hope readers enjoy following those characters through the twists and turns of the story when THIEVES comes out this Fall!

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M.J. Kuhn is a fantasy writer by night and a mild-mannered university employee by day. She lives in the metro Detroit area with her husband Ryan, a dog named Wrex, and the very spoiled cat Thorin Oakenshield. You can find more information about M.J. online at MJKuhn.com.

Follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/mj_kuhn

AMONG THIEVES

A thrilling fantasy debut—a high-stakes heist novel set in a gritty world of magic and malice, and perfect for fans of Six of Crows!