We talk to two writers who have made their mark with stories full of adventure, high stakes and nuanced word building: Amie Kaufman and C.S. Pacat. We asked them to dig into their inspiration, process, research, and how they surprise their readers.

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CS Pacat’s Captive Prince series began its life as an original-fiction web serial, which attracted viral attention before being acquired by Penguin USA. It went on to become a USA Today bestseller, and beloved across the world. More recently, she created the comic book series Fence, with illustrator Johanna the Mad, published a series of short stories set in the Captive Prince universe, and has appeared on the ABC’s Book Club.

Amie Kaufman is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author of science fiction and fantasy for young (and not so young) adults. Her multi-award winning work has been published in 30 countries, and include the Illuminae series, co-written with Jay Kristoff, and the Starbound Trilogy and Unearthed Duology, co-written with Meagan Spooner. Her latest series is Elementals. Amie’s work is in development for film and TV, and she has won multiple Aurealis Awards, an ABIA, and a Gold Inky Award.

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