SenLinYu Is Making Her Own Magic Now

The author gained a following (and nearly 16 million downloads) with her epic fan fiction, Manacled. Her debut novel takes the story further, into a dark, gothic world full of angst and obsessions.

- Interviewed by TAMARA FUENTES

With Alchemised, you revisited Manacled and truly reinvented its world and characters. What was that process like?

I wanted Alchemised to be something very different. Even though it was drawing from this story I had written previously, I didn't want it to feel like it was the same thing. It took about two years and four full rewrites.

Given how beloved the original fanfic is, did you feel a lot of pressure?

There were definitely moments where it felt daunting. But I couldn't make it its own story if I held on to maintaining all of these elements for sentimentality’s sake. That realization helped me feel less beholden to giving people all the same feelings they got from Manacled.

How did you stay inspired while writing?