Sophia L. Hansen, raised in the melded cultures of Korea and America, understands not fitting into society’s boxes. Born on a tiny island in Alaska, then growing up in New York City and Boston, she now resides in the Southeast, writing and editing between fresh(ish) cups of coffee and slices of crisp bacon. She embraces life with her husband, their adulting children, and her new grandson, but her favorites are Jesus, family, coffee, and dark chocolate, mostly in that order.
In this interview, Sophia talks with us about her novel, Water’s Break.
FF: What inspired the story in your book?
I was walking with my kids along a back road in Franklin, TN and warning them to be careful about the river that ran alongside it. My thoughts wandered and an idle “what if” started circulating. What if someone fell into the water, and was too surprised to be afraid, and then discovered that they could breathe it. What if it was fear that posed the true danger?
FF: What can you tell us about the main characters in your book?
The Olomi are the amphibian people who inhabit a water-covered planet. Nica is a rookie Guardian eager to prove her worth to herself and her family. When her planet is bombarded, dry land arises, separating the water and its people for the first time in their history, Nica’s sister, Rissa, is among the missing. Determined to find her, Nica sets out with Rissa’s fiancé, Jonnat, even if the search takes them abovewater.
FF: Which character surprised you the most?
TAL-rho, a mother who is taken captive along with her very young child. She will do anything gain the favor of her captors, hoping to be reunited with her child. In the end, she realizes that playing by their rules will never achieve the results she hopes for. So she risks everything (or nothing since she’s already lost all,) in one last desperate gamble to be reunited with her son.
FF: Why do you think storytelling is such a powerful way to share truth?
As readers, we want to identify with the characters. When they struggle, we struggle with them–for their freedom, for their success. Without the entanglements of our real-life vested interests, truth is sometimes clearer, and so are deceptions. As we root for our protagonists, we become emotionally invested in their well-being, often not recognizing that they are a reflection of a part of ourselves.
FF: What kind of research did you do for this book?
How do you get into the right frame of mind to write for your genre/audience?
I played Blue Planet II constantly and had live camera feeds of kelp forests running in the background. Also, I followed lots of scuba diving YouTube videos.
FF: What do you want readers to take away after reading your book?
That even though we can’t choose the trials that come our way, we can choose our responses, and freedom sometimes lies in that choice.
FF: What are the biggest challenges for you as an author writing in your specific genre?
They say “write what you know,” and I don’t know a lot about the ocean, or science and engineering, but it was important to me that my world make sense. I wanted there to be logical reasons for what happened. I hope I was able to communicate my vision of this world sufficiently to allow for the greatest enjoyment of the reader.
FF: What authors or books have inspired you as an author?
I was a Korean-American first-generation child who grew up listening to Mom’s Korean folktales and watching the original Star Trek series with my dad. Whether the stories took place in old worlds or new, I loved looking at life through the lens of the outsider, which is how I felt, raised with a foot in two different worlds. Later, through my junior high and high school years, I helped edit my mother’s autobiography. Her stories of faith and God’s faithfulness took root in my soul and left an indelible imprint. When I discovered authors like C.S. Lewis, Anne McCaffrey, and Isaac Asimov, they beckoned me into their strange new worlds, and allowed me to learn through their characters’ lives.
FF: How has your faith or world view impacted the way you tell stories?
I don’t believe there are easy answers in life–neither do they need to be trite or fluffy in fiction. Character is developed and revealed through trials, as we grapple with attacks from those who wish to destroy us, and our own self-destructive nature. We must come to the place where we realize we are fighting the wrong enemy, and see past our differences to what we have in common. The enemy of my enemy is not always my friend, and ends do not always justify the means. In the end, we must choose love.
Water’s Break
Sophia L. Hansen
Enclave Escape
Genres: YA/Teen Sci-Fi, Fantasy
Release Date: January 9, 2024
ASIN: B0CB7FF3HK
ISBN-13: 979-8886050868
Book Summary:
What if fear itself is the deadliest undercurrent of all?
Nica would do anything to avoid the hassles of her sister’s bonding ceremony—the wrap fittings, hairstyles, and braided fire coral—but she never imagined that the waters covering her planet would be broken. As the heavens rained fire and stone, mountains erupted from the sea and dry ground was birthed on the Deep, dividing the water—and the Olomi people—for the first time in their history.
In the wake of her world’s violent re-formation, Nica’s family is shattered. When the rookie Guardian leaves the safety of the Deep to find her sister, she is abducted by strange landwalkers who possess strength and technology beyond her imagination. Nica realizes that the disaster from above was by their design—a calculated plan to terraform the water planet and conquer her people. All Nica wants to do is find her sister and swim home to safety, but with the landwalkers closing in, escape may not be possible. And if Nica can’t save herself, how can she hope to save her sister—or her people?
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