Under the name, Payton Taylor, there are two cousins, Taylor Bivens and Payton Salmons, who created the Crown Of Sunlight and Palace Of Moonlight, which are the first two books of The Corvinus Chronicles. They love both reading and writing and I can't wait to see, how their book continues!
If you want to know more, you can find Payton Taylor here:

https://paytontaylorauthor.wixsite.com/website/blog

https://mobile.twitter.com/authorpaytaylor

https://www.instagram.com/payton_taylor_author/?hl=en

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44645527-crown-of-sunlight

https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/author/ref=mw_dp_a_ap?_encoding=UTF8&author=Payton%20Taylor&searchAlias=books&asin=B07WGX3NT3


The interview

1. Recently I've read somewhere about the advantages and disadvantages of book collaborations. For you was it easier, or more difficult to write a book together? And what was the most fun and difficult part of it?

I think it was easier for us to write the book together, especially since it was our first book. Neither of us knew what we were doing or how to plot a book, so it was helpful to be able to play off of each other. It’s also nice to have a partner when you have writer’s block because you can ask them what they think about certain scenes. Every part of the book has been analyzed by two minds instead of one. I think the most fun part of cowriting is when we plan an outline together because we’re both really goofy and make a lot of goofy jokes about what could happen. The most difficult part was probably when I (Payton) was in college in West Virginia because we were four hours apart and between school and kids our schedules almost never matched up for us to get anything done. It was frustrating, but also a good excuse for procrastination, lol.


2. Do you have a list of songs, which you used for writing? If yes, there is any particular music, which could be the theme song of the book, or any of the characters?

Taylor likes to listen to emo music when she writes because it makes her more dramatic as if she needs that lol. We have an ongoing playlist for the series and songs we think represent certain characters. We think Devil by Shinedown is a great song for Crown of Sunlight because it captures the dark insidious nature of Azmodeous as a villain. We like the song Natural by Imagine Dragons for Leo. On a lighter note, we like Nothing Holding Me Back by Shawn Mendes for the beginning of Westin and Sunny’s relationship. It really captures their personalities and how Sunny brings him out of his shell. We also like No Light, No Light by Florence + the Machine to represent the relationship between Sunny and Azmodeous. It’s just very fitting lol.



3. Did any culture, legend, or myth inspire the world of Writhia, or any of its creatures? If yes, which culture, or legend?

We draw from a lot of myths and legends as sources of inspiration for Writhia, but nothing is taken directly from any myth or legend. For example, the Skiftes are inspired about a creepy legend we read about called Tambals from the Philippines. We read that they take on the appearance of their victims and the beginnings of the idea for shapeshifting Skiftes was born. As for the pantheon of gods, we made them all up but a lot of them were inspired by our love for Greek mythology. We found the inspiration for Agares when we were researching gods and demons. The name comes from a demon, but the rest came from our insane brains.


4. I really love the magical ability system. Which is the most useful ability in your opinion?

I would say either Sunny or Jo’s Gifts would be the most useful. Sunny’s ability to use other people's Gifts makes her a jack of all trades, which would be super nice if you’re super indecisive like we are lol. And of course mind reading/mind control is always useful for getting whatever you want. As long as you don’t have any sort of strict moral code, that can kind of get in the way lol.


5. If you would be in Writhia, what magical gift would you give to each other and why?

Like which would Taylor give me and vice versa? I would make Taylor a Combatant so she could have the super speed, strength, and energy to deal with the chaos of her life a little easier. Taylor says she would make me a Rifter so I can teleport back and forth, which would be super helpful since my family and friends are divided between two states. It was really hard for us not to be jerks and give each other crappy Gifts for this lol.



6. How many books do you plan in the series?

We’re planning for a four-book series. We’re currently working on book three!


7. Can you tell a secret of the story, or one of the characters?

Seren will meet his Match in book three and we are very excited!


8. Do you have any other book project momentarily?

Yes! We are currently working on a Sci-fi novel!


9. How did you decide to write a novel?

We both love books and formed our own little book club with us and our moms and aunts a long while back. One night we were talking about how much we love certain fantasy tropes but that we hate that they’re almost always paired with other tropes that we dislike or are bored of. We joked that the only way to get a book with everything we wanted was to write it ourselves and then we just kind of looked at each other and were like “why not?” So we toasted with coffee mugs full of wine and started plotting what would happen in the first super duper awful draft of Crown of Sunlight. I’m not kidding, it was awful lol. But underneath was a story we loved so we rewrote it and then rewrote it again until we got it where we wanted and realized we wrote a whole book, a years-long venture, on a whim.


10. If you could live anywhere and could be anything, what would you be and where?

We both would love to live in a place like Ireland, surrounded by beautiful forests in a giant stone castle. Taylor would like sheep and a sheepdog. I want horses and also for the local village to spread rumors that I’m a witch and fall into silent awe when I enter the market—this is Taylor now, I was the one who came up with the “silent awe when I enter the market” part. 😂


11. I almost forgot, can I ask, if I can add a part of one of my interview questions? I really love the magical gift system in your story and in one of my questions I ask, what gift would you give to each other. Can I add to that question, that also, if I would be in Writhia, what gift would you give to me?
Sorry, the curious fan in me just could not help, but had to ask it. 😊

Don’t be sorry! We love doing stuff like this! We would probably make you either a Botani like Marzanna or an Earth Elemental. I’m not sure why lol but you and your posts always give me earthy nature vibes and you post a lot of flower pictures lol.

Thank you so much for the interview! It was a lot of fun!😘


Thank you, for your answers! And you, dear Reader, what would you ask from Payton Taylor? 😊