An Interview with Niki Quinlan

Hey, my name’s Niki, writer of The Virgin King Series. Flying by the ink of my pen. The more I try to plan, the more of a mess I find myself in. Blue Biros and A5 notepads are my writer’s drug of choice. I fell in love with BL so much, I now write my own. I love a good weepy series but don’t like to write them because I can’t focus on the words, which is difficult, because I’ve made myself cry a few times while writing.

Shout out to my artists:

@zir.link (cover and illustrations)

@miurin.art (special limited-edition project)

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What inspired you to start writing this book?

I am a massive BL fan. At one time, I was watching every single TV series from eight countries, even running a Facebook page which worked as a TV guide, advertising airing channels for legal viewing of what was on that day and changing all the airing times to GMT so people only had to work off one time zone. One day, while at work, the building next to ours had someone stuck in the lift and the fire brigade had to come out to free them. I suddenly came to the realisation that in all the series I had watched, none of them were about firemen. Because of running the Facebook group, I was in touch with a few authors and production teams. I BEGGED people for information on upcoming series, books etc that anyone had, and while a few of the authors had things in the works, the closest anyone had to an actual fireman was someone on a rescue team. Meanwhile, my brain started firing on all cylinders and making up its own story, WITHOUT my permission.

Tell us the story of your book’s current title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

The Knight Of The Phoenix just felt natural considering the book characters, though as I hadn’t planned anything to do with the story, I didn’t realise just how well it really suited until I began writing the fifth and final book in the series.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

My book mentions music a lot. Realistically, it would be a blend of eighties hair ballads for Kahu, and a complete foreign buffet for River. Miki Martz’s new song, Ardo En Mi Fuego, would have to be on there. When I first heard the hook, it gripped me, but I wasn’t sure why. Then I saw the translated lyrics. It’s like I was meant to find Miki and that song right when I did. There’d also be a lot of KPOP intermingled, more like ATEEZ and SHINee … before the hype of KPop Demon Hunters, though I’m certain River would love them too.

What books are you reading (for research or comfort) as you continue the writing process?

I’m not reading anything at the moment. My TBR list is currently at eleven. I’ve got The Husky and His White Cat Shizun waiting for me, as well as Heaven Official’s Blessing, however my concentration has really been struggling of late. I’ve done a few beta and arc reads for other authors, and usually I can breeze through a book in a good seven to ten hours, depending on size, but the last one I did took me six months. Not because it wasn’t good—it was a great story—but because I was really struggling to settle. It’s been impacting my ability to concentrate on my own writing, too. Maybe I’m just at that stage that everyone goes through eventually. I don’t know, but I don’t like it. Can it be over already? I’m halfway through a final battle and my characters are currently mid-devastation. They won’t be very happy with me.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

I went to Thailand in 2024 for two weeks and spoke to a grand total of four people who weren’t giving me food. I have extreme issues with socialising, but despite this, I still want to move to Thailand eventually. Find myself somewhere quiet. Tea picking sounds like the life (even though I hate tea, and coffee).

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

I never wanted to be a writer. The thought never even crossed my mind, but after Kahu and River’s story began to construct itself inside my head, I mentioned to one of the other authors that I probably had enough of a story going on in there to write my own. It was a passing comment, meant to be a joke, but Jamie (Thai author of My Secret Love) said “You should do it.” Apparently, that was all the push I needed. I’ve never had anything like a hobby that I’ve stuck with before. English was one of my worst subjects in school. The only thing I can say about it really is that a perfect storm has happened in my life for The Virgin Kings Series to exist. If any one of the things didn’t happen, I wouldn’t be here.

Where is your favorite place to write?

I must plead the fifth, through pain of being sued for moonlighting.

What advice would you give your past self at the start of your writing journey?

Absolutely nothing. I wouldn’t say a word. If I saw myself, I would turn and walk away and let me continue on this same path without my own influence to f*** it all up. If four little words got me in this mess—again, thank you, Jamie—then anything I might say could ruin the whole damn thing, and I want this book to be more than anything in the world. I have another thirty stories that wouldn’t have even reached their own lightbulb moments, let alone be scribbled in a diary to wait their turn to be written into existence.

What’s one thing you hope sticks with readers after they finish your book?

“You can choose your family, River, and you can choose to remove people from it in just the same way.” –Kahu

We are in a world where hate is spreading. River’s reason might be different from your own, but family is something ANYONE can choose. Blood does not make you family. Choose those around you who protect you, who bring joy to your life, not those who make you hide who you are. We are past the point we need to keep up this outdated tradition that blood is what matters.

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Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.