

I refrain from answering questions about Poesy’s inspiration. They are very different, but both share an inherent need to take action in an unjust world.Īnd of course there is Poesy. Sophia, too, takes cues from my actual sister. His surprising depth is a tribute to a lot of the guys I underestimated, growing up, who ended up becoming my biggest allies. Adeline and Emma Frost could probably have a long conversation about the annoying people in their lives.Įlliot, however, is very much the kind of person I went to high school with. Kane and Dean inherited parts of their dynamic from Madoka and Homura, from Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Oh THIS is a tricky question! I’m a very visual person I envision all scenes and characters in animation, actually, and so many of the pieces I used to create my character should be recognizable to those who watch anime or read comics.įor instance, Ursula gets her combination of toughness and gentleness from Sailor Jupiter, along with their shared love of baking.

Are Kane, Ursula, Elliott, Adeline, Dean, Poesy or any of the characters inspired by or based on specific individuals? The sense of betrayal I felt watching that movie was dwarfed only by the sheer vindication of seeing people interested in media about shifting dream worlds, and I’ve embraced the association ever since. Sometimes Reverie is compared to Inception, which I don’t mind at all, but I had the book down before Inception was even advertised.

The biggest influences would be Sailor Moon (anime, in general, informs much of my aesthetic sensibilities) and Kingdom Hearts(a world-hopping, mash-up video game combining every Disney universe into one). Nothing felt off-limits, because the likelihood of a story like Reverie getting published felt so remote to begin with.

So, in short: revenge.Īnd, because writing about gay people seemed prohibitive, I let myself include every strange, indulgent idea I had. I started Reverie in high school, as a response to the startling absence of queer people in nearly all pop culture and books available to me at the time. Reverie is Ryan’s debut novel and he recently agreed to talk about it with Daryl Maxwell for the LAPL Blog. He technically lives in New York City, but has actually transcended material reality and only takes up a human shell for special occasions, like brunch, and to watch anime (which is banned on the astral plane). He studied Anthropology and Neuroscience at Northeastern University before becoming a project manager specialized in digital tools. Mentally, he spent most of his childhood in the worlds of Sailor Moon and Xena: Warrior Princess, which perhaps explains all the twirling. Ryan La Sala grew up in Connecticut, but only physically.
