Debut author Ariel Sullivan has burst onto the literary scene with her addictive dystomance, Conform. She has already ambitiously announced that the novel is actually the start of a trilogy of trilogies—three sets of stories that will braid together and holistically illustrate, across centuries, the beautiful and fractured world she has created. Here, she vulnerably shares the personal low point that drove her to write Conform, and how pursuing this dream started to piece her world back together. Plus, she tiptoes into the #TeamCollin vs. #TeamHal debate, and muses about the intersection of art and human experience. Suffice it to say, I’m an official devotee. Bring on Beneath.

Katie O'Connor: Congratulations on your debut! What was the inspiration for the world of Conform?

Ariel Sullivan: Thank you. It still feels very surreal. I’m afraid my inspiration for the world of Conform isn’t a happy tale. But then, when are the intriguing stories of our lives not paired with some kind of struggle? Conform, in short, is the ladder I built myself to get off rock bottom. I began writing this book during the darkest point in my life. I was grappling with postpartum depression after the birth of my second son. Six months into my depression, COVID hit, and the world shut down. My interior world was dark and lonely. Ironically, the entire globe reflected this back to me as we all struggled with unprecedented times and isolation.

As quarantine wore on, the news bleak, I began to wonder what humanity would save if the end was coming. The answers weren’t hard to find—love, connection, hope. I found myself enamored with the lengths we all went to in order to maintain human connection, even while social distancing. The precautions we took for those we loved. All the while, many I knew became obsessed with their health, buying pulse oximeters, Garmin watches, and supplements. Anything to give them an advantage. Vaccines were rolled out, and a division emerged as people fought over the right path forward. As I watched that divide only deepen, I kept wondering what was being lost in the "gray."

With nowhere to go and no end in sight to my depression, I decided to finally pursue my childhood dream of writing a novel. My inner world and the state of the world as a whole wove together to inspire not only Conform but a trilogy of trilogies, and a path out of my depression.

Did you find it more freeing or challenging to ground your story in a dystopian world?

I find it incredibly freeing to write fiction, regardless of the genre, because I have total creative control over the world. There’s something deeply satisfying and exciting about a world with limitless potential. The dystopian backdrop of Conform was equally freeing and challenging. Every coin has a flip side; each freeing moment was counterbalanced with a challenge. I was able to construct an oppressive society, but then I had to find a way to weave hope in, and the Illum’s world made that very difficult. It was freeing to create the Illum’s rule, but the strength I gave them was instantly a huge challenge.

Creating propaganda, misinformation, and harrowing laws was thrilling to craft into the narrative, but then you have to shatter them, allow the illusions to erode in a way that honors the strength of the totalitarian government you’re trying to overcome. That isn’t an easy task, and you run the risk of frustrating your reader. Then there’s the swing between Emeline finding her agency after 27 years of a complete destruction of her free will. It was incredibly messy to navigate. But it is in these dualities that tension was born and the story lives. More than freeing or challenging, walking that tightrope was—and still is—very fun.

Our heroine, Emeline, sorts ancient art for destruction. If there was one piece of art that you could keep for future generations, what would it be?

This question has kept me awake at night. I think the first question that came to mind was, what qualifies as art? Every piece Emeline sorts is clearly art, but what about sculptures, songs, films, novels, architecture, poetry, or even family traditions seeped in culture and passed down? What qualifies as art? I’m certain the answer varies person to person. For me, art is in many ways everything. Human expressions that transcend time. There cannot be art without human experience and vice versa. It’s an eternal dance of sorts.

The real beauty and urgency to keep creating is born from the fact that it is impossible to capture who we truly are.

I can’t answer this question with just one piece because I don’t believe there is a single piece of art that captures everything I’d want future generations to know. There are pieces that confront the darker aspects, conveying violence, suffering, and war, such as Guernica by Pablo Picasso or The Scream by Edvard Munch. There are pieces that challenge the times they were created, that refused to conform, like Jackson Pollack’s drip paintings, such as Autumn Rhythm (Number 30) or The She-Wolf. Every one of his pieces rejected the traditional Western art forms of his time. Then there’s the tale of creating even when you aren’t revered for your creations. Vincent Van Gogh created approximately 2,100 artworks. He sold only one painting, Red Vineyards near Arles, during his lifetime. There’s a case to save that one, right? To preserve dedication and belief in overwhelming criticism. What of monuments and architecture? The Sistine Chapel is a masterpiece of architectural design and a collection of stunning murals. Stonehenge couldn’t be more different in design but is visited by over one million visitors a year. It has withstood millennia and continues to intrigue us today.

The real beauty and urgency to keep creating is born from the fact that it is impossible to capture who we truly are. We simply capture glimpses—fragments, snapshots of a single person’s experience of their time. I think the true beauty of art is that centuries have passed and we are still searching. That search is the art. With that, I don’t have a piece to save, only the hope to preserve the need to create.

I have a feeling I’ll be jumping between #TeamCollin and #TeamHal a few more times as this series continues. What were the challenges in writing a love triangle that keeps you guessing?

I’m afraid there will definitely be some team jumping in the coming books. The biggest challenge to writing a love triangle that keeps readers guessing is to make both love interests contain both good and bad traits equally. You have to highlight the positives of both men. There has to be something for the reader to connect to and root for on both sides. There is no true bad guy in #TeamCollin and #TeamHal. Both men are flawed and are morally grey for entirely different reasons. The double dichotomy of who they are and their roles, coupled with what they represent and shed light on in Emeline’s story, done right, creates addictive tension.

While I know readers might jump between the two men, my hope is their dedication to the real team never wavers. #TeamEmeline

What are your favorite romance tropes?

My favorite romance trope is enemies-to-lovers. Unoriginal, I know. There is something so validating to a character who falls for another character, even when they see them at their worst. I feel that makes the trope deeply human and relatable. The tension and banter don’t hurt either. At the end of the day, I think everyone wants to believe that love can overcome anything: impassioned revenge, blood feuds, and even a dagger to the throat.

I love your dedication: “To little me, who was constantly told to get her head out of the clouds but made a world in them instead, thank you for never giving in.” That resonated with me so deeply. What is your advice to aspiring authors who may be hitting road blocks?

I’m thrilled my dedication resonated with you. Admittedly, it is the scariest thing I have ever written. My advice is to remember that every great story has already been told. That might sound defeating at face value, but it is the quote I found myself going back to after every roadblock, setback, rejection, and falter in my faith that I would ever reach this point.

"Every great story has already been told, but never by you. When you embody this, you realize you have all the power."

There is something freeing when you accept there is no need to re-create the wheel—just make sure yours rolls. For enemies-to-lovers stories, there are countless tales, from classics to contemporary. Forbidden love, we can go all the way back to Greek mythology. Dystopian classics are still relevant. We are all telling slightly different versions of the same story centuries later, and we are still reading that story.

The only thing you can offer that no one else can is you. You make your story worth reading. You breathe life into your characters and craft plots unique to your lived experiences and creativity. Every great story has already been told, but never by you. When you embody this, you realize you have all the power.