Sarah J. Maas just wrapped up a major interview last week where she announced not one, but three new ACOTAR books coming in quick succession. She also opened up about the reasons behind canceling previous screen adaptation plans, explaining her desire to maintain creative control over bringing Prythian to life.
But beyond the major announcements, the author revealed some hidden gems about the A Court of Thorns and Roses series that had longtime fans scrambling to reread their favorite moments.
One such revelation during her appearance on the Call Me Daddy podcast was regarding the inspiration behind the Starfall scene, that breathtaking, emotionally charged moment in the second volume, A Court of Mist and Fury, when Feyre and Rhysand stand together beneath falling stars at the House of Wind. The scene has become iconic among readers as a turning point in the masterpiece that is ACOMAF where Feyre and Rhysand's relationship evolves from being political allies to something far deeper.
The song that inspired the Starfall scene
When asked about her most romantic scene between the couple, Maas named it and also revealed the exact song that brought it to life.
"Starfall," Maas said immediately, referencing the magical Night Court celebration where the couple got splattered with glitter-like starlight.
"That scene was very much inspired by Florence and the Machine's 'Cosmic Love,'" Maas revealed. "Every time I hear that song I'm like, taken back to being at the house of wind seeing them."
The connection makes perfect sense for readers familiar with both the ethereal indie rock track and the ethereally tender moment in the book. The song's themes inspired the perfect turning point where their bond deepens beyond the political arrangement that brought them together.
Rhysand was totally unplanned in ACOTAR
The podcast interview revealed something even more surprising about Maas's creative process, that sometimes her most beloved characters literally surprise her on the page.
Take Rhysand's first appearance at the Calanmai scene in the original A Court of Thorns and Roses. Maas admitted she had zero plans for the character who would become the series' and BookTok's ultimate book boyfriend.
"I didn't plan it out beforehand," she explained. "So Feyre like there's a beast and I'm like, 'Oh, this guy's like hot.' And like she gets to his house and I'm like, 'Oh, he's sexy.' And then we get to the night when Rhys shows up. And then I'm like, 'Oh no. Oh no.' Like it's not this guy, it's this guy."
She continued: "I was like this is a sweet little romance with like Beauty and the Beast with Feyre and Tamlin and then Rhys walks on and like I did not plan him. He walked into that scene... I had nothing to do. I didn't have a job at that time. So I just was like writing whatever came out of me that day. And so I was just writing this scene where I had planned for there to be like sexy bonfires and all of that. And then like through the smoke all of a sudden he comes, this guy comes and I'm like who the f*** is this?"
The moment changed everything and not necessarily for just Feyre's story but for millions of readers who would go on to get Rhysand tattoos (unlike those poor souls who might've got Tamlin ink before book two dropped).
Maas gets candid on experience of writing 'Chapter 55'
Another major revelation was about Chapter 55 of A Court of Mist and Fury, a chapter number that has become legendary in the fandom for that intimate scene between Feyre and Rhysand.
Maas described the experience of finally writing the long-awaited moment: "I just was like, 'Finally, they're finally like good.' Like, 'I can't wait for this.' It was such an emotional release because it was the buildup of the entire backstory that I as the writer had been waiting and waiting and waiting to finally reveal, and I got to get that out of my system and lay it all out there and then the consummation of that, and I just was like this is everything."
She also revealed that the published scene barely changed from her first draft. "It's almost exactly verbatim like the way it poured out of me. Not much changed between the initial version of that scene and the published one. So it just means a lot that it connected, like it's become a thing."
For a scene that has launched a thousand TikToks and become shorthand in the fandom, knowing it flowed naturally from the author's vision makes it even more special.
The Montana magic vortex
Maas also shared an intriguing detail about where she wrote the highly anticipated upcoming ACOTAR books (releasing October 27, 2025 and January 12, 2026, respectively).
"I was in Montana this summer and I don't know, I think there's some kind of energy vortex around Big Sky 'cause I just got there and it clicked. It all came out of me," she said.
The author, known for her meticulous world-building across three interconnected series, said that she was almost mystified by how quickly the story poured out once she found the right creative space.
Mass shared insights about her creative process
Throughout the interview, Maas returned again and again to the almost supernatural quality of her writing process, the sense that sometimes the stories channel through her.
"I would listen to the music that inspired those scenes and relive those scenes and sometimes just cry," she explained. "I don't even read what's in there. I just relive that moment of like where clarity where I saw it."
She described moments where plot elements align in ways she never consciously planned: "Sometimes things line up too in like a really cosmic psychic way. I mean I have crystals all over my desk. So I am I channeling something that's happening in another universe and I'm just writing it down 'cause it all lines up perfectly."
One recent plot instance from one of her upcoming releases left her so shocked she had to step away from her computer. "It lined up, like I had not planned it but it was like my subconscious or like some human-wide psychic thing I had tapped into. It was there and I just jumped out of my seat and shut my computer and I was like 'No, we're done here. This is too perfect.' Like, this is planned. I was like, some this came from not me and I don't say that from like an egotist... It worked out like almost to a supernatural level."
Music as revelation
The Starfall revelation is just one example of how deeply music influences Maas's work. She mentioned curating specific playlists for different projects, recently drawing inspiration from the score of The Batman and staying obsessed with the Demon Hunters soundtrack (much to her seven-year-old son's dismay).
The new ACOTAR books will be released on October 27, 2025 and January 12, 2026. Maas described them as "one massive story" told across multiple volumes due to length constraints, with a third part to follow.