Yes, Sarah J. Maas announced two new A Court of Thorns and Roses books during her “Call Her Daddy” interview, but she also offered rare insight into her home life.
Maas, 40, has been married to husband Josh Wasserman since 2010. The two share a son named Taran, born in June 2018, and a daughter named Sloane, born in February 2022.
While she discussed her family during the podcast episode, released on Wednesday, March 4, Maas also detailed her mental health struggles — which even inspired some of her books.
Keep scrolling for everything Maas said about life and motherhood on “Call Her Daddy”:
Her Personal Pregnancy Journey
Maas stated that she “hated being pregnant,” explaining that it was “traumatic” for her — especially after being told that she can “only gain” a certain amount of weight before giving birth.
“I love my children. I am f***ing obsessed with my kids,” she said, reflecting on her pregnancy. “It took every bit of joy away where, instead of focusing on this beautiful baby growing inside of me, I was thinking about the food I was putting in my body.”
How Her C-Section Inspired Feyre’s Pregnancy and Birth Scene in ‘ACOTAR’
Cooper brought up the “online discourse” surrounding Feyre’s pregnancy in the ACOTAR series and why her partner, Rhysand, was privy to the health risks — but she wasn’t.
Maas explained that her son was born “two weeks late” following an “emergency C-section.” As someone who “never” had surgery before, Maas was “terrified” of what was about to happen. The recovery was even worse.
“The guy sliced me way too high. He was lazy,” she added. “He sliced me in a way that was convenient to him, but essentially destroyed the flow and look of my stomach where it never would heal right.”
Because of this, it took her “a while” to want to get pregnant again. When Maas was reflecting on her pregnancy, she realized “without modern science and medicine, I wouldn’t be here.”
She used Feyre as a tool for “processing my s***,” Maas explained.
“I wasn’t dead like Feyre was, but Rhysand’s fear even probably came from my fear in thinking about having another kid,” she said. “The things I go through in life feed into my books. It wasn’t a play by play in my pregnancy. Obviously, my kids don’t have wings that are getting stuck in the birth canal, but the fear, the trauma, all of that, writing that book allowed me to get it out of my system in a way and process it.”
Mental Health In Her Books
Both ACOTAR and Throne of Glass book series featured Maas’ mental health issues — although she didn’t know she was struggling at the time.
“All of my books kind of have mirrored my own mental health journey even before I realized I had issues,” she said. “[A Court of] Silver Flames was really the first time when I understood the connection.”
After returning from her maternity leave in 2018, Maas started “to have these panic attacks where I had this overwhelming sense that something awful was going to happen.”
Maas recalled thinking that her career was “all going to go away and implode,” leading to days-long panic attacks.
“I’d never had one before, and then they just started happening more and more frequently,” she continued, noting that she entered a “dark place” in 2019.
“I needed therapy,” Maas said through tears. “It was a very, very low moment and going to therapy wound up being a thing that saved my life.”
Writing ‘A Court of Silver Flames’ After Going to Therapy
Maas said Nesta’s journey in that book is what she was going through at the time.
“I remember the exact moment when I came up with the idea for the scene where she and Cassian are taking that hike and she just breaks down,” Maas said. “That was me in New Zealand with Josh at my lowest on a hike thinking the same thing.”
Maas added, “At the end, she’s not perfect, she’s not healed. She’s still a work in progress, but she was in a hole. I was in a hole and we dug our way out of it.”
