About the Book
Moss Manor is described as a gothic tale of love, grief, and haunting silence. Can you introduce us to Adelaide and the heart of her story? 

The heart of her story really is stepping into her strength and learning how that might look for her. She has moments where she compares herself to the way others move through the world, and works to understand her place in it. It is made a more complex journey when she is pulled in opposite directions by not just the men in her life, but the Gods them selves.

The manor itself feels like more than a setting—it almost acts like a character. How did you approach building its eerie, shadowed atmosphere? 

I love the movie Crimson Peak and really love the way the house helps to lead the story along. It is not just a passive setting. I really wanted to implement something like that in my book. I wrote it a bit more from the perspective of a character instead of a setting. It moves and whispers.



The tension between duty, grief, and desire drives the story. What drew you to explore those themes in a paranormal romance? 

I think the emotions in the book really are a bit reflective of mine during the time I wrote it. I had recently developed multiple chronic illnesses and become disabled. I think subconsciously I needed to explore those feeling through others and see how they might react to things I was going through. To see what it was like for others to not be in control no matter how much they long to be. The romance side of things came from my love for Phantom of the Opera and other beautiful and haunting love stories where you root for the villains in a really complex way. 



Without spoilers, what’s one revelation in Moss Manor that you think will stay with readers long after they finish? 

I suppose I really wanted to communicate that you are strong and worthy no matter how you move through this world and that you are not a burden for the people who really care about you.



Inspiration & Process


You’ve shared that the idea for this story began with music while painting. Can you tell us more about that moment of inspiration and how it shaped the book? 

I have been working on a series of paintings centered around pain and chronic illnesses and how you can still be beautiful even if you are “broken” really because of being “broken” in a unique way. While I was working on the sketches for that I was listening to a really long playlist on shuffle. Somehow each song fell one after the other to make the story. It started with Cillian’s character. A few song in a row came on about fear and loneliness and love and possession and that really became the center of his character and his drivers. The other characters followed after that.
 

You even created a Spotify playlist for Moss Manor! How important is music in your creative process, and do you write to it regularly? 

Nearly every time I worked on Moss Manor I was listening to the playlist. I did when I painted the book cover, each edit and every writing sprint. I really wanted to stay in the atmosphere of the book. I would often listen to a single song on repeat while I wrote a certain chapter or section of the book. I felt a little mad doing that, but really wanted to not loose the feeling in that moment.
 

 You’ve spoken about how chronic illness influenced your writing, even when you didn’t expect it to. How did that personal experience change the way you wrote Adelaide’s journey? 

It influences bits and pieces of each character really, but her journey the most. She often feels like a burden and is really driven to not be that for the people around her so she will push herself to her detriment. At one point in the story she is pretty severely injured, and it takes her a long time to accept where she is with her healing process. I think that pretty directly reflects my mindset with waking up disabled and sick one day after years of being healthy. 
 

 Writing gothic romance often requires balancing tenderness with darkness—how do you keep that balance while writing? 

I like to describe the book as a horror sandwich. It has very cozy and warm and tender moments that are surrounded by horror and violence and trauma. I have a moment in the book where she is reflecting on the complexity of existing that I think kinda shows how I wanted to balance the feel. “Maybe her abilities were different now, but so was her mind. She was learning new things and experiencing parts of life in a new way. None of that stopped her from mourning the old version of herself, but she could be proud, happy, and sad all at once. She supposed that was the complexity of existing.”

Characters & Themes


Adelaide finds herself pulled between two men—one tied to her past, the other offering hope for the future. How did you craft these relationships to reflect her inner conflict? 

Truthfully she is not pulled between them in the way you might expect and I am not sure how much I can expand on that without spoilers.
 

Grief is such a powerful undercurrent in the story. What do you hope readers take away from Adelaide’s journey through loss, love, and survival? 

I would love for them to take away that it is okay to feel your feelings and that your trauma does not have to be your future.
 

 If you could describe Adelaide and Moss Manor itself in just three words each, what would they be? 

Haunting, strong and curious.

Writing & Publishing Journey


You began writing only a few years ago. What has been the most surprising part of your journey to publishing Moss Manor?

That I am actually publishing it haha. I wrote as a way to pass the time while I was stuck in bed in the beginning. Now I write because I am so in love with it and my characters tell me what to do. I have a dear friend who threatened me if I did not publish it and a lovely partner who was extremely supportive of the process.
 

 How has being both an artist and a writer influenced your storytelling—do you see your scenes visually as you create them? 

I for sure see them as a picture in my head. Each place and character are real in my brain now. The tricky thing with that though is I have a really hard time bringing them to life in a painting. It is like trying to paint a self-portrait. I am too close to the subject now and am never satisfied with the outcome. I was able to paint the cover of the book and did all the art in the book as well, but I actually paid an amazing character artist to do my character art, despite being a portrait artist myself.
 

The book is releasing October 1st—how does it feel to be so close to sharing this story with the world? 

I am freaking out haha. I have some ARC readers with the book now and have had a bit of feedback from a few others but really do not have a clue how it will be received. After working for years on something that feels pretty crazy. It is kinda funny because I am used to people looking at my paintings now and know how it feels when someone’s loves them and when someone hates them (I live in a conservative state and many people are not a fan of nude portraits), but this is so different. 

Fun & Quickfire


If Moss Manor were adapted into a gothic film, what actors would you dream-cast as Adelaide and her two love interests? 

Dream cast! I love this, I actually had specific people in my mind for each of the five main characters. Adelaide is Rachel Weisz (The Mummy), Cillian is Tom Hiddleston (Crimson Peak), Adrian is Henry Cavill (The Witcher, but not white hair), Egon is Yoo In-soo (All of Us Are Dead) and Actias is Shaun Ross (Model).
 

Do you prefer writing late at night with the shadows, or in the calm of the morning? 

I write all the time. When the inspiration strikes I have to follow it. I even have written at a concert before. Sometimes you problem solve and it is not a convenient moment, but it needs to be written down.
 

 What’s your writing fuel of choice: coffee, tea, or something stronger? 

Matcha, I have no idea how many matchas I had while writing, but I usually have one with me.
 

 If you could capture Moss Manor in one song from your playlist, which would it be? 

He Could Never Love You, by Henry Morris. His entire Jawbreaker album is amazing and really inspired a lot of the book. I do not have more of the songs on the playlist just because I felt like that one was such a good fit, but really that entire album would easily go.
 

One word to describe your writing style—or this book in particular? 

Emotional.
 

What’s the one thing you hope readers feel as they close the final page of Moss Manor? 

Emotional haha, I think I just want the story to linger. I would love for it to live with them or a bit.