1. For readers who haven’t discovered it yet, can you give us a quick, spoiler-free overview of Strangers in Our Heads?

I’d love to! So, Strangers is a YA contemporary fantasy series that deals with grief, closure, accepting yourself for who you are, and discovering your place in the world.

In Book One, Strangers in Our Heads, you follow along as Gemma shows up in Theo’s world—their dreams becoming a shocking reality. The problem is that neither thought the other truly existed. Now, they have to learn to trust each other in person, as much as they had in their fantasies, if they want their secrets to remain hidden. On top of that, the Authorities are hunting kids with powers for being different.

While on the run and hiding from those who aim to hurt them, they also have to deal with someone—or something—hell bent on revenge and stealing Gemma’s power. 

In a cruel, contemporary world, a handful of magical teens must rely on one another to beat the odds.

2. Your book blends contemporary realism with fantasy elements like empathy powers, astral projection, and supernatural threats. How do you balance those two worlds without losing the emotional core of the story?

I love writing speculative fiction because it’s so fun to play around with the what-ifs in the modern world. For Strangers, the emotional core is that magic is hiding in plain sight. The idea that your neighbor could have fantastical powers, without you ever knowing, is just so fascinating to me.

I enjoy keeping one foot in the real world, so you’ll be grounded as a reader (McDonald’s is even mentioned in Book Two), but then the other foot is in the dream world, twisting everything we think we know about our reality into something whimsical.

3. Gemma and Theo’s dynamic is fascinating — strangers who “know” each other from dreams. How did you approach writing their first real-life meeting?

I had to really get into their heads and figure out what their responses would be. For Gemma, Theo is something of a comfort. She, thinking he was along the lines of an imaginary friend, always knew he’d “appear” when she really needed him. So, for her to run into this boy in the middle of the woods, she was awe-struck. 

Theo, on the other hand, took a more “this isn’t happening” approach. While he, too, thought he created Gemma so he’d stop astral projecting into his family’s dreams, he thought she was a coping mechanism. However, to see her face-to-face, he takes a more pessimistic view—this can’t be a real route.

At one point, Gemma even comments on how he’s much nicer in her dreams, lol.

4. The world of Strangers in Our Heads is gritty and high-stakes, especially with kids on the run from Authorities. What inspired you to create that tone and setting for a YA fantasy?

So, I actually wrote Strangers # 1 back in 2019, shortly after losing a dear friend of mine to cancer. In the story, Gemma loses her sister. This book centered around her grief and figuring out how to live through it. 

But because of the pain, her power expands, and now she’s a threat. So, naturally, a naive 17-year-old runs away because what else is she going to do? Tell her foster parents she has powers? No way, lol. 

Theo, on the other hand, was never supposed to have his own POV, but he stole the show. He becomes the leader of a magical group of misfits who are on the run from those hunting anyone different. Theo witnessed this firsthand when he lost his little sister to the Authorities as well, so he’s been running ever since, trying to protect his found family.

As I continued the series, though, I realized that the first book I ever wrote—OBEY (still unpublished as of this moment), which dealt with government mind control and brainwashing—was fitting right into this universe. As Strangers continued, the how and why behind the Authorities chasing anyone who challenges the system became increasingly apparent. I do have plans to publish OBEY later down the road, but that will be more of a stand-alone in the Strangers universe.

At its core, this series is very political, which was not my original intention. It was to grieve, and hopefully help those who are suffering as well, but as the series continued and the state of the world worsened, the two became almost hand in hand.

5. This is the first in a series, and book two (Strangers in Our Hearts) is already out. Without spoilers, how does the series evolve in book two, and what can readers expect going forward?

In Book Two, Strangers in Our Hearts, we bleed into science fantasy with added sci-fi elements introduced into the story. When a new group swoops in with their own unique powers and motivations that threaten to ruin everything Theo and Gemma have worked toward, the invitation into their broader community has its appeals but equal drawbacks.

I’m currently working on the third book in the series (and potentially the final book, depending on its length), which is essentially the war between the two groups. Those with abilities finally take the war to the Authorities and fight for their right to exist. I also plan to publish OBEY once Gemma and Theo’s main story is over, so that will be later down the road.

OBEY is essentially the background to Strangers. In Strangers, you see Gemma and Theo existing in a world that’s already been made like this. In OBEY, you see how it all started.

Readers can expect a range of emotions, including love, fear, heartbreak, and bravery. And some crazy cool power demonstrations.

6. You’ve got a cast of “magical misfits” — each with unique powers. Which character’s ability was the most fun to dream up, and which would you want for yourself?

Oh, this is such a fun question. I feel like Theo’s power was the most fun because I really liked showing how all the misfits expand in some way. They start with one power, and as they continue to grow, learn more about themselves, and more importantly, accept themselves, their power shifts to something else, developing into new features. So, Theo’s was a lot of fun to write.

And personally, I think teleportation would be awesome. I’d travel everywhere and definitely test the limits of how far I could teleport in one jump.

7. If Strangers in Our Heads were adapted into a movie or TV series, who would you dream-cast as Gemma and Theo?

Oh! For Theo, I’d want Benjamin Wadsworth, for sure. Gemma is a little harder to pinpoint, but my gut is telling me Kaylee Kaneshiro. The actors’ ages are a tad too old for the characters, but it’s fine. There are 20-somethings and 30-year-olds playing teenagers in films all the time, haha!

8. What’s been the most rewarding part of writing this series so far — and the most challenging?

Great question. The most rewarding has definitely been readers who understand the grief aspects. And while I’m so sorry they know what that feels like, it’s very rewarding to know I’ve written something that has helped someone else, as if saying, “Yes, I see you.” 

It’s one of those things where you’d be hard-pressed not to find someone who hasn’t experienced loss, but grieving looks SO differently for everyone, and that’s what I strive for, showing that however it happens to you, it’s totally valid.

The most challenging parts have been current events. My editor and I have discussed how this was originally intended to be set in a pre-dystopian world, and I’m now (somewhat) writing about current affairs. It’s been very interesting, and not always in a good way, trying to balance the two. I’ve legitimately gone to protests in person, and then came home to write about protests in my fantasy world, and it’s a bit jarring. 

 

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Fun Author Questions

9. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I was actually a late bloomer, lol. I started writing poetry in middle school, but it wasn't good. Like, terrible, actually. I fell off, but then I really enjoyed journalism in high school.

Then, in 2016, it was the first time I actually took myself seriously and decided to start writing short stories, which quickly turned into novels.

10. Do you have any quirky writing rituals (or snacks) that help you get in the zone?

Twizzlers. Specifically, the Cherry Pull N’ Peel ones. I can’t even tell you how many bags of those I’ve devoured over the years writing Strangers.

For each series, though, it’s a different snack. So, Strangers is specifically Twizzlers, where my unrelated adult work is those caramel hard candies.

11. If you could spend a day in any fictional world (your own or another author’s), where would you go and why?

Ohh, this is a hard one. Hard pass on my own world because they’re not having a great time, lol. Maybe the Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab? I’d love to meet Lila and Kell, and get into shenanigans with Rhy.

 

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Rapid-Fire Round (One sentence or less!)

• Coffee, tea, or something else entirely?

• Coffee! But I drink tea daily, too.
  
  

• Favorite YA book (besides your own)?

• Six of Crows (more specifically, book two, Crooked Kingdom)!
  
  

• Trope you’ll never get tired of?

• Found family.
  
  

• Dream vacation spot?

• Scotland!
  
  

• Book you’ve read more than once?

• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
  
  

• Write to music, silence, or background noise?

• Silence usually, or instrumental music if there’s too much background noise.

• One word to describe Gemma?

• Brave.
  
  

• One word to describe Theo?

• Protector.

 

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12. Finally — can you give us a tiny, spoiler-free tease about what’s coming in book three?

War. *enter eyes emoji* lol. But in all seriousness, everything has been coming to a head in books One and Two, and we’re now arriving at the fallout. Who will win? Stay tuned to find out.