The Last Heir of Re’Vall took nearly 20 years to write. What kept you motivated throughout that journey? Honestly it was the fact that the story kept growing, the more I wrote, the bigger Lily’s family got and I had to make sure the beginning of that family was worth reading. I couldn’t quite figure out how to do that, but when I fundamentally changed Lily’s love story, it finally fit into place! If one of your characters keeps wanting to kiss another one but you hadn’t planned on it, let them kiss, see where it goes. As writers we know sometimes our characters make us do things lol if they want to kiss that handsome rogue, let them! It could change everything!
How did the story for The Witch’s Detective come to life, and what inspired its urban fantasy setting? The beginning of TWD started as a short story in the anthology MCSI: Magical Crime Scene Investigation called ‘How Many Hearts Will It Take’ it was published by Otter Libris in 2018. It was super fun to write, and the main theme for that anthology was urban fantasy, so technically that’s where the inspiration came from lol. Closer to home, I’m a huge fan of the Anita Blake novels so those are always an inspiration when I write about Lily and Richard, and no my Richard is not based on Anita’s Richard, I just liked the name. When I realized I wanted to keep writing about these characters I started on TWD, the original title was No Goo is Good Goo lol, but it was missing something, and that something was How Many Hearts, I added that to the beginning of the book, re-edited it a bit and boom! There it was!
How do you approach character development across such long projects?
Honestly, be open to change. There are of course things that need to stay the same, but if a book isn’t published, you can change anything you need to, it is your book afterall. As I mentioned before Re’Vall took 20 years to write, and honestly it seemed stuck, something wasn’t right, and changing Lily’s background, that originally was the CORE of her character, was the thing that helped it move on and trust me I fought her on that one. Originally, Lily was married to another character who disappeared, and she met William while looking for her husband and THEY fell in love. It was an entirely different story and it was hard to change from that, but when I saw how everything else fell into place after that, I knew it was worth it. So be patient with your characters.
Are there personal experiences or influences that shaped the worlds or characters in your novels?
In Re’Vall, it’s very personal, because most of it was our first big D&D campaign. Some of it had to change obviously, but the core of the story is the same, gotta find Sobrei! With TWD, I wanted to put in some fear of magic/witches in it, even though that world has magic. There’s always going to be people who hate what’s different, no matter if magic is present or not. Back when I started writing these characters, we weren’t in another Satanic Panic like I feel we’re in now, it’s not as prevalent as the one back in the 80’s but it’s there. Having Lily ignore the hate, is a big part of her character which I hope we’re all doing these days hahaha.
What was the most challenging scene or plot point to write in either book?
OH Lordy loo any fight scene is hard, I’d say for most challenging scene, I’d have to go with the big battle at the end of Re’Vall, you have so many characters doing so many different things, you have to remember who is where and who they’re fighting, it can get messy in the beginning. In TWD I think the most challenging plot point was how to get Lily(yes they’re both named Lily, Lily Roa is an homage to Lily Marcel because I didn’t think LM would ever see the light of day) to realize there was a big bad in town, if you’re not looking, why would you see it? But thankfully her lovely ghost friend was able to fill that role.
Were there moments when your characters surprised you by taking the story in unexpected directions?
YES! When I finally decided to let Lily stay with Henri, it felt right, I had originally planned for Henri to be something Lily and Dante had to work through, but it wasn’t good enough. Clearly Lily wanted Henri, so I gave him to her.
How do you balance fantasy, suspense, and emotional depth in your storytelling? For me, in Re’Vall it’s a fantasy world, I don’t want to shove it down your throat, but certain things are expected, monsters, and magical healing, so I would hope readers going into that series would go ‘okay it’s fantasy, expect fantastical things!’ Those characters also do normal things like we do and I don’t want anyone getting bored of constant magic. For emotional depth, I like to try to add that in bit by bit too, it can create more tension that way, a ‘will they won’t they’ scenario, more so in the subsequent novels in the Re’Vall series since they’re more romantacy than the first book. Bit by bit is my go-to.
Are there recurring themes or messages you hope readers take away from your books? Pay no attention to the haters, there’ll always be haters, and they’ll always be wrong. Do what your heart feels is right, and it’ll be right for you.
What’s your favorite line or scene from The Last Heir of Re’Vall and why? Spoiler!! I love at the end that Lavinia brings her husband to Lily to heal because she knows her sister is the only person powerful enough to heal him. Lily gets to meet her niece and nephews, and heal those wounds left by her twin, that she thought was dead. I love writing babies in stories so that was fun to write as well.
Do you ever revisit older material from your early drafts when writing a new novel? For Re’vall CONSTANTLY, I go back and forth checking names, dates, ages, when people were born, double checking who was where when, Re’Vall spans 50 years so that’s a lot to keep track of lol.
Creative Process and Writing Life: 11. How has your writing evolved over the nearly 20 years you’ve been creating stories?- When I started writing it was short stories, they’ve progressively gotten longer over the years and now when I do have time for a short story, I have to remember not to do too much. I’ve also learned the difference between show and tell, it does make a difference! 12. Do you have a specific writing routine, or does inspiration strike wherever it may?- I write when I can! If I get a spark of inspiration and I can’t get to my computer I’ll put a note in my phone. 13. How do you handle the editing and revision process for such complex projects?-I write it out, then I search for things and replace them, like currently I’m searching for all the ‘that’s in the story and working on how to replace them. The first thing is to get the story out, THEN, make it amazing. 14. How do you maintain continuity and consistency in your characters and worldbuilding across long timelines?- I just go back to the beginning and make sure I have it right, one priest's name had several spellings over a few books so I had to go over ALL of them and make sure they were consistent! Quite the headache. Same for a certain song title. 15. Are there particular genres or authors that have influenced your writing style? Definitely the Anita Blake series for TWD. 16. Do you outline your stories in advance, or do you let them develop organically? I do a little of both, if I’m just starting a new project and I’m not totally sure where it’s going to go, I’ll outline a little, unless the idea just pops in my head then I’ll write until I don’t know what happens next, then maybe try outlining a bit. 17. How do you approach writing emotionally impactful moments that might make readers cry? If it makes me cry while writing, I’d hope it’d make others cry while reading hahaha. I want those sad moments to be as relatable as possible, that grief is expressed in different ways and to show that. If it’s relatable, perhaps I’ll get more of those sweet, sweet tears that sustain us authors hehehe.
Personal Insights & Advice: 18. What inspired you to become a writer, and why do you continue writing after so many years?- Honestly the characters wouldn’t shut up in my head so I had to write them out hahaha. I keep writing because I love it. I've gotten better over the years and now that I have a publisher(indie like myself) to work with, it makes some things easier. 19. What advice would you give aspiring authors who are working on long-term projects? Keep going, keep track of the little things cause you never know when they’ll come back to bite you in the butt. READ READ READ, I’m a big proponent of those who write should read. When I get in a block and can’t progress on a story, I’ll read, and it helps immensely. 20. How do you handle the balance between writing for fun and writing for publication? Honestly writing for publication IS fun, I don’t really distinguish between the two. Should I?
Rapid-Fire Questions: 21. Coffee, tea, or something else while writing?-water or sugar-free Blackberry Dr. Pepper, I hate coffee hahaha 22. Favorite genre outside of fantasy or urban fantasy? Horror! 23. One fictional character you wish you could meet? Oh goodness, I think it’d be a hoot to meet Jean-Claude from Anita Blake, love me a sexy vampire! 24. Best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received? Show don’t tell, it brings so much more to the story. Yes that character is angry, but describing how their eyes narrow and their fists shake can add more! 25. When you’re not writing, how do you unwind or find inspiration? Watch SMOSH on Youtube, it’s so different than my writing it’s a great way to not think about it for a while. Inspiration finds me EVERYWHERE. One thing I’ve done since I started writing was if someone important dies while I’m writing, I’ll make them a character in my books. The first was Wayman Tisdale. Father Wayman was the priest who taught Lily how to be a priestess.
