Moira follows a woman trying to make it through life without being killed by weirdos or aliens and finds help with a surprising person. What was the inspiration for the setup to this thrilling novel?

I have to thank J.M. Barrie and Disney directly for my inspiration. Moira is ripped from the story of Peter Pan and Wendy. Almost every scene is a murmur of something that happens in Peter Pan. Some nods to Peter Pan are obvious and some take a little more imaginative sleuthing. Don’t get me wrong! I love the sweet and gentle Wendy Moira Angela Darling. However, for my own twisted interests, I sliced her up and pieced her into the confused, teenage monster that is Moira Angela Starling. I left her in a desert for a more dramatic twist when she should have been swept up in an enchanted land of mermaids and pirates. I wanted to see Wendy grow up, essentially. But, to do that, she had to be alone and be okay with it.

Moira is an intriguing and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind her character development?

Unfortunately, I don’t have a focused or profound answer! She is in many ways a highly-concentrated version of myself because it was the easiest thing to write. There are elements of my own feelings, topped with lessons I’ve learned through therapy or from scouring my own “inner self.” I let her be a teenager in ways that made me cringe. I let her make me uncomfortable with her language and her behavior, and I even wandered around my house, wondering how she would react to things around me. And then MUSIC! Songs wrote her – not the lyrics, but the combination of instruments and the inflection of voice. Her mood and her personality came to me through sound.

The relationship between Moira and Rafe was enthralling. Was there relationship planned before writing or did it develop organically while writing?

Rafe had always been in the wings and I was hopeful to work their relationship out. I found that the more Moira gained traction in her ordinary life, the more she was empowered to make choices – choices like Rafe! So, I suppose it was wishful planning that worked out organically. Is that dumb? That’s dumb. It was planned, but loosely. I didn’t think it would work out.

This is book one in The Witness Journals. What can readers expect in book two?

Oh, boy. Well, get ready. Book Two leaves Moira and jumps over to the origins of Ravage, Rafe’s foster brother and nearly invisible villain who is actually the coolest, worst dude of all time. The reader will be treated to strong hints of cyberpunk mingled with old earth magic. There will be much human experimentation and fighting for survival, plus the crushing notes of hopelessness and rage. I predict that this book series will wrap up in about seven novels – maybe eight? And each novel gives a glimpse into some part of a character’s life, weaving in and out of Moira’s main storyline, which operates as a kind of treasure map.

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