Forged Under Fire follows a young woman who serves a repressive government and must hide her feelings for her best friend. What was the inspiration for the setup to this exciting story?

This series is a prequel to another series I wrote 6 years ago called Inside that is controlled by the same repressive government. However, I wanted to explore how someone directly threatened by the extremist laws would grow up under such a regime. Unfortunately, there are those in the world who grow up having to hide how they feel or what they believe, whether that is due to societal, governmental, or familial pressures, and the decision to fight against those pressures is not an easy one to make. I drew inspiration from many elements of modern society to create a government in order to explore such political extremism through the eyes of a single character, in order to bring a human element to an otherwise politically charged fictional world.

When creating Amelia did you have a plan for development and character traits or did it grow organically as you were writing the story?

Some elements of Amelia were planned, such as her compassion and loyalty to those she loves. However, as I was writing, her reactions to the dangerous situations she encountered were more organic as the scenes progressed. The most organic growth for her as a character was her coming to terms with whether she wanted to stand up against the oppressive laws of her nation or remain hidden in order to stay safe.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

I wanted to explore a lot of social themes in this book relating to minorities, but it was most important for me to showcase the commentary through the eyes of a character, rather than make it a critique or essay on society. I wanted to keep everything on a very human level so that, no matter what social issue I was exploring, the emotional connection with Amelia was never lost. Extremism in political and social policy is a heavy theme in the series, and I knew that I was walking a fine line, particularly with what has been seen in recent years around the world. I felt it was important to take everything I could to an extreme to explore the impact that could have on a character.

This is book one in your Coalition series. What can readers expect in book two?

Book 2, The Rising Tide, will be released on November 27, 2020. The third and final book of the trilogy will be released in Fall 2021.

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