Blood and Silver follows a young girl to 1880’s Tombstone Arizona where disaster strikes and she must outsmart an evil madman. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?

The inspiration for the story of Blood and Silver was numerous trips to Tombstone, Arizona between 1980 and present day. This tourist attraction now has a population of about twelve hundred residents, but in its hey day had a population of almost twenty thousand. I couldn’t imagine nearly twenty thousand people in this tiny place and the more I researched, the more unbelievable stories I uncovered. I knew that this place in that time was a story waiting to be written. 

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

Carissa is a young girl of only twelve years who has had a modest but loving upbringing until age eight. At that point, her family joined a wagon train for California and met with tragedy when her father and brother died of cholera. Her mother was consumed by grief and left young Carissa to fend for them both. This made Carissa grow up very quickly. She realized that only she can help them. She used her brains and shrewdness well beyond her years to create a better situation for her mother and herself. 

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

I wanted to show a young girl who had the grit and the guts to take charge of her own future. I also wanted to play with the interaction she had with the Chinese citizens.

What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?

I am currently researching several different ideas. Foremost on my docket would be another adventure for Carissa and Mai and also perhaps some background on China Mary. My readers were so receptive so receptive to my characters in Blood and Silver that I feel that maybe I owe them a little more.  

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