The Celine Bower Story follows a woman whose need for revenge after she’s viciously assaulted changes her into a new and vengeful person. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I was living in Blackpool in England, and I woke up one morning and realized I was going to be late for work. I left my house in a hurry; all I had on me were my keys and my phone. I was running down this street trying to get there on time when I got to a crossroads. In front of me was this dark alley, and I could go down there, or a couple of blocks up was the city street, but I thought ‘nah, I don’t want to be late’. I ran as fast as I could down this alley. It was dark and scary; there were dumpsters and vans and doors slamming and at one point I looked up and saw this vision of a woman coming out of one of the buildings and walking down the fire escape. I stopped to watch her for a second, then I realized I was going to be late for work, so I started running again and by the time I got there I felt like I knew her whole life story. The Celine Bower Story began on paper napkins.

Celine Bower is a compelling character that goes through a dramatic transformation. What were some driving ideals behind her character’s development?

The driving ideals behind Celine’s development were that her purpose would still revolve around her service to others and in making the right choices based on her abilities and strengths. If one were to consider Celine a superhero or vigilante—it is the traumatic event that becomes the catalyst for change which drives our heroes to take the law into their own hands. Celine didn’t strive to become a hero; she became one by taking vengeance on those who had terribly wronged her. I think she would have loved to have stayed the same person she was before she was attacked and left for dead; that kind and loving free spirit, but instead, based on things that happened and her need for vengeance, she was forced to adapt and become more than what she had planned for herself.

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

Some of the themes that I thought were of importance had to do with the events that led up to Celine becoming a vigilante. Vengeance, which was something that Celine had never considered as a response to anything that had happened in her life before she was attacked suddenly became relevant to her and what she considered to be an appropriate punishment for rape. The other theme that I considered of great importance was the need for my character to pick herself up and brush herself off after what happened to her, and not in such a way that her suffering or trauma was trivialized, but to demonstrate that she possessed an inner strength she didn’t know she had, from which to draw from in order to move on from the terrible event that changed her life . I wanted her to not only survive but to thrive after what she went through.

What can readers expect in Chronicle Two?

Readers can expect Celine to be back in action in Chronicle Two which was released in August of 2022. I traveled to the jungles of Borneo in Southeast Asia myself to conduct the research for the second book. I think it’s really exciting and readers will enjoy catching up with Celine once again.

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