Extension follows a geneticist who must navigate a moral dilemma and her growing attraction to the mission leader while racing against time to save her world from extinction on a foreign planet. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Music is a huge inspiration for everything I put to paper.

I was just listening one day and this scene started playing in my head:

Initially, Ayathesti was going to be an astronomer researching for somewhere they could either all relocate to, or that could provide something to save the planet. The starting scene was her surrounded by documents in her house, and the clouds cleared for her to be shrouded in moonlight, and that was her answer: the moon. Once I started writing it out, though, I was struggling to find a way for the moon to accomplish saving its parent planet.

Now that I’ve finished outlining a few different stories and have more experience with structure, it could be an interesting concept to explore in the future.

How did you develop the characters of Ayathesti and Tiamet and their inner conflicts throughout the story?

The key components of Ayathesti grew from the parts of me I wasn’t sure how to manage. I know many say it becomes obvious to the reader, and is a bit of a ‘no, no’, when you emulate a character after yourself. 

At the time I started writing Extension, I had already typed up a few scenes (which I ended up changing to match the storyline better.) These scenes were just writing exercises to help me learn to manage my anxiety(which was brand new to me), recommended by my therapist.

With Ayathesti being those pieces of myself, primarily the inner conflict she has with her relationships with herself and those around her, I needed a character to be a counterweight of those traits. For Tiamet, I chose traits that I wished I’d had in my life that I felt would help balance some of those things out.

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

The main theme was to show the vulnerability of Ayathesti with her relationships and find a way to help her grow throughout the story.

Another important thing to include was the reason traveling to Earth was necessary.

And I think finally, to touch on that sci-fi I love so much.

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

I’m actually working on four books simultaneously at the moment. The sequel for Extension, which has the working title: Sub-Fracture. It’s currently with beta readers before it goes to editing for an optimistic release later this year(2023).

I am also working on a three-part Paranormal Romantic Drama—which, of course, finds some sci-fi aspects incorporated. I’d love to release this year, but realistically it will probably be pushed to 2024.

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