Ocellicon: Future Visions follows a military prosecutor who must draw on her battle-hardened past to conquer an adversarial court system and a fearsome judge and extraterrestrial enigmas. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

At this moment in time we appear to be at a crossroads – institutions no longer have the stature they once did and technology is developing faster than humans can adapt. The unscrupulous take advantage of these conditions for their own power and don’t give a rip about “mankind” and how or if we will survive. Though there may be physical disasters, a climate crisis, or biological diseases that threaten our existence, it seems as likely that we humans could destroy ourselves.

Annalisa Farrell is an intriguing and well-developed character. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?

It was challenging to create a character who was abused, traumatized, and misunderstood, but had the instinct, intelligence, physical attributes, and inner strength to survive. Annalisa developed a rigid code of honor and service that helped her hold together psychologically. She navigated her circumstances under maximum pressure, but strict adherence to her code also kept her distanced from others.

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

I often wonder how humans have survived on this planet up until now given our violent and predatory nature. Certainly, loyalty to our “tribes” helped early on. Though we have long since passed the primitive stage, what have we learned? We are emotional creatures, not always in control of those emotions so that areas of our lives become unbalanced. We try, but is there anything close to actual justice? If everyone had the same value system, such as under a military structure, would it keep the majority in check?

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

This time around I’m going back to World War II to our last “good war” when Americans were more united. It’s going to be a three-book, neo-noir detective series that takes place in Brooklyn, New York. There were numerous challenges, including crime, on the homefront as people were coming out of the Depression of the 1930s and straight into a world at war. I plan to publish it this September. It’s called, O’Shaughnessy Investigations, Inc., The Cases Nobody Wanted.

Author Links: Amazon | GoodReads