Memories Don’t Lie follows a woman in a tactical skills program who is plagued by her dead mother’s memories, which jeopardize all she has worked for. What inspired the setup of your story?

I carried my main character around with me for many years, but it was through writing the novel that I learned who she really was. When tossing around ideas on how best to tell her story, the inspiration came from a dream (as cliché as that sounds), but I still recall it in vivid detail. The dream was about a young woman being chased by persons unknown across the roof of a five-storey building. She jumped off the roof to escape but was caught by another person who was sent to help her. That posed the questions: who was chasing her and why; how did she avoid injury when jumping from so high; who was the person sent to help her and why, all of which I’ve answered in the novel. I wrote that scene in the
first draft. It went through many changes, but a version of it still remains in the published novel.

The world you created in this novel is brimming with possibilities. Where did the inspiration for the setting come from, and how did it change as you wrote?

I love delving into the murky world of super soldiers and military experiments, and while those concepts are not new, my interest in déjà vu and cellular memory led to a new twist on genetic performance enhancement. I chose a military setting so the establishment was large enough to carry the scope of the scientific and genetic enhancement elements I present. I also didn’t want to spend half the novel explaining how my characters had access to weapons, vehicles, intel, etc. They had enough to deal with without worrying about how to get their hands on a gun. As for the time zone, I only took a small step into the future so my world would retain relatable real-life aspects. The locations are real, but I changed some details to reflect near-future scenarios. As for how much did it change as I wrote? Not much. If anything, I found it uncanny how many times I researched a location and found information similar to my fictional elements. For example, one scene takes place in an abandoned mine. In that particular real-life location, I discovered a historical reference to an abandoned mine in the same area.

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

Memories Don’t Lie is a coming-of-age story and includes found family, friendships, identity/self- discovery, and finding one’s place in the world, all set against a cautious approach to genetic experimentation backdrop. My main character is physically strong, but self-doubt and external threats leave her vulnerable and open to mind-attack. Through my characters, I explored what it means to lower self-imposed barriers that prevent the development of trust between each other, and the run-on effects when that happens. The most important element for me was learning who you truly are and tapping into the inner strength that accompanies it.

Will there be a follow-up novel to this story? If so, what aspects of the story will the next book cover?

Yes, the story will continue in a planned series. My characters will face new challenges that will test their core values, threaten to tear apart their tight-knit group and expose them to the sinister after-effects of the initial genetic enhancement experiment.

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