Hero follows a struggling superhero who is keeping a dark, life-changing secret from those she loves and inadvertently puts them in danger while sharing her story with a stranger. What inspired the setup of your story?

A setup, in storytelling, is the introduction of an element that will be useful to the story only later, when the payoff comes. In other words, the opening scenes. The ‘setup’ could also refer to the prologue and first chapter which sets the stage for the ongoing story.

For the prologue of a superhero story, a life-threatening event will naturally grab the readers’ attention and will allow them to continue reading. For inspiration, I had a short story of a firefighter saving a child and recycled that story into the prologue since it had a lot of tension and emotion.

Then, in the first chapter, the main character is struggling and the other character inquires about her struggles which starts the plot, her life story. Before a person reveals their life story, a question must occur first, which is the setup of this chapter. For inspiration, I enjoy hearing or reading peoples life stories – especially superheroes backstories – and it usually starts with curiosity and questions about the persons past.

Hero is presented in a way that is unusual in superhero stories; readers get to see the struggles they face and their weaknesses as the primary focus rather than their strengths. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?

Character development is the process of creating fictional characters. 

In creating this superhero, I wanted to create a more relatable female superhero.

I was always a huge fan of the superhero-genre but could never relate to the current female superheroes. Therefore, I created my own superhero with a focus on her weaknesses and flaws than her superhuman abilities. Her weaknesses make her more ‘human’ and creates a more relatable character.

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

A ‘Literary Theme” of a novel is a critical part of writing since it gives the reader a connection and understanding to what the story is about and what makes the story relatable to that reader.

Hero features the themes of heroism, and what it means to be brave and to have courage when facing difficult situations. This would include perseverance to continue fighting when the hope of overcoming difficulties is lost. It also includes the themes of depression and anxiety and how it affects the main character. The novel also includes themes of family betrayal and struggles with forgiveness. Finally, my favorite, the novel also embraces the theme of unconditional love, compassion, kindness, and loyalty when the main character meets her soul mate and future husband.

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

There will not be a sequel to this novel. However, I would like to publish the original, extended, adult version of this novel which includes extra scenes and characters which were removed during revisions. If the young-adult version is successful and becomes popular, then an ‘Authors Edition’ of the novel could be published in the near future.

This “Authors Edition” would include, but not limited to;

–          Johnny’s backstory and how his fear of trains lead to his chosen profession.
–          Mother’s various malicious boyfriends. Included in a missing chapter between 2 and 3.
–          Extra dating scenes between the main character and her lover in Chapter 3.
–          Main character becoming sick and is nursed back to health by her lover.
–          Bully named Jessica, in the gang, who torments the main character and tries to steal her man.
–          Saving people from a burning building scene
–          Nightmares the main character has throughout the novel.
–          Alternate prologue where the main character is reunited with her estranged brother and introduces him to her family.