The Kindred Chronicles: Between Two Worlds follows a man in love with a woman betrothed to another who has to choose between keeping peace between man and kindred or following his heart to the woman he loves. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

The very first romance story I read was Romeo and Juliet, so I wanted to write something that pays tribute to one of the first few stories that got me into fiction.

What was the inspiration for the culture of your characters? Is it modeled after any particular society?

Until now, I’m still unsure where the inspiration for the culture came from. My childhood is a mixture of provincial life and city life, and my family has very strong Filipino and Chinese heritage. I’ve always had the opportunity to travel much, and have friends from all over the world. All of these experiences put together may be the reason for the different cultures in the book.

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

I’ve been a counselor for a handful of years, and one of the recurring themes has always been about following one’s heart, come what way. I noticed that so many people cast aside noble duties and responsibilities to act on more selfish or self-centered impulses. For many, the reason is simply because they could not distinguish between the impulsive, self-centered kind of desires and the more mature, reasonable, and healthy kind of love. This book is my small attempt at helping people discern between the two.

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

YES. This is the first of five books. Book 2 (Tides of War) is already out and will feature much of the Sunken City and the war escalates between the factions. I don’t want to say much, but those who have read the sequel have told me that the pace is much faster and they enjoyed going through the story so much more because of the fact that there was not much need to introduce the characters anymore.

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