Terracolina: A Place to Belong follows a twelve-year-old boy devastated by the loss of his beloved grandpa who runs away to the forest they used to go to together and discovers a portal to a magical garden that needs his help. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I wanted to write a book that would take the reader away in the same way that the books I read as a child did—similar to The Secret Garden or the Chronicles of Narnia. In addition, as a former teacher of middle-graders, I could never find enough representation for my introverted students in books. I wanted to create a book with a hero who was an introvert. Finally, I wanted it to appeal to nature lovers and address the environmental angst I saw my students suffering in my classroom. 

I found Thomas to be a very well-written and in-depth character. What was your inspiration for him and his emotional turmoil throughout the story?

Thomas’s character represents my sense of who my father was as a boy. I admired my father for his ability to stay youthful and his love of exploration and nature. But Thomas’s emotional turmoil stems from my own journey. As an introverted child who preferred to live through the fantasies of the books I read, and with a profound connection to nature that felt magical, I struggled to fit into what I saw as the unwelcoming “real world”. 

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

Loss of youth, introversion, love of nature, the pull of escaping into a fantasy world, exploration, found family.

When will book two be available? Can you give us an idea of where that book will take readers?

Book two is published and continues to explore the same themes adding greater dimension to his sense of found family and his desire to escape into fantasy. Making friends in his home (real) world allows him to feel he can belong there as well, but the draw of escape, of his magical friends, and the way it gives him meaning, is powerful. In addition, the reader will begin to question whether his fantasy world is in his head and not an alternative reality. 

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