The Esperanza: Book Two of the Terracolina Trilogy, follows a twelve-year-old boy who struggles with his parents’ expectations and is sent to math camp. There, he makes new friends who he wants to enlist to help save Terrocolina. What were some themes that you felt were important to highlight in this story?

The themes from book one continue in this book two: Loss of youth, introversion, love of nature, the pull of escaping into a fantasy world, exploration, and found family—with the addition of real friendships (a different kind of found family than his magical friends). In addition, the protagonist must face deeper challenges created by the need to belong. Finally, I wanted to introduce the idea that our imaginations and alternative realities can be one and the same.

In many contemporary coming-of-age fiction novels, authors often add their own life experiences to the story. Are there any bits of you in this story?

Very much so! I loved to escape to my own private and magical world as a child, was a tree climber, a nature lover, and an introvert. Our family also made maple syrup and the big maple I climbed in as a child was the model for the one in the story. The earlier years of my adulthood ripped me rather abruptly from the safety of childhood. Thomas’s loss of his Grandpa represents that loss of youth, wonder, and safety I experienced as a young adult.

I find the world you created in this novel brimming with possibilities. Where did the inspiration for the setting come from and how did it change as you were writing?

I am an avid gardener and find it easy to imagine personalities for each of my plants. I have revived my vivid childhood imagination and am having a blast building the magical world of Terracolina.

What will the next book in that series be about, and when will it be published?

The final book of the Trilogy will bring Thomas “back to earth” and reconnect him with his real-world friends. He will find a better balance between living in his real world and an imaginary one, and he and his home world friends will find real-world solutions to the environmental issues that surround them.

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