In Valenfaar: The Children’s Song, characters wrestle their own inner demons as they prepare for battle against an ominous force known as The Children. Where did the idea for this novel come from?

It came from a few different places if I’m to be honest. A lot of workshopping and finding out what felt right for the story, while also brainstorming with a good friend of mine (who the book is dedicated). Ultimately, I came up with the image of the Children first and started to let ideas fly from there. As for the characters and how they struggle with the events around them, I’ve always enjoyed it when characters have a noticeable struggle with what they’ve been through. It always makes them more real and relatable for me. So I wanted to do that with my characters too: give them more depth and have them feel vulnerable mentally as well as physically.

There was a lot of time spent crafting the character traits in this novel. What was the most important factor for you to get right in your characters?

Personality. Who they are, what their backstory is, and how they talk and interact with one another. I always want everyone, even the side characters, to feel real in some respect. So I give them families, vocal ticks, ignorance in some fields vs experience in others. Keeping everyone varied while having something relatable is critical for me. I don’t want carbon copies of one person all over the place.

What intrigues you most about the horror and dark fantasy genres?

The possibilities. When mixing fantasy with horror, there are so many cool and terrifying ideas people can come up with. When I wrote The Children’s Song, I never intended for it to have a horror element. It just kind of evolved on its own. But, I take in a lot of fantasy and the pure breadth of horror possibilities is great. From zombies to vampires and werewolves, we could have undead dragons, liches, ghouls, and an amalgamation of them all. With fantasy, the sky isn’t the limit, it goes beyond that. You can make the coolest scariest stuff that can be unique compared to more traditional horror.

Can you give us a peek inside Book 3 of this series? Where will it take readers?

Absolutely! Book 3 is already out (I hope to be sending it your way soon) and readers will see the events of Crimson Plains and Children’s Song collide into one big book. Both casts of characters will be present and crossing paths frequently while they try to deal with the Thregs and the Children at the same time. Of course, we’ll also see underlying plots, such as what Varen has going on, progress even further. The side characters come fully into step with who they really are and everyone takes on a more prominent role in the events of the books. Everyone becomes more important, and EVERYONE will be there to deal with everything all at once. It’s a wild ride.

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