Whisper of Fate follows a Queen struggling with her new role of leadership and lost love, who has to find a way to hold it all together and fight for her kingdom. What was your inspiration for the wild journey you take readers on in this novel?

I hope that readers will relate to the feelings of first love and the struggle between duty and desire. I had wanted to write a story where the kingdoms were based on the seven natural wonders of the world and where each location was home to a different spirit, the Sol Defenders, who are the source of the earth’s goodness and reflect attributes of God. In the story, each of our main characters interacts with these spirits differently, just like people might experience hearing God’s voice differently. Kalista senses their presence. Raine can hear them clearly. Luke has a hard time hearing them at all, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t guiding him just like they do the others. I wanted young people who might question if God speaks to them to see that it might look different for each of us, but God’s love is still strong regardless of their ability to hear his voice. 

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?

It was important to me that each of the three main characters had their own personal struggles unrelated to the love story. Kalista is dealing with her newfound leadership and doubts about her ability. Raine struggles with forgiving his father, and Luke is stuck in a job he didn’t want and a future he didn’t expect. Throughout the story, I wanted them each to have personal victories related to their growth. It was important to me that they each have their own unique personality and voice, but I relate to each in different ways, and I hope the readers feel the same. 

When you first sat down to write this story, did you know where you were going, or did the twists come as you were writing?

I plotted the entire series before I wrote the first word, so I knew the plot line for the Sol Defenders from day one. What was surprising to me was the personalities of the characters. When I first thought about the story, I had thought Raine might be more domineering, but he turned out to be sweeter than I had planned, which made me fall in love with him even more. I never expected I’d love Georgia and Sebastian as much as I do, and Raine’s friendship with August was something I didn’t know I needed until he spontaneously came up in the writing. It was fun to give the supporting characters some big moments that I hadn’t planned originally, and those will continue into the third book. 

Where does the story go in the next book, and where do you see it going in the future? 

At the end of Whisper of Fate there is a big surprise, and in Night of the Sol, we get a whole new love story. I couldn’t let one of our characters go without a happy ending, but he’s definitely going to have to work for it, because his heart is going to be shattered a few more times before it’s put back together, I’m afraid. Kalista works to fulfill her destiny’s prediction to release the Sol Defenders to the earth, and we’ll find out if she’s successful or if the earth will have to continue to strive for the goodness it’s been desperate for since the Sol Defenders were trapped behind the Gateways. There will be a lot of action, a sweet love story, and twists and turns that keep the pages turning. 

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