Shadows and Black in the Light follows two deeply scarred individuals: a teenager struggling with the death of her father and a man who was once an associate of her father. Their lives intertwine as they uncover buried secrets and seek hope and healing in the aftermath of his passing. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Much like Millie, I’m a bit of a daydreamer. Quite often I have visions play through my mind like movie scenes. This one first came to me when I was about nineteen. I saw Millie in a car with a stranger on the way to his house with rows of medicinal flowers in the distance. I wrote it all down and thought nothing of it. Many years later I picked it up again and couldn’t stop writing until it was done. Fear is something we can all relate to. Maybe there was something inside of me drawing on my own experiences that made this story come out. I didn’t grow up with my dad and I know that sort of trauma can lead people down a dark path. Thankfully I didn’t go down that way and I am in close contact with my dad now. The interconnectedness with parallel lives comes from a deep knowing that there is something greater in this world, something mystical keeping us all together and despite the darkness, there’s a reason for everything.

It seemed like you took your time in building the characters and the story to great emotional effect. How did you manage the pacing of the story while keeping readers engaged?

I have no professional qualifications or background in writing apart from what I learned at school. Writing came naturally to me. As bits and pieces came to me, I was careful not to reveal too much early on. I had this idea that finishing an entire book would be hard and at times worried I needed to stretch the content, other times my ideas would come out so quickly, that I just had to get it all out. Hence the pace is quite uneven but being my first book, I feel that this has been a good effort and it all becomes learning for me to exceed myself next time.

I felt that there were a lot of great twists and turns throughout the novel. Did you plan this before writing the novel, or did the twists develop organically while writing?

The more I wrote, the more new ideas would come to me but it wasn’t always easy, I had to make sure my ideas were going to line up through each timeline and that it was going to work. I often had to re-read my own stuff. I had lots of maps and notes going on but it was really fun.

What is the next book that you’re working on, and when can your fans expect it out?

I never had intentions of writing another book because I thought if I could write anything spectacular this would be it. But when I came to the end of this one, I left a bit of an opening for myself, a bit of a rabbit hole, in case one day I decided I wanted to continue writing and create a sequel but with no idea where it would go or how it would even start. Interestingly, a second story came to me only a few weeks ago. If I’m allowed to spoil it, I want to go back and delve into Andy’s past when he was 16, getting kicked out of home and meeting Marco. His character was always the most interesting for me to write. His story will lead and to keep consistent it will be a dual narrative again, the second (known) character on the other side will be a surprise as it was even to me but I’m going to work with the idea because it excites and scares me. I am also going to bring in some awareness around the mysteries of the Macedon Ranges in Victoria where disappearances occurred as known in the story “Picnic at Hanging Rock.” Bringing rich authentic Australian culture and Aussie vibes is something really important to me when writing. I love where I come from and how diverse and spiritual we are when we all come together. As for when this will be complete, I don’t want to put a time on it, I’m just gonna have fun with it and allow myself to keep a more consistent beat. Hopefully, it will all come together and pour out of me in good time.

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