Son of Osivirius follows a young pilot who crashes near a rebel base and forms a connection with the family that saves him, leaving him to decide what side of the battle he wants to be a part of. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

It was one of those serendipity moments. I was struggling to come up with an idea for a scene writing exercise where the prompt was ‘three characters, all with different goals’. I was getting super frustrated, beginning and discarding idea after idea. Imagine a ‘rip the paper out of the typewriter, scrunch it into a ball, then toss it into the pile littering the floor’ scenario. I’d actually given up for the day and was cooking dinner when I suddenly remembered a short story idea I’d jotted down months before:

“A helicopter pilot in a WWIII scenario crash-lands near a valley belonging to some people who are a bit like the Amish and refuse to be a part of the war effort, but the government is trying to force them into it. They look after him, and when the government eventually comes to their valley, he has to decide what to do.”

Suddenly, neurons were firing in all directions. I combined that premise with the vibes of Avatar, and boom! I had my scene mapped out. Not only my scene, but almost the entire book.

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

I live in a rainforest, and have always been drawn to forest settings, and although I LOVE dragons, I wanted to do something a bit different. Big cats have always fascinated me–their power, elegance, and how they seem to stare into your soul–so giving them wings just seemed like the perfect choice. The intricacies of the world-building took several drafts to refine, but the Masu were the foundation for all the other elements.

I tend to discover things in the process of writing, and it was during the drafting of some dialogue in what was then chapter threed that I had Jayden ask, “How did you tame them?” In that moment, I knew what kind of creatures these were, and I had Flint respond, “We didn’t. They tamed us.” It was definitely not part of my original plan, but it just felt so right, and with those two lines of dialogue, my climax became crystal clear.

The dead zones evolved over the course of drafting. They were there from the start, but I encountered logic problems as I went along. At first, I ‘patch-fixed’ them, but that became more and more convoluted and complicated, which is never a good thing. It was during the beta reader stage that I talked to my daughter about the issues I was having, and that conversation opened up the simple, elegant solution that really brought the world alive.

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

It was really important to me to highlight a more connected way of living with the world, and letting it be our teacher. We tend to prioritise our comfort above all else, but that comes at great cost. So I really wanted to explore the idea of contentment, and what true prosperity and abundance look like.

I also wanted to explore how fear can subconsciously control us, and that it manifests in different ways depending on things like status, childhood trauma, and personality. Exploration of fear responses also naturally led into exploration of trust and betrayal.

The idea of worthiness was an interesting thing that came up in the process of writing. I know a lot of people struggle with thinking they’re not worthy, but I discovered my characters were acting from a belief that they did deserve more, but their worthiness was unrecognised. That seems to me how all revolutions begin.

Is this the first book in the series? If so, when is the next book coming out, and what can your fans expect in the next story?

There is potential there for a series, but I don’t have any clear plans yet. Right now, I’m switching my focus to a romantic fantasy trilogy. The world-building there also has a great emphasis on connection with the natural world and features a musical magic system.

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