Price of Vengeance follows a traumatized soldier on a besieged alien world who must choose between revenge and redemption as war, political betrayal, and a telepathic enemy force him to confront the true cost of vengeance. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

No matter how enviable another person’s life seems to be from the outside, on the inside, we all have demons we have to confront. For many people, these demons begin early in childhood. Liam became an orphan at two when giant insects called “Chitin” murdered his family. After witnessing his parents’ deaths at such a young age, a prominent family brought him up. Even though he was raised by people who loved him, including an older foster brother who swore to protect him, nightmares plagued Liam.

When cut off from the city, Liam learns that an alien intelligence controls the insects. More devastating is that a person who was a political rival to his foster father arranged his parents’ deaths. When he returns to the city and learns of his foster mother and father’s deaths, many of the old wounds reopen.

For personal inspiration, there are science fiction books that use ESP (Extra Sensory Perception), though I put my unique twist on it. Few military science fiction books explore a person’s consciousness being used outside the body, which is called “Dreamwalking.” While Dreamwalking a person often has to fight enemy Dreamwalkers. I also drew inspiration from video games such as Halo, in particular with weapons and tactics in space combat.

What drew you to tell this story through a young, emotionally wounded protagonist rather than a seasoned commander?

It should be pointed out that at the beginning of Price of Vengeance, Liam holds the rank of sergeant, and sergeants are not green recruits. The Neo-Etruscan Self-Defense Force draws its officers from the ranks rather than using specialized officer training programs. Liam is 22 at the beginning of the story and began serving at 18. He has fought Chitin before. However, until the events of this book, he had never had to kill a sentient being.

Most combat soldiers acquire wounds, both visible and invisible, as they serve. Like Liam, they must learn to face down their demons. The Dreamscape Warriors Series often depicts how the warriors cope with the traumas they have faced. Kergan, the antagonist in the next three books, was orphaned when alliance warships bombed his family’s home. Having watched his parents and sisters incinerated, he grew into a ruthless Rebel Commander, while still being considered an effective leader by both sides.

In contrast, Liam’s own children, who are featured in the next books in the series, the triplets Deirdre, Aisling, and Bayvin, with their younger brother Aidan, grew up with both parents, loving their mother and looking up to their father. One doesn’t need to be emotionally wounded in their youth to be a hero or villain.

The book never lets revenge feel free or clean. How did you approach writing violence with consequence?

Revenge, especially revenge carried out in rage, is never clean. Liam’s foster parents brought him up with the belief that revenge is wrong—a belief many religions preach. The traitor, Licinious, had his birth parents and foster parents murdered. One cannot dispute that Liam had a right to be angry. However, he chose to feed his rage.

Once Liam exacted his revenge on Licinious, his religious upbringing reasserted itself. The shock was terrible. Liam realized that what he had done was wrong and could not be undone. Once safely back at the building he was using as a base, he needed to do some soul-searching.

Jarek, who has been mentoring Liam through the Dreamscape, cannot offer comfort, only perspective. Liam must learn to live with what he has done. Jarek offers some hope that because Liam feels this way, it means he still knows right from wrong and knows he must find a way to atone.

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 are currently three books in the series, with a fourth planned for late summer of 2026. Legacy of Valor takes place on the world of Treespo, where Liam must help retake the moon. Promise of Mercy features Liam’s children as they try to rescue their parents and prevent the launch of a weapon with the potential of destroying civilization.

The importance of family carries over to the fourth book, Addiction of Power. Liam is older. His daughters are middle-aged. His son, Aidan, is a veteran fighter pilot. Liam and his wife Celinia conceived a fourth child in Promise of Mercy. In the fourth book, Tetia is in her teens and planning to follow her mother’s path as a priestess and healer.

In Addiction of Power, Aidan agrees to deliver information to Finnian Intelligence while on a trip with his great aunt, Máire, and sister, Tetia, when Kergan attacks their ship. Aidan escapes with his family and is befriended by a war criminal and her daughter, whom we meet in Promise of Mercy. This starts them on a journey to end a 700-year interstellar civil war. Factions on both sides of the conflict must wrestle with the implications of peace: an end to the bloodshed versus losing power. It also plants the seeds for threats from beyond our galaxy.

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