Wings of the Gods centers around two friends thrown into a time-bending mission where old myths are tangled in a cosmic war. What is the most challenging aspect of writing a series?

Honestly, it’s been all fun and games so far! No, really. I’ve had an absolute blast creating these first two books, and I can’t wait for the next one. One of the things I wanted to pay attention to is sprinkling enough information into the first couple of chapters of Wings of the Gods so that someone could pick up this book without reading the first one and not be lost, while also not spoiling anything if they want to go back and read The Emerald Tablets. Once we get further into the series, every book will be a delicate dance of weaving everything together in a way that feels complete and satisfying. But I think I’ve set myself up well and I’m not too worried about that right now. I’m just enjoying the ride and looking forward to book No. 3, which is going to be a horror/mystery set in Enlightenment England.

What first inspired the idea of blending ancient Greek mythology with science fiction and cosmic warfare?

Everybody asks this, and, honestly, I wish I had a better answer, but … it just came to me. That’s right! One day, my weird brain was like, “What about time-traveling, teleporting teenagers battling Evil Lizard Aliens?”

In truth, it was probably an amalgamation of my love for science fiction and fantasy space epics like Star Wars and Star Trek, my experience falling in love with The Chronicles of Narnia as a young reader, and how my own daughter and one of her childhood friends were thick as thieves.

I’ve always loved mythology, to the point of studying it as a fascination, and I’m intrigued by the possibility that we’re not alone in the universe. So many civilizations have stories of gods and goddesses that sound a lot like encounters with extraterrestrials. So, I wanted to ask the question: what if all those stories are just glimpses of a larger picture? What if the “gods” aren’t gods at all? And, what does that mean for humanity?

How did you approach reimagining figures like Athena, Hermes, Hades, and Zeus in a way that still felt surprising?

I’m just trying to have a good time and write something that would interest me.

Obviously, so much has been done with Greek Gods, specifically—most famously with the Percy Jackson series—but I think what’s allowed me to bring a fresh take to this story is the fact that I’m not thinking of them as Greek Gods, per se. I’m engaging with these characters on a more holistic level, imagining how they fit into the larger, cosmic story I’m creating. So, while all of them exist within the myths of the Olympian Gods, they also have stories outside of those stories about how they got here, what they’re doing at this particular point in history, and how they’re perceived by the populace. It’s all just a slice of the larger pie, which I can’t wait to reveal layer by layer as we get deeper into the story!

What kind of reader did you imagine while writing Wings of the Gods? ​

I’m writing these stories for my own teenage daughter, and all the boys and girls who will pick them up along the way. Guardians of the Cosmic Clocks is a love letter to the next generation, and I hope they’ll feel the same kind of wonder I felt while reading The Chronicles of Narnia. This book, in particular, addresses some of the core emotional battles that adolescents face every day, and I hope that, through this story, they’ll learn what it means to be a Guardian and rise to the challenge in their own lives.

Beyond that, the beauty of Guardians is that it’s made for dreamers of all ages. Just like Narnia is a magical land I can come back to over and over again, no matter where I am in life, I believe Guardians of the Cosmic Clocks has the same kind of cross-over appeal as The Series That Shall Not Be Named. I’ve already had 30, 40, and 50-year-olds reading and loving it! And, I hope, if you’re reading this, you’ll be the next one to fall in love with Zya and Elijah.

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