# content
Unapologetic Ambition

E. J. Wenstrom Author Interview

Roots & Wrath centers around five former friends and witches who find themselves bound together by their deceased professor’s will. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

You know, ideas come from everywhere. I had a friend who was fascinated by tontines–a type of will where the last person living gets everything (it’s now illegal because it incentivizes murder). But from there it became a story about ambition, friendship, power, vulnerability, and those bad choices we make while coming of age that cannot be undone. Hopefully, for most of us, those bad choices aren’t as costly as for these young witches.

The novel focuses as much on broken friendships as it does on magic. Why did you want the emotional history between the women to drive the story?

Because this concept started with the concept of a tontine, it was always necessary that this story focus not on an individual but on a group. Then, I needed compelling reasons for them not to trust each other–the incentive of a will simply is not enough to make it believable that five friends, or even five strangers, would move to murder as the solution. There had to be compelling reasons for divide, mistrust, and… well, proactively defensive action, if you will.

Alicia is a wonderfully complicated protagonist—sharp, defensive, funny, and deeply wounded. What did you enjoy most about writing her?

Thank you! Yes, I absolutely loved writing these deeply flawed ladies. Alicia and her friends let me really let loose my darker side with their unapologetic ambition, ego, judgement, and snark. I find the most flawed characters are the ones I love the most in other stories, and I think that deeply flawed women in particular are so important–we need to get women out of these glass cases and let us be fully, problematically human, in stories and in life.

I find a problem in well-written stories, in that I always want there to be another book to keep the story going. Is there a second book planned?

For now, at least, Roots & Wrath is a standalone. I think it has duology potential to see what happens to Beverly when she grows up and goes to Millinocket herself, but I’m not sure where that goes–yet.

Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Roots-Wrath-Fantasy-Horror-Novel-ebook/dp/B0GSGPD2PD?crid=2M443DO0WLJCP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.U14v_uSThV9Eq0xxqaxjSJaczXJ74u6ULvt6dj9U416_TAP5rQGAGPRtevVMA5U88ClIZKKieOiiodpaT8t9S-nEJq5VR4mgNvZLmw3_MeoSeXWeMPgBqmNSNYE18lsFX7Msn1wIlhm5XWknfZOkNtP7kOr1qJvUIK0VYD_ghj4u7icnq3flh756i75AvuNaNHNTQDYCL2GmncdEG1uELt_AWVGZ560l8pkHkygPhME.ybWx3leJ-dnaC3HqW8XYWSSfffB5QUSDzifDhWuDY4Q&dib_tag=se&keywords=Roots+%26+Wrath&qid=1783995371&sprefix=roots+%26+wrath%2Caps%2C327&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll2&tag=literarytitan-20&linkId=a9df9572a5207ef27810269f21866d5c&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

#author #book #bookRecommendations #bookReview #bookReviews #bookTrailer #bookblogger #books #booksToRead #bookshelf #booktube #booktuber #EJWenstrom #ebook #fantasy #fiction #goodreads #horror #indieAuthor #kindle #kobo #LGBTQFantasy #literature #nook #novel #OccultSupernaturalHorror #read #reader #reading #RootsWrath #story #trailer #writer #writing

# contentMap.en
Unapologetic Ambition

E. J. Wenstrom Author Interview

Roots & Wrath centers around five former friends and witches who find themselves bound together by their deceased professor’s will. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

You know, ideas come from everywhere. I had a friend who was fascinated by tontines–a type of will where the last person living gets everything (it’s now illegal because it incentivizes murder). But from there it became a story about ambition, friendship, power, vulnerability, and those bad choices we make while coming of age that cannot be undone. Hopefully, for most of us, those bad choices aren’t as costly as for these young witches.

The novel focuses as much on broken friendships as it does on magic. Why did you want the emotional history between the women to drive the story?

Because this concept started with the concept of a tontine, it was always necessary that this story focus not on an individual but on a group. Then, I needed compelling reasons for them not to trust each other–the incentive of a will simply is not enough to make it believable that five friends, or even five strangers, would move to murder as the solution. There had to be compelling reasons for divide, mistrust, and… well, proactively defensive action, if you will.

Alicia is a wonderfully complicated protagonist—sharp, defensive, funny, and deeply wounded. What did you enjoy most about writing her?

Thank you! Yes, I absolutely loved writing these deeply flawed ladies. Alicia and her friends let me really let loose my darker side with their unapologetic ambition, ego, judgement, and snark. I find the most flawed characters are the ones I love the most in other stories, and I think that deeply flawed women in particular are so important–we need to get women out of these glass cases and let us be fully, problematically human, in stories and in life.

I find a problem in well-written stories, in that I always want there to be another book to keep the story going. Is there a second book planned?

For now, at least, Roots & Wrath is a standalone. I think it has duology potential to see what happens to Beverly when she grows up and goes to Millinocket herself, but I’m not sure where that goes–yet.

Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Roots-Wrath-Fantasy-Horror-Novel-ebook/dp/B0GSGPD2PD?crid=2M443DO0WLJCP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.U14v_uSThV9Eq0xxqaxjSJaczXJ74u6ULvt6dj9U416_TAP5rQGAGPRtevVMA5U88ClIZKKieOiiodpaT8t9S-nEJq5VR4mgNvZLmw3_MeoSeXWeMPgBqmNSNYE18lsFX7Msn1wIlhm5XWknfZOkNtP7kOr1qJvUIK0VYD_ghj4u7icnq3flh756i75AvuNaNHNTQDYCL2GmncdEG1uELt_AWVGZ560l8pkHkygPhME.ybWx3leJ-dnaC3HqW8XYWSSfffB5QUSDzifDhWuDY4Q&dib_tag=se&keywords=Roots+%26+Wrath&qid=1783995371&sprefix=roots+%26+wrath%2Caps%2C327&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll2&tag=literarytitan-20&linkId=a9df9572a5207ef27810269f21866d5c&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

#author #book #bookRecommendations #bookReview #bookReviews #bookTrailer #bookblogger #books #booksToRead #bookshelf #booktube #booktuber #EJWenstrom #ebook #fantasy #fiction #goodreads #horror #indieAuthor #kindle #kobo #LGBTQFantasy #literature #nook #novel #OccultSupernaturalHorror #read #reader #reading #RootsWrath #story #trailer #writer #writing