Fallen is an immersive sci-fi tale following a young woman torn between duty and defiance, navigating political intrigue, alien traditions, and the weight of inherited secrets that could reshape her entire civilization. What were some sources that informed this novel’s development?

I have always been a huge fan of Frank Herbert’s Dune trilogy (as well as the books that fleshed out the series after his death). I can’t even remember how many times I read that first book. Each time, I found Paul Atreides’ journey inspiring and motivational, especially the way he took each apparent challenge and turned it to his advantage, making him stronger and more resilient. I hope that Alira’s journey in The Founder’s Seed would offer that same kind of feeling to readers.

What inspired Alira’s character arc from idealist to survivor, and how much of her journey reflects personal experiences or broader themes you wanted to explore?

A lot of Alira’s journey reflects my own, only without the sci-fi details. Like Alira, I’ve never felt like I “fit” with others around me, regardless of how I tried. Both Alira and I stood firm in our belief that things could be (can be) different. Better. Both of us feel like an island in a vast sea of opinions and views that don’t reflect our own or, if they do, their opposition is too strong to resist. I know Alira and I are not alone in that.

It’s hard—sometimes impossible—to stay silent in the face of clear violations of a perceived Truth. Alira learns the consequences of speaking out and, eventually (by the end of book 3, Driven), she finds strength, balance, and peace with herself and those around her, but on her own terms. This is what I hope for myself, and for everyone like me who finds it challenging to be true to who we are inside while operating in a world that sometimes feels alien to us. I wanted to offer Alira as an inspirational hero, one who can show us that it isn’t easy to be true to yourself, but in the end, it is absolutely worth it.

In Alira, I also wanted to explore what would happen when something catastrophic broke down the walls that held her back and gave her the opportunity to stretch into her authentic self. I think that part worked quite well, though her journey to find that authentic self is…circuitous. But that’s like real life, isn’t it?

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

I wanted to explore the concept of restrictive societies, where there’s no room for those who don’t blend in, and how it affects not just those who are exiled (or otherwise penalized), but those who manage to hide their differences. I also wanted to explore how those many individual prices cost the society overall.

The theme of personal growth under pressure was also important to me in this trilogy. Most of us have a “line in the sand,” boundaries we’ve defined for ourselves and those we allow into our lives. I wanted to explore crossing that line, and what might motivate someone to push past that point of no return. Sometimes, the best and strongest growth happens in adverse circumstances and while it might not be predictable or proceed in expected ways, it’s often rugged and enduring. One doesn’t have to be carrying signs or weapons to be a revolutionary. Sometimes all it takes is to step off the beaten path toward the perception of a “better way,” and refuse to go back to accepted standards. It isn’t an easy choice, but it can be a very powerful one.

I also wanted to explore, to a lesser degree (at least in this trilogy), the long-term effects of the reasons for humans’ Earth exodus—the environmental destruction and resulting wars—and what that result would look like in their colonial world structures. These details are mostly in the background, but they are definitely there, if you look closely.

(The backstory of all this is in the works and will eventually be published as part of the Founder’s Seed universe saga.)

The inherited memories in the story are fascinating—what influenced your decision to weave the past so tightly into the narrative?

Well, the present is always built on the foundations of the past. What happened then will always affect what happens now, sometimes in subtle unseen ways. I wanted to make that a bit more stark, more jarring. Hearing about the past is one thing; actually seeing it through the eyes of someone who was there brings a whole new understanding to the situation. Lurien serves as the unammi’s historian, which is one reason why hers is the first voice on the council.

I also wanted that aspect of the story to serve as a fragile thread of connection between the “before” and “after” for the unammi. Since Alira’s view of that history is fragmented, she can only bring a portion of that history forward. Imagine what would happen if the human race was nearly wiped out, and all our history erased. We would have to start over from scratch. Alira’s inherited memories, incomplete as they are, give her people at least a whisper of hope that some of their past could be remembered, if not recreated. And her memories inherited from others widen the unammi perspective, at least for her. This more comprehensive view offers the potential to rebuild unammi society with a broader base, and a more accepting perspective.

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