Black Cliff Chronicles follows two high school seniors who become lost on a hike, and they wind up traveling back in time 300 years into a horrific civil war. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

During the Pandemic, I finished writing The Youngest Doughboy screenplay, the story of the youngest American soldier in WWI – 12-years-old – and was looking for around for another project when I remembered a news story about an incident that happened years ago. A woman and a man hijacked a bus in a small town in Arkansas and begged the local police to kill them. They were members of an odd little church and said they would be resurrected three days after their death. The police did everything they could to save the pair, but in the end, both died.

I asked myself what if the man and woman were telling the truth and were resurrected three days later? And then I thought, what if they were pawns in a larger story, a political plot perhaps, a plot that might even threaten the entire country? The idea of time travel tugged at me. It felt right. That was the start of Black Cliff Chronicles.

When you first sat down to write this story, did you know where you were going, or did the twists come as you were writing?

The story grew organically with wonderful characters, ideas, and incidents seemingly appearing out of nowhere following the inciting incident – the bridge where the bus hijacking takes place.

I did a tremendous amount of research into the past events featured in the story. The chief historical event was the awful 1648 Cossack uprising in the Ukraine and its mass murdering general Bohdan Khmelnytsky.That research led to new avenues to pursue. Khmelnytsky became the novel’s antagonist.

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

Courage, selflessness, and bravery are the themes that fill the main action. We feel what our heroes are feeling – fear, hope, and the determination to succeed without regard to cost. Selflessness adds poignancy to the story.  

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?

Black Cliff Chronicles is written as a standalone novel. I’d like to write two more entries in the Black Cliff universe. Black Cliff Chronicles takes place at the millennium. Book Two will be located in time around 2016. Book Three will concern events in the 2030s or 40s. At least that is the plan.  

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