The Weapons We’re Born With is an epic fantasy about breaking free from inherited identities and forging one’s own destiny. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I had written several books throughout my life that I shelved after not being quite satisfied with the final result, giving myself time to just work on my craft and my prose so that I could properly convey the stories I had in my head on the page. Coming into 2026, I felt my writing was much more polished and promised to give everything I had into actually taking a real shot at becoming an author.

I have played TTRPG’s for years and created a ton of nations and cultures for use in my games that laid the foundation for the world of Solara. I had done so much world-building over my years of DMing that I knew I could utilize a lot of that as inspiration for my novel setting.

My main inspiration for this story itself actually came from another TTRPG source, the Critical Role mini-series Calamity. I was so pulled in by the epic scale, powerful characters, and world-changing cataclysmic events that took place that I thought that could be an extremely cool take on Epic Fantasy, which historically features a more rags-to-riches type cast instead of characters. I wanted to explore the extreme pressure put on the “heroes” of each side of an epic conflict like that.

How do you think Shara, Marysa, Callum, and EM4022 each represent different aspects of identity and self-discovery?

I’ve always felt great characters will stand above great plots everytime so I approach my writing with a ton of the focus on the characters and their arcs. I wanted to craft distinct, interesting characters that dealt with true human emotions readers could relate to, so those emotional journeys are the first thing I truly hammered out and tried my best to make compelling. Theme for me often comes up naturally, and it’s something that you can highlight as it develops, and that’s what I did here, which helped to connect each character to each other with similar threads such as identity and self-discovery, as you mentioned. As I saw that appearing in each of their arcs, I leaned into it and tried to highlight it where possible to show that pretty much everyone can go through that type of journey while dealing with very different things, but internally and externally.

How did you balance the more intimate character moments with the larger-scale fantasy conflict?

I mentioned before, but I always think great characters are much more important than a great plot. I say that because I think a plot can come together more easily as long as the emotional stakes and character arcs are there beside it. I distinctly outlined what I believed to be a compelling and exciting plot, but once I had that mapped out, my focus shifted largely to the characters and their emotional arcs for much of the writing. If you have a character whom you feel emotionally attached to and want to succeed in their emotional journey, how will it not be exciting if they start engaging in epic battles? Whereas, if you have a character you don’t feel connected to, it doesn’t matter how epic the plot is – it will feel dull.

Can you give us a glimpse inside the second book in the Currents of War series? Where will it take readers?

The second book is well underway and will take place a year after the conclusion of The Weapons We’re Born With, as both sides of the conflict scramble to gain ground in the aftermath of Book 1. The world and cast will be expanded, as the story takes on a grander scale, which naturally occurs after many of the main characters ended in separate locations and with separate immediate goals.

Marysa navigates motherhood as she tries to escape an inescapable war. Callum struggles to maintain his cover with the Nightshades while secretly helping the Resistance. Ronin faces a new level to their choices as killing everyone associated with the Nightshades starts to feel wrong. Nikolai travels with a band of Ironborn as he tries to right the wrongs of his past and free their kind from enslavement.

Several new POVs enter the fold as well, including Kymus, Captain Mallory from the Grove, Jacinda the High Magus, and Aggie, who has been rising the Nightshade ranks.

A preview chapter for Book 2 is available at the end of The Weapons We’re Born With in all formats.

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