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Keeping Secrets
The Wizard’s Apprentice follows a sixteen-year-old prince training in magic who is haunted by visions of his kingdom burning, and must decide whether he is fated to destroy it or destined to save it. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The Children of Colonodona is at its core a sequel series to The Sitnalta Series. A lot has happened to Lucas’ parents, and in many ways, he is hampered by this notion that one day, he will have some massive shoes to fill. The adults around him, his mother, father, and his mentor Kralc, all have such high hopes for him. That’s a lot of pressure for a kid to deal with and to live up to. In truth, we as parents often set our own kids up for failure a lot of the time by expecting them to turn out a certain way. How can anyone find their own path or come into their own with that much pressure put upon them? Lucas is a way to answer that question. Will he rise to the occasion, or will he quite literally crash and burn?
How did you shape Lucas as a believable teenage lead, and what makes him different from typical fantasy heroes?
Lucas is full of flaws, but none of those flaws stop him from wanting to be good, to do good. For me, that was the starting point with him. I think of my own boys and what they love, and how much they love their family, their friends, and their hobbies. Teenage boys are so full of potential, energy, and passion. But sometimes (often, if you’ll ask their sister), teenagers are also frustrating and frustrated. They want to grow up so fast, and they also want to stay children. It’s a bit of a paradox. They are goofy and silly, and angry and in a rush to do so many things. That is Lucas. He is a boy who wants to be looked at with the respect due to someone many decades his senior. At the same time, add in magic powers.
What makes him different is that he is human first, wizard last. I wrote him primarily as a son and as a brother. Contrary to so many books out there, the parents and family are all very much in the picture from the first page to the last. There is no escaping them, and they are all essential to the story as opposed to where Lucas escapes to after his story is over.
What themes did you know you wanted to explore from the start?
I wanted to explore the ideas of love, both familial and romantic, grief, and the idea that keeping secrets can be what hurts those you love. Honesty is always key. It’s the secrets that have the potential to be really dangerous. This is a family haunted by grief and secrets. Both Lucas and his sister Audrina are coming of age in a home filled with ghosts, and this is what they must navigate to figure out who they’re growing into.
What will your next novel be about, and what will the whole series encompass?
The next novel in the series is called The Island of Mystics, and we will see a lot more of what lies beyond the border of their kingdom. Without giving too much away, both Lucas and Audrina are dealing with the fallout of what happens in The Wizard’s Apprentice, and Lucas in particular craves an escape. Where this escape takes him is far beyond where he ever imagined.
The rest of the series investigates Audrina’s choices in love and Lucas coming into his own. We also meet a couple of new characters that I dearly love writing, and I can’t wait for you to meet them!
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When a young woman enters the lives of the royal family begging for help, she quickly becomes Prince Lucas’ unexpected confidant. Meanwhile, Princess Audrina gravitates towards her in ways that place her in a difficult situation for an heir to a throne. As an investigation unfolds for the truth, the prince’s nightmares become increasingly horrifying, the princess’ feelings grow more complicated, and the newcomer’s intentions are cast into doubt. The royal family must discover the stranger’s secrets before hearts are broken and events reveal whether or not Prince Lucas’ dreams are leading to a deadly future in The Wizard’s Apprentice.
The Island of Mystics
The Island of Mystics is a young adult fantasy that leans hard into emotion, family tension, and the ache of feeling out of place. It picks up with characters already carrying real damage, and that matters. The book opens with grief, moves into separation and escape, and then widens into a story about love, duty, guilt, and belonging. What stood out to me most is that it isn’t built around a single quest so much as a web of relationships under strain. That gives it a more intimate feel, even when the setting gets larger and stranger.
What really gives the book its shape is the way the author lets emotional pain drive the plot. Lucas is crushed by guilt and convinced the people around him would be better off without him. Audrina is trying to hold onto love while living under royal expectations. Gertrude gets pulled between devotion and self-erasure in a way that feels painfully sincere. None of that reads like background decoration. It’s the engine of the story. Even a line as simple as “Nothing lasted” carries weight because that fear keeps echoing through the book in different forms.
I also liked how the fantasy world is presented. The island setting, the mermaids, the unusual birds, the castle details, and the sense of hidden history give the novel a colorful, storybook surface. The book keeps bringing things back to character. It’s less interested in showing off lore for its own sake than in asking what a magical world feels like when you’re scared, heartsick, or trying to choose between love and responsibility. The setting feels vivid, but it never pushes the people out of the center.
The writing has a sincere, openhearted quality that fits the material. Sometimes it’s earnest to a fault, but more often that directness helps. The book is at its best when it lets characters say exactly what they fear, want, or regret. One of my favorite lines comes near the end: “This is not goodbye. This is only until we meet again.” It’s romantic, a little defiant, and very much in tune with the novel’s belief that separation doesn’t have to mean erasure. That same spirit runs through the whole book.
The Island of Mystics is a heartfelt fantasy that cares deeply about its characters and takes their feelings seriously. It’s a book about wounded people trying to find one another, trying to forgive themselves, and trying to imagine a future that isn’t already chosen for them. I came away thinking of it less as an adventure story with emotional stakes and more as an emotional story told through fantasy. That ends up being its real strength. It knows what it wants to be, and it commits to it.
Pages: 236 | ASIN : B0GT26F94N
