The House of Shi follows a 12-year-old boy who, after a chance encounter, is swept into the Land of Eternal Dusk, a strange, shadowy realm between worlds, where he embarks on a perilous quest to rescue an unexpected ally. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

The Land of Eternal Dusk was born not so much out of inspiration, as it was born out of the need to have a ‘place’ where all the characters were capable, in some way or other, to move in and out of it. Writers establish rules for their imaginary worlds. The World Beyond was not the right location for the action that was called for in The House of Shi because not all the characters would be able to enter or leave it. Also, with the second book, I realized I have two stories running parallel to each other, so that required that I structured the story differently from the first book. I created the Land of Eternal Dusk as the place where the living, the supernatural beings, the deities, and the lost souls could exist and/or interact. It is sort of a no man’s land. Since it is an in-between realm, I imagined it to be a gloomy place, caught in a permanent twilight. Also, things didn’t always work logically there. It is a place that could exist in a dream.

On the other hand, the huaca, the remains of the ancient temple where most of the action occurs for Anna’s story, is inspired by a huaca that is nearby the school I attended when I was growing up in Peru. The huaca of my imagination is in a more dilapidated state and for the purpose of the story, it belongs to the Mochica people, a civilization that never reached Lima. The real huaca, on the other hand, belonged to the Ichma and the Inca people. So, I hope I will be forgiven for the artistic license I’m taking in that respect in my books.

Was there anything from your life that you put into the characters in your novel?

Anna is the character I connect with the most. I would like to say that she’s the better person I wish to become. For example, she’s determined and unafraid to step into unexpected situations while I tend to overthink things. When I was working on the first book, I didn’t want Anna to be the absent or clueless parent we sometimes find in children and YA books. And I didn’t want her to be relegated to the background either. I wanted her, the adult in the story, to have an adventure too. She’s the only character that sprung up of my imagination armed with a mission and on a mission. Her story gave me a chance to utilize some of my school memories. The school in the books is inspired by my high school in Peru. Anna’s romance is not something that happened to me, but who hasn’t had a crush on a classmate when we were her age? I tried to infuse Victor and Anna’s relationship with the heady feeling of being in love at sixteen. Writing Anna’s back story for this book was a very enjoyable and fun experience for me.

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

I don’t plan for a specific theme to explore when I start writing a book, but I do want my books to carry a positive message. I think themes find their way into the story as I write it out. I’m not sure how it happens, but I would like to believe that it is part of the process (and magic) of writing. The power of belief is one theme that became present in the book. I hope readers can identify with David’s mixed feelings about the creature that is part of him. We all have faced or will face self-doubts. Belief in yourself and in your ability to rise above your circumstances is the first step toward change. However, belief alone will not get you to your goal. You have to take action. In The House of Shi, David realizes his amaru powers, but not before he has worked through some challenges. Acceptance is also a universal theme. We all look for approval and try to live up to other people’s expectations. In the book, Victor is caught between his aspirations to become a musician and his father’s inability to accept him for who he is and wants to be. Another theme that ‘sneaked in’ the first book, but I hope it will extend to all three books, is love. Mother’s love appears in the first book. First love is a theme in the second one. And for the third book—well, we’ll have to wait and see.

Can you tell us more about what’s in store for David and the direction of the third book?

I’m not sure if you’ll believe me, but I’m as curious about the third book as you are. I know some writers can plan every scene in their future books. I’ve never been able to do that. I’m not a planner. When it comes to writing, I’m just flying by the seats of my pants. That doesn’t mean that I’m improvising all the way. I do start with some ideas about my characters and the plot. I brainstorm possibilities for the stories. I always do research. I learn as much as I can about the topics I think I’m going to need for the book. While researching, I pick up bits and pieces of information and ideas that might serve the plot. It’s only when I sit down and I’m writing the story that those pieces will come together and fall into place. Right now, I’m trying to figure out who Natalia is as Esqha. Once I get to the answer, I’ll know what David’s mission is going to be in this book. For Anna, it is going to be about rescuing Henry, but along the way, she’ll have to question her own feelings for him since Rojas claimed (in the first book) that she has been bewitched by her husband. My intent for the third book is to tie all the loose ends as neatly as I can, and to provide a satisfying ending to the trilogy.

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