Monster Hunter is a thrilling coming-of-age adventure where sixteen-year-old Ollie Baxter discovers a hidden world of monsters, magic, and the buried truth of who he really is. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

There are many inspirations in my life, but I think finding oneself is crucial to our identities. I think of our youth as an adventure, too. We have school for twelve years, then some of us go off to the military, others go off to work, and many of our friends go off to college. That final summer before everything changes really is an adventure and a memorable experience. I wanted to capture that essence in a story—this adventure where Ollie is on his last leg of summer before getting accepted into The University of Dragonspire, a school where he can learn to use his aura in special ways, making friends and rivals along the way, all before the emotional truth of what the end of that summer brings: loss.

I think I captured that goal. Two of my best friends committed suicide, and I felt so hurt. I’ve lost my sister to COVID, and I was helpless watching my friends drift away, but the final straw was when Bones, my dog, died. I fell into this deep sense of loss regarding my identity. Ollie loses Gwen to someone they trusted—his professor and Gwen’s father—all for selfish reasons. But it was the way he lost her that mattered. She was turned into a smaller chimera creature in order to capture the big one. When Ollie, Samantha, and Hudson find her, there is nothing they can do but face the danger they are in head-on.

I think loss can resonate with everyone, but the beauty in acceptance is gaining the strength to let go. That was my inspiration.

The emotional undercurrent about Ollie’s parents and identity hit hard. How did you balance grief with the high-octane adventure?

Well, Ollie’s parents are long gone. I like the trope of an orphaned hero, but the goal here was to offer a fresh coat of paint on an old trope. We just barely scratched the surface about Ollie’s parents. The world loved Evie, his mother—she was very famous for pushing the boundaries of the Hunter World. Oliver, Ollie’s father, ran away the night she was killed and has been on the run ever since. Ollie, being new to the Hunter World, is learning about them while the reader does, but he lives as a constant reminder in their shadows.

Lots of people do say that they love the action and adventure, and that it feels non-stop engaging, and I think that comes from the word count. I think each book in the series will have about 80,000 words. I came from a background of writing short stories. My first two books were just published stories that I wrote while I was in grad school or the military. The third was just a continuation of one of them. Now that I am in law school, I find myself reading books every day, and the ones I find the best are around the 75,000-85,000 word mark. They engage me the best and can be read in one day.

As far as grief goes, it’s a natural feeling we all experience at some point in our lives. It’s what we do with it that determines our value. I’m really glad you asked about grief, I really am. I balanced the action with grief by creating a villain who dealt with grief in every wrong way possible. We can fall into despair, or we can grow and learn to let go. I think once we get to the main villain of this first story arc, we encounter a character who has suffered a tremendous amount of grief, much like Ollie. But he never learned to let go and, as a consequence, has refused to let go of anything or anyone in his life. You’ll see his own twisted morals on full display when he justifies his corrupted actions. I don’t want to spoil it, but this isn’t just a mustache-twirling bad guy—this is Erebus Bahne.

If Dragonspire were real, what class would you most want to teach or take?

I think I would want to be a Professor of Specialty. The students there learn all about themselves and what makes them unique. This is why I created the Affinity System. In this world, all living beings have a life force called an aura. Think of it as your ki, your chakra, your essence. The students learn to harness their own aura into unique abilities. Ollie has his Aura Sphere. Hudson is learning to turn invisible, and Sam can summon a strong creature that defends her. Each of these abilities falls into categories that help determine your Affinity Type. Ollie, since he can throw his Aura Sphere, is Projection. Hudson’s ability is Alteration because it alters his aura around him, turning him invisible. Sam is a Summoner. There are also Augmentation, Manipulation, and for the gifted, some students even develop a rare Specialty that doesn’t fall into any other category.

When Ollie and Hudson duel Cassius, Ollie is on the verge of using this rare Specialty, so I would most likely want to help students discover how to use this secret ability that hides even from themselves. That, or have Bjorn’s job working with all the mythical dragons and legendary creatures.

Is Ollie’s story just beginning? Any hints about what’s next for him or the world you’ve built?

This is just the beginning. I think the epilogue sets up the next book nicely from a unique perspective. The Rogue Hunter: Book Two of the Hunter Archive will be out in the fall. I’m in the editing phase now.

As for hints, I’ll say that I’m a huge fan of well-done twists that successfully subvert the audience’s expectations—and not just for the sake of having a twist in your story. You may think you know about Ollie’s origin, but I promise you that I’m putting a fresh take on it. I don’t think anyone will properly guess what happens. Be sure to tag me in all your theories; I love to see what readers think is going to happen.

Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Instagram | Website | Amazon