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Guilt and Solitude
Where Despair Comes To Play follows a man consumed by the voices in his head who is convicted of murder and sentenced to prison, where the isolation drives him deep into paranoia, delusion, and dissociation. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The inspiration for Where Despair Comes to Play came from a fascination with the fragile boundary between the mind and reality—how isolation, guilt, and fear can twist perception until the world itself becomes an echo of one’s thoughts. I wanted to explore what happens when a person is left alone with their own darkness, with no distractions, no noise—only the voices that feed on doubt and memory.
The prison setting became a metaphor for internal confinement. I wasn’t as interested in the crime itself as in what happens afterward—how a mind begins to fracture when trapped in silence and shame. Each of Malcolm’s voices—Paranoia, Delusion, and Dissociation—represents a piece of his psyche trying to survive the unbearable weight of guilt and solitude.
I always start my books with a well-refined thesis statement, similar to what I did for my doctoral dissertation. In many ways, the story was inspired by the question: If you can’t trust your own mind, where can you hide?
Malcolm is a fascinating character who draws readers into his mind and the horrors that reside within it. What scene was the most interesting to write for that character?
The most intriguing scene to write for Malcolm was the one where he finally stops resisting the voices—when Paranoia, Delusion, and Dissociation stop feeling like intruders and start feeling like his only companions. It’s the moment where his isolation becomes complete, and instead of fighting for sanity, he begins to negotiate with his madness.
Writing that scene felt like walking a tightrope between horror and heartbreak. I wanted readers to feel both fear and empathy—to see that Malcolm isn’t a monster but a man slowly breaking under the weight of his own thoughts. Capturing the moment when his inner voices start making more sense to him than reality itself.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
My key theme was the personification of mental illness—turning Paranoia, Delusion, and Dissociation into living entities. It allowed me to explore how mental struggles can feel external and invasive, like something whispering just behind your thoughts. My ultimate goal for the book was to explore what happens when the mind becomes the battleground—and whether redemption is possible when your worst enemy is yourself.
What is the next book that you are writing, and when will that be published?
My next book is actually a love story, Framed in Love, that is steeped in fantasy and explores the psychological condition of “How far will you go, and what are you willing to do to keep that love alive?” In a world where love can be bound by spell and sacrifice, a devoted lover discovers that devotion has no bottom, and is preserving love worth losing everything that makes a person human?
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As Malcolm struggles to separate reality from nightmare, every letter etched on the wall draws him closer to a final word he may not survive. The line between guilt and madness blurs, and the only question left is chilling: is he haunted by his own mind—or by something far worse that feeds on silence itself?
A Beautiful Ending
Jake and Zena’s family is stitched together by hope and haunted by ghosts. Ronnie and Amina chase the sparks between them, Carolyn and Jesse launch Southern Comfort, Charlotte’s newest soul food haven, Jordan dazzles the fashion world in D.C. alongside Miles, and Jessica juggles college life and motherhood in Atlanta with Bryce. Yet, even as they embrace the present, shadows from their past are, waiting to unravel their future. In this gripping trilogy conclusion, the Alexanders face their final reckoning: will the gathering clouds tear them apart —or will they find the beautiful ending they truly deserve?
D.O.L Light Running in Afghanistan
The book plunges headfirst into a world of secret military projects, hidden powers, and tangled family ties. Lilly and Aurora, caught between loyalty and betrayal, navigate brutal battles, heartbreaking losses, and a storm of revelations about who they are and where they come from. The story moves with a wild energy, shifting from explosive action in New York to covert missions in Afghanistan, all the while threading in the complicated web of love, grief, and survival that binds its characters together. The book is about identity and the cost of power, wrapped inside high-octane scenes and sharp dialogue.
I found myself both entertained and unsettled. The writing has a raw pulse to it, like the author wanted every scene to bleed emotion or crackle with tension. Sometimes that worked beautifully. The fight sequences felt cinematic, and the dialogue between Lilly and Aurora was charged with anger, sorrow, and just enough dark humor to keep it human. But there were moments when the avalanche of detail threatened to bury the emotional core of the story. Even then, I couldn’t put it down, because there was always another twist, another confession, another blow waiting around the corner.
I also caught myself feeling torn about the ideas underneath the action. The story plays with big questions: what it means to be family, how much pain someone can carry, and how power both saves and destroys. The story also leans hard into chaos and violence, which keeps the energy high and the tension unrelenting, never giving the characters or the reader much chance to breathe. The author clearly loves his cast, though, and that affection comes through in the banter, the awkward humor, and the way even the most hardened fighters carry their scars like open wounds. It gave the book a surprising tenderness under all the blood and bullets.
Light Running in Afghanistan reminded me of the relentless drive you find in early James Patterson thrillers mixed with the emotional grit of something like Suzanne Collins or even Stephen King at his more chaotic. It isn’t neat or carefully buttoned up the way a Tom Clancy novel might be. Instead, it thrives on the jagged edges, the mess that makes its characters feel human. Readers who want a story that punches fast and doesn’t apologize will feel right at home here.
Pages: 364 | ASIN : B0F9TV3ZX2
LITERARY TITAN 