Blog Archives
Eternal Search for Meaning
Flight of a Prodigy follows an eight-year-old street kid in ancient Rome who, after witnessing the death of his only friend, is captured and thrown into slavery, where he is trained to become an elite warrior. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The inspiration came from my fascination with how traumatic events, particularly in our formative years, can affect the type of people we become, and how our perception of such events can either damage or expand our minds. I wanted to explore what happens when innocence refuses to yield to a predominant evil, and ancient Rome provided a platform where brutality and glory coexisted.
The death of the boy’s only friend symbolizes the loss of all he had, including his dreams and his childhood itself, while his capture into slavery reflects the harsh truth that fairness is rare. The exceptionally brutal training he is thrown into could be perceived as a punishment or a transformation, an allegory for resilience, identity, and strength through suffering. I wanted to reimagine them in a historical setting that feels both raw and epic.
What are some things that you find interesting about the human condition that you think make for great fiction?
What fascinates me most about the human condition is that, first of all, we are emotional creatures driven by hereditary traits in addition to our learned traits. And when we are forced into confrontation and must defeat the challenge or fall to it, emotions can be cast aside for incredible resolve or enhanced for a potential final stance. We all experience grief and hardship, but what makes great fiction is seeing how characters rise or fall when tested. I’m drawn to resilience because only in due time can we appreciate sadness for providing happiness, or weaknesses for providing strength, or hatred for providing love. For me, fiction thrives when it explores innocence colliding with a brutal reality, weakness evolves into power, and the eternal search for meaning in a chaotic world continues.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I enjoy a good coming-of-age story, so one of the most important themes to explore in this book was the loss of innocence, how a kid is forced to confront a brutal reality and reshape his identity in a world that never allowed him to be a child. How, after his escape from servitude, he teeters on a fulcrum between good and evil as he strives to learn more about himself and how to survive in civilization.
Another key theme was poking a little fun at humanity’s futile need to understand everything. What we cannot fully wrap our minds around must be magic, the will of the gods, preordained fate, or perhaps ancient aliens. I leave it for the readers to decide.
Ultimately, I am fascinated by how transformation from grief, through struggle and survival, can propel someone into an event larger than life. Those explorations felt essential to me because they create the kind of epic, emotionally charged fiction I love to read and write.
Will this novel be the start of a series, or are you working on a different story?
Although I would never say never to a sequel, Flight of a Prodigy was written as a stand-alone story. I try to write what I want to read, no endings left open or loose ends untied, no poor editing to save time, and no short stories disguised as a book.
I am currently working on a new Historical Fiction, and I’m starting to get excited for it. It has the potential to be my best work… if I don’t screw it up.
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Remy’s journey begins as a homeless eight-year-old surviving on the unforgiving streets of ancient Rome. When his situation could not possibly become worse, it of course does. Thrown in to slavery, he must undertake what would become an eight-year training regimen devised by evil people for evil purposes. Only a few hundred survive, to form an elite group of warriors. Remy not only endures but thrives, becoming its prodigy.
Remy escapes with his life, only to find freedom is full of more challenges than expected. Though merely sixteen he is a volatile and dangerous weapon, at home in a fight but lost in civilization. He gains employment to scout for a traveling wagon party in hopes of remaining unnoticed by those that may be searching for him.
His new employer and coworkers consist of three beautiful young ladies, Annabelle, Divina and Gee, along with their surviving family members and household guards. It is a slow, difficult, and humorous process of growth for Remy. Will his newfound friendships, acceptance, trust and maybe even love, allow him to overcome the evil psychological affects that manipulate his childhood traumas?
Moral Awakening
Switch and Blue Eagle is a coming-of-age superhero novel where a young sidekick battles villains, expectations, and his father’s outdated ideals in a world that no longer sees justice in black and white. What inspired you to explore the father-son dynamic at the heart of the story?
It’s actually an element from my worldbuilding. When I first started doing this, I was inspired by the TTRPG Masks. When me and a gaming group I was part of were preparing to start a campaign in that, I looked over the basic information and saw that the ages of comic book history–the Golden Age, the Silver Age, and so on–were canon as Generations in Masks. So I decided to follow suit with in-universe Ages of Heroism. I’ve always loved the contrast between more serious, darker takes on superheroes and their lighter, more kid-friendly takes of old. So Blue Eagle and Switch ended up being the first two characters I created–along with Queen Venus and one more character that you can likely guess who it is if you read the epilogue–as a contrast between the Silver Age and the Modern Age of Comics and Heroism.
So, in my larger world, I have Silver Age characters and their values, I have Dark Age characters and their values, and I have the younger Modern Age characters trying to find their place in the world.
I know that sounds like an answer to a different question, but the father-son dynamic in this story was actually built from worldbuilding rather than character exploration, at least in the beginning. Once that foundation was built, I started asking myself, “What would people from different Ages of Heroism disagree on when it comes to superhero-ing? What differences would a superhero from each era of comics have, like Superman of the 1950s and Rob Liefeld’s Youngbloods characters in 90s Image Comics, and today’s teen heroes like Miles Morales and Kamala Khan? What complications would those differences create when the people who have those differences also have a father-son and superhero-sidekick relationship? What are some real-life, dare I say political, equivalents to those disagreements?” And this was ultimately my answer.
Jack often questions what makes someone truly “good.” How do your own views on morality shape the story?
Haha, when I was a dumb, edgy 20-something, I really hated Superman (now that I have a fully functioning frontal lobe, I’m now a huge Superman fan). I thought he was way too powerful to have good stories with suspense and stakes, but I also hated how he was essentially a paragon of perfect morality. It was like being super strong allowed him to dictate what was right and wrong. One thing I always said was that, unless a hero possesses “super-morality” as an actual superpower, they have no more credibility on morality and ethics than anyone else.
I now see Superman in a different light, but Blue Eagle represents that part of the old me that was right. That feeling that those in power—churches, pundits, corporate compliance departments—shouldn’t get to dictate what is right and wrong just because they have societal power. A conservative media influencer has no grounds to determine that trans people are immoral while saying nothing about school lunch programs being defunded; a company shouldn’t be able to say an employee having outside income is a conflict of interest while it funds destructive pipeline construction on sacred indigenous land; an elected official shouldn’t be able to say that the presence of migrants is immoral criminal behavior while they take bribes and makes laws that help their rich friends at the expense of education, healthcare, and the environment.
Switch, on the other hand, represents in his teens the moral awakening I didn’t have until my thirties. That society has a real responsibility to lift up its “lowest” and give people real chances to succeed. People don’t succeed in life on their own. We all have support from family, friends, community, and institutions. And when those systems fail people, they are left with paths in life that we would never choose for ourselves. So instead of using force to punish those we deem to be immoral, rightly or wrongly, I believe there is a duty for society at large to ensure that we all have the tools to live happy, dignified lives.
It was that moral conflict that I wanted to place at the core of Blue Eagle and Switch’s disagreements. The father-son conflict and Switch’s desire for independence aside, there is a difference regarding the moral responsibilities that come with power.
The book blends superhero action with introspective realism. Did you set out to challenge typical comic tropes from the start?
Not really. This is another thing born from worldbuilding. This is not the first story I’ve written in this universe, only the first one that I’ve published. And even before I decided to write SWITCH and Blue Eagle, the Blue Eagle Universe, as I call it, was always a superhero universe played mostly straight. It certainly plays with, satirizes, celebrates, and challenges, as you say, comic tropes as well. But it also is one played straight, meant to exist alongside the Marvel, DC, Image, Astro City, Valiant, and other shared universes.
If anything, I would say that the world this book is set in is less “What if superheroes existed in the real world?” and more “What if realistic people existed in a superhero world?”
Jasper’s subplot humanizes the villains. Was it important for you to blur the line between hero and antagonist?
Not really. Not for this book, at least. That’s because I don’t really view Jasper as an antagonist, but one of the two main characters. He just works for the bad guys. The actual antagonists of this book—other than any high-minded literary concept like “Switch’s inner struggles” or something—are the villains. Queen Venus is the primary antagonist, which is fitting as she is the primary member of the Blue Eagle Rogues Gallery.
Actually, the idea for Jasper and the broad spot he sits between the two conflicting ideological positions presented was inspired by a movie I saw from 1990. It was a very high-brow, snooty, underground arthouse film you’ve probably never heard of, called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Haha. But seriously, in that movie, there are two characters in that film whose fate is really the thematic center point of the movie, and that’s Charles and Danny Pennington. Fatherhood and family are the central themes of that film, with the Turtles and Splinter representing a nurturing and loving family and Shredder and the Foot Clan representing harshness and distance. They present two sides of it, while the Penningtons are teetering on the fence. In the end, they fall into the Turtles’ side, reuniting and beginning the process to reconcile and become closer.
Broadly speaking, Jasper is the same as the Penningtons. Switch believes in societal responsibility and rehabilitation, while Blue Eagle touts personal responsibility and tough love. Jasper’s the case study to prove one of them right and one of them wrong.
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Switch the Blue Eaglet is the son and teen sidekick of Blue Eagle, one of Herald City’s top superheroes. But being a sidekick isn’t all glory. Switch is tired of living in his father’s shadow, tired of his strict rules, and tired of being told he’ll never be strong enough to stand on his own.
Jasper Clemens is just another faceless villain henchman. All he wants is to get out of the criminal business. But his debts to the mob keep piling up, and he’s stuck taking the riskiest jobs in order to protect his family.
When a dangerous supervillain launches her deadliest scheme yet, it’s up to Switch and Jasper to stop her. Can Switch prove to the world he’s more than just a sidekick? Does Jasper have what it takes to be a true hero?
Or is Herald City doomed?
Perfect for fans of coming-of-age superhero tales, this short novel delivers action, heart, and a fresh twist on what it really means to be a hero.
Don’t miss this adventure of SWITCH and BLUE EAGLE!
SWITCH and Blue Eagle: A Superhero Sidekick Novel is a short prequel to my main series currently under development, SWITCH and the Challengers Bravo, and the introduction to my larger superhero world of Herald City. It has two focus characters. There is Switch the Blue Eaglet, the sidekick of Blue Eagle, who deals with the self-doubt that comes with the constant criticisms he gets from his father, as well as his unreliable powers. He wants to eventually become a superhero on his own, but he feels the need to prove his worth first. And then there is Jasper Clemens, a supervillain henchman who wants to get out of the business. But his debts to the mob keep piling up, and the only way to keep his family safe is to take on more and more dangerous jobs. And in the background of all of this, Queen Venus, the archenemy of Blue Eagle and Switch, is sprouting her deadliest plan yet and the whole world might be at stake.
Trigger warnings include fantasy violence, father-son family drama, and mob debt.
Self-Discovery
The Dryad’s Crown follows an orphaned wood nymph raised in a corrupt city and trained to be an assassin who finds a way to escape her violent past, only to be pulled back by a tragic death and seek revenge. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
As a kid, I loved epic fantasy, and I loved superhero stories. I was a huge Marvel Comics nerd. Still am! Originally, The Dryad’s Crown came to me from the perspective of the husband and him discovering that his wife had this whole past and an alter ego. She had these amazing powers. But as I was thinking about it, I decided to tell the story from the perspective of the wife and daughter. Yes, there’s still the alter ego aspect, but it became a larger story about self-discovery and healing. As a novelist, I can make my canvas as large as I want it to be. So, I became interested in telling a massive multi-generational saga about the fey and the gods living among us.
I find the world you created in this novel brimming with possibilities. Where did the inspiration for the setting come from, and how did it change as you were writing?
I spent about a year working on just the setting before I started writing the story. I wanted to create a fantasy world that felt immediately recognizable and required little explanation. Like Middle Earth, Westeros, the Continent, or the Six Duchies, the continent of Amon in Efre Ousel is all vaguely medieval and vaguely European. I’m not inventing anything new. Efre Ousel is a medieval world. Few of the comforts we associate with a more modern age exist. Nobles from coastal cities would have access to books, finer clothes, spices, and herbal medicine, but it’s an extravagance not available to everyone. No printing presses—only patient scribes with a quill and an inkpot. To me, it. came down to one guiding statement: “There are more secrets, wonders, and mysteries contained within these four continents and the seas between them than could be explored in several lifetimes.” I wanted a setting where I would never run out of stories to tell.
The goal was then to share rich details and nuance from the setting over the course of the first novel, to explore the history, mythology, and cosmology of this place. I wanted to delight readers with all the unique customs, common phrases, and distinctive art. My favorite part about a fantasy setting is when it has a “lived-in” quality. Not something that was invented, but explored. I can turn any corner, and I know there will be something there.
The setting didn’t change as I was writing. It was already fairly locked in. It just expanded as our characters traveled out from their home.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
In The Dryad’s Crown, I wrote about family, self-discovery, healing, mercy, love, and much more. But as I understand theme, I think it’s the reader’s responsibility to decide what the themes are, i.e., what is being said about those subjects. You don’t want the author making declarations about such things, but they’re usually wrong. Maybe The Dryad’s Crown isn’t saying anything? I hope it is, but I’ll leave it to the reader. I will say this: Maricel’s story arc is one of my favorites, moving from being fairly helpless to quite capable and self-reliant. I think there’s something there. I also love Timon’s story. He’s a priest who hid away in his temple, and by the end, he understands his true calling. If you’re looking for themes, I think the “minor characters” also have a lot to say.
Where does the story go in the next book, and where do you see it going in the future?
The next book, War of the Hounds, is a novella interlude that tells the story of Bren Caius during the war. It’s based on Shakespeare’s Henry V. War of the Hounds is already published and available. People can download the ebook for free from my website. (Link below.) However, I’m currently writing the second novel in the main series. The Summer Sword should be available next year.
I gave some hints toward the end of The Dryad’s Crown about where the story was going. We find out about a promise made between a god and the Fey Court. That will have some repercussions. We also learn more about Mendal Caius and his ambitions. In The Summer Sword, we lose some important people. New characters are introduced, but don’t expect everyone to make it to the end. The Dryad’s Crown is fairly self-contained as a story. But once you get into The Summer Sword, we’re cutting the brake lines and going full speed. Jump out at your own risk!
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Only one fae can keep them from waking.
Silbrey is an orphaned wood nymph, taken from her forest home and raised in the corrupt city of Penderyn. The fae child grows up unaware of who she is, what she can do, and the calling of her kind.
Under the control of a cruel guildmaster, Silbrey is trained as an assassin. As an adult, she escapes her violent past to start a new life and a family. But a tragic death brings her back to the familiar cobbled streets to seek revenge.
This dark path leads Silbrey to uncover an even darker secret: An ancient evil will wake the titans and break the world. Silbrey must travel with her daughter across a war-torn land to defeat that evil.
What begins as a fairy tale transforms into a multi-generational epic fantasy about love and loss—and a woman with a strange connection to nature.
The Dryad’s Crown is an emotional, coming-of-age fantasy debut. The first volume in a gritty saga, set in the immersive world of Efre Ousel.
Booklife describes the story as “a fantasy unlike any other.”
The Presence of Magic
The Heart Scarab examines the fates of warriors, mystics, and serpents who are navigating a landscape that has been altered by mining, politics, and tribal magic. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
THE HEART SCARAB is Book 2 of the second series, so there are many strands of plotlines. The writer assumes that a reader who made it this far into the story is invested in the characters and ready to see them triumph.
Mostly, my stories are about the women, but this setup offers two men to carry the plot. Rufus el Arrivi has been present in all the previous books. Now, as a grown man with children, he decides to run for the office of khalif in open elections in a duchy where refugees called Rundi are allowed citizenship.
Meanwhile, Stuben works with Rufus as police in Urbyd and witnesses some difficult moments for the refugees. He breaks with Rufus and goes on an adventure with Obye, who is laboring to recover some Rundi who are abused at a stone quarry.
My inspiration comes from a love of the characters and my own questions about how their lives shape – sometimes as much of a surprise to me as to you.
Were there any characters that you especially enjoyed writing for?
Kore is 14 now and has inherited the treasure of Rularim. She attends a wedding in Utica, traveling with Rufus and her half-brother Karisma. Always willful, she gets into plenty of trouble.
Bybiis, the beastmaster, has worked through some of her problems with finding a place among the tribes, following her own destiny for working with sea serpents. She has met Aresur, who has some skills with magic and takes the banner for countering Ulaya, who wants Bybiis dead. I had fun with Aresur and her sideways attitudes about how to handle a difficult boss. She manages to
undercut Ulaya at every turn.
How did you balance magic and its use throughout the story to keep it believable?
Ah, magic…Hedge magic belongs to Aresur – charms and hexes – and Bybiis has many tattooed skin wards. The serpent pouches are based on a real occurrence in our world where sharks make pouches out of seaweed fronds as an incubator for living newborns. Bybiis has harvested a clutch of serpent pouches made the same way. When a holder stares into the hole drilled through the brain of the dead serpent fetus, she may connect with the holder of a similar pouch. I like it! Mostly, though, I wanted the presence of magic in their everyday lives, and several characters don’t believe in its power over them.
Can you give us a peek into the next book in this series? Where will it take readers?
THE IRON SNAKE is about resistance to a larger country tangent to the duchies and sending assassins to take or kill the children in order to weaken leaders. We follow Rufus again and Stuben, who grows into his leadership roles. Kore becomes a young woman – vulnerable to abduction, in fact – who becomes an opponent to Ulaya (and more) and her scheming ways. I keep setting obstacles in the paths of primary characters and fashioning a plot where they must work together to get ahead.
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Meanwhile, Stuben el Cylahi has taken a position as police in the duchy capital of Urbyd where he butts heads with his boss Rufus el Arrivi. Stuben realizes that he also must strike out on his own and joins a group of Rundi who are on mission to recover some quarry slaves. His witness of coming events makes him wish that he had remained nearby Rufus. Can Stuben regain his tribal status?
A Pivotal Lens
Trace of Arcane follows a teenage girl navigating life in a fractured society as she struggles to find autonomy while facing the pressure of the coming ceremonial passage. What was the idea, or spark, that first set off the need to write this novel?
What drew me to this story, and to Eden as a protagonist, was the challenge of portraying the neurotype colloquially known as psychopathy with nuance and texture. Over four years, I had extended conversations with individuals living with this form of neurodivergence. I wasn’t interested in the usual caricatures. I wanted to understand them not as villains, but as whole, observant, complex human beings. Eden’s voice emerged from those conversations, and Trace of Arcane became a space to explore deeper questions around conscience, survival, and the systems we live within.
Early on, I noticed that many neurodivergent individuals don’t automatically adopt social structures the way neurotypical people often do. Instead, they examine these systems critically and only mirror them to the extent necessary to avoid social exclusion. This observation made me reflect on the psychological mechanisms embedded in our institutions—religious, political, and cultural. These structures often act as filters, helping people manage the complexity of life. But for those with shallow affect or atypical emotional processing, these filters don’t function the same way. They mimic them, rather than experience them. That dissonance opened up new questions for me: about belonging, about power, and about how easily such systems can be co-opted to marginalize outgroups or consolidate control.
I also did not want the views of the neurodivergent characters to remain unchallenged within the story. Around that time, I came across the work of Dr. Zoran Josipovic, who has studied the brains of meditating monks and found heightened activity in the prefrontal cortex—the part of the brain associated with empathy. By contrast, researchers like Dr. James Fallon have shown that in psychopathy, this same region is often underactive during decision-making. That contrast fascinated me. It felt like the two neurotypes (even though those who have meditated for many years are not a neurotype) were engaging with the world in fundamentally different ways, and I wanted to explore what might happen when they collided.
This led me to dive into monk-centered spiritual teachings, which eventually inspired the creation of other key characters—individuals whose worldviews would directly challenge the neurodivergent characters within the story. Their interplay became a core tension not just in Trace of Arcane: Viridis, but across all three novels in the series.
The science inserted in the fiction, I felt, was well balanced. How did you manage to keep it grounded while still providing the fantastic edge science fiction stories usually provide?
My primary focus wasn’t on science fiction in the traditional sense. My attention was on the social and psychological structures people use to navigate the world—institutions, belief systems, hierarchies—and how those structures shape identity, belonging, and power. The science in Trace of Arcane: Viridis emerged as a secondary layer, more as a tool for exploring those dynamics.
The story follows a neurodivergent girl trying to cope within a fractured, post-apocalyptic world, and I was more interested in her internal logic: how someone with her cognitive wiring might perceive and respond to systems that often demand emotional conformity. That lens helped keep everything grounded. The speculative elements are there, but they’re tethered to real-world dynamics and grounded human experience.
In Book Two, I do lean further into the science behind the fiction—especially in terms of technology, cognitive science, and surveillance systems—but even then, it’s all in service of the characters and the ethical questions they’re grappling with. The “fantastic edge” becomes sharper as the story unfolds, but it’s always rooted in something psychologically or politically real.
What was one scene in the novel that you felt captured the morals and message you were trying to deliver to readers?
There’s a scene early in the novel where Eden recalls using a hidden path to avoid Amaia’s constant lectures on respect. At first glance, Eden comes across as brash and disrespectful, especially in how she speaks to characters like Amaia, and I wanted the reader to sit with that impression. But as the story unfolds, we begin to see Eden’s inner world more clearly. That scene becomes a pivotal lens: Eden isn’t reacting; she is mirroring.
She sees adults demanding respect without offering it, and when she reflects their tone back at them, she’s punished for it. There’s a line where she thinks, “If she hates it so much that I mimic her, then why not change to the behavior she wants reflected?” That moment, to me, captures the core moral tension of the book: Eden is labeled as the outsider, the disrespectful one, but she’s actually holding up a mirror to a society that is itself contradictory and hypocritical.
This becomes a quiet call to the reader: when we encounter something in someone else that unsettles or irritates us, what does that reaction reveal about us? Eden challenges the social norms around her not by preaching or resisting outright, but by reflecting them back. The discomfort that causes isn’t a flaw in her—it’s a diagnostic of the world she lives in.
That’s the heart of Book One: Eden is learning, engaging, adapting—and in doing so, forcing others (and the reader) to confront the assumptions they live by.
What is the next book you are working on, and when will it be available?
Having finished the Trace of Arcane trilogy, the next book I’m working on is called Angel of Death. It follows Azrael, a character introduced in Trail of Arcane: Book Two of the Trace of Arcane series, and dives deeper into his journey: before, during, and beyond his interactions with Eden. While Trace of Arcane was focused more on societal structures and psychological dynamics, Angel of Death leans further into the science of the science fiction. It explores the technologies, surveillance systems, and hidden architectures of power that govern the post-apocalyptic world.
At its core, Angel of Death is a character study about a teenager who begins as an idealist, committed to truth and justice, but slowly transforms into someone willing to break the very rules he once upheld in order to expose systemic injustice. As society fails to respond ethically, and as the costs of truth-telling mount, he becomes increasingly disillusioned. His ideals fracture. Inevitably, he learns about what it means to evolve without losing oneself.
It’s a more expansive story in some ways: technically intricate, politically charged, and emotionally layered. It also offers a more grounded, hard science-fiction tone, exploring how systemic forces can shape a person into exhibiting behaviors we label as psychopathic—while still holding a mirror to the systems that create those very outcomes.
As for the release date, I’m currently deep in the writing process and will announce more details soon. But if Trace of Arcane asked what it means to survive within broken systems, Angel of Death asks what it means to resist them, and what it costs to do so.
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Book One of the Trace of Arcane Series
Trace of Arcane follows Eden, a neurodivergent girl born in Viridis—a remote Fringe society resisting the quiet rule of Lux, an authoritarian power that rose from the ruins of a lost civilization. Lux controls history, suppresses knowledge, and manipulates the Fringe societies through fear, rumor, and erasure.
From a young age, Eden knows she’s different—not in a way that draws admiration, but in a way that draws suspicion. Her mind works differently: precise, emotionally detached, and deeply observant. To survive, she learns to hide it, to mimic what others expect. To pass.
As tensions rise and Lux’s control creeps closer, Eden begins to question the systems around her—who controls truth, who gets to belong, and what is sacrificed to keep the peace. When a forgotten archive is discovered by a society called Arcane, Lux ignites conflict in the Fringe societies before Arcane can share their knowledge with the rest of humanity.
Set in a post-apocalyptic future where memory is controlled and difference is discouraged, Trace of Arcane is the first in a character-driven sci-fi trilogy. More introspective than explosive, it’s a slow-burn story about power, perception, and what it means to live honestly in a world that asks you to disappear.
Untamed, Magical Abilities
Coven of Andromeda follows a young woman whose grandmother has passed away, leaving her with more than just memories, but her family’s magical legacy, propelling her on a journey of self-discovery that leads her to another world entirely. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
A cross between the stories Practical Magic & Harry Potter. The original title for the novel was The Witch Hats and was much simpler than the story I finally wrote. It evolved around a central family and their place within a coven. The hat that a witch wore in life accumulated their knowledge, and after death, the hat was then passed onto an heir. When the heir to the hat finally placed it onto their head, the knowledge of all previous wearers would be transferred to the new witch. Although there is much similarity to the first outline that I plotted out, the new version, which I kept and used, involved a more detailed account of the history of the coven and its roots on the distant planet Eldoria and the people there.
The reader notices right away that the story starts on Eldoria in the first chapter, followed by chapter two being on earth with a mother and her two daughters returning to the town of Ballad after years away due to a death in the family. The book bounces from past to future until about halfway through the book, as aspects of Eldoria are revealed to the reader and who the main characters actually are.
Two strong-willed young people, both grappling with their own journeys of self-discovery, find their lives unexpectedly intertwined in your story. What inspired the connection between Bree and Sameril?
I’m not sure if it is inspiration, but I felt that telling the reader of the ancient past and bringing everything into the present day was a must to make the story understandable. Sameril was in love with Briella on planet Eldoria. The planet was under siege, forcing young witches and necromancers to escape. Without giving the story away, Sam was tasked with protecting the coven of witches for hundreds of years (without aging or aging slowly), sometimes nearby and sometimes from a distance. Bree is the reincarnation of Briella on Earth in the present day, but has no idea who Briella was or of her reincarnation. My intention was to show that love spans time, space, and location.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Definitely coming-of-age and destiny or fate of the character(s). Breaking out of who you think you are and becoming what you need to be. This, along with fate, causes you to be thrust into a situation where you don’t want to be, but must be in order to resolve the current situation. This is the untamed, magical abilities of Bree Tanner coming to terms with her heritage and her future.
Is this the first book in the series? If so, when is the next book coming out, and what can your fans expect in the next story?
Oh, great question! To be honest, this was going to be a novel that stood on its own. I never had any intention of writing a second book. That said, everyone I know personally and others who have contacted me or in their reviews of the book at various locations have asked if there will be a follow-up book with possibly more story involving some of the side characters.
OK. Without sticking my head through a noose, I will say that I have already been brainstorming, pre-plotting, and fleshing out some ideas. Things are always subject to change, and I would hate to say too much about what I think will happen, but if things stay the way I have them started right now, it would certainly involve more story with characters within Sam’s library, along with the Fae. I wouldn’t want to say much more than that right now and be accused later for not following through. Also, I have three other stories I want to write as well. Will I write the follow-up soon? I have a tendency to write two books at once, writing one novel’s first two or three chapters and then working on the plot of another book, and then going back to where I left off. This bouncing back-and-forth gives my brain time to decompress from too much focus on one by fiddling with another. I am always thinking of the next two or three books that I want to write and extremely fidgety over which one will be first. As of this writing, I will probably start on book 5 in my Rangers of the Realm sci-fi series as well as this one.
People are free to leave me messages on my website as to their own thoughts on my books or ideas of what they would like to read. All are welcome.
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This is a book that demands to be read in a single sitting, a page-turner that balances heart-pounding action with moments of genuine emotional depth.
A Unique Spin
Stolen Histories follows two best friends working to sabotage corrupt institutions who find themselves in a high-stakes heist involving dragons, haunted landscapes, and the looming power of the imperialist Empire. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The first thing I ask when I’m writing something is, ‘Would I enjoy reading this?’ All the situations my characters end up in—from the heists, dragons, and hauntings—are things I love reading about. My biggest inspirations are other stories, like Six of Crows or The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, along with looking at my characters and asking, ‘What kind of trouble can I get them into?’
I find the world you created in this novel brimming with possibilities. Where did the inspiration for the setting come from, and how did it change as you were writing?
My inspiration for the world of Avalon came a long time ago—I thought it would be interesting to have a world where magic is the norm, and not having magic is considered the old wives’ tale. A lot has come from that single idea. I wanted to create my own magic system and world setting while also not being so confusing that no one can follow what’s going on. This is how I ended up with Singers, Scribes, and the like. Initially, I thought of doing a D&D-inspired world, or bringing in gods/creatures that already exist in stories, but ended up discarding that for a unique spin of my own. Now, I have Nightbloods, Sun Eaters, and whatnot. There’s so much worldbuilding I’ve done that the first book doesn’t even touch, so I’m excited to continue the series!
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Bigger themes like imperialism, colonialism, and rebellion were important to me since they will be explored throughout the whole series. But on a character level, themes like identity, grief, belonging, ambition, and family really bring the whole book forward. Each character has their own journey to go on, and I try to do that justice.
Is this the first book in the series? If so, when is the next book coming out, and what can your fans expect in the next story?
This is the first book! Stolen Histories is the start of a six-book series, The Infinite Night Saga, and while I’m not sure when the second book will be finished, it is well on the way. I’m sure it will be done sometime next year, which is exciting for me to think about. What fans can expect is more heists, found family, and struggles against a power-hungry empire!
Author Links: GoodReads | Bluesky | Website | Amazon
A girl in over her head is after a stolen artifact, two master thieves are leading a crew to reclaim lost treasures, and their team is anything but ordinary-some of them shouldn’t even exist. With shaky loyalties, dangerous magic, and an empire tightening its grip, their plan is held together by luck and desperation. They might just pull it off… if the world-or they-don’t tear them apart first.
In this story about secrets, family, and good old-fashioned heists, a ruthless empire hoards stolen history, and a daring crew is reckless enough to take it back. But in a game where power is everything and disaster is inevitable, the difference between a successful job and a fatal mistake might come down to who’s willing to risk it all.
Inescapable (The Immortal Blood Gift Series)
Marina Rehm’s Inescapable is the eerie, emotional slow-burn opener to the Immortal Blood Gift series, blending small-town angst with something far more ancient and chilling. Set in the snowy, forgotten corners of Berlin, New Hampshire, in 1985, it follows Dylan Harper, a high school senior who’s just trying to survive his bullies, get into Harvard, and take care of his single mom. But when a mysterious woman named Marie and her icy-eyed husband Alec arrive, the sleepy town suddenly becomes the backdrop to a series of violent, unexplainable deaths, and Dylan is pulled into something bigger than himself. It’s part coming-of-age, part supernatural thriller, all wrapped in a rich layer of dread.
What stood out to me immediately about this book was how convincingly Rehm captures Dylan’s character. He is awkward, uncertain, often overwhelmed, and acutely aware of his low standing in the social hierarchy. Rehm presents him with unflinching honesty, avoiding sentimentality and allowing the narrative to unfold at a deliberate, effective pace. The early chapters, especially those set in the gas station, drip with the bleakness of small-town inertia. When Dylan encounters Marie, a woman whose beauty and poise seem almost unreal, it briefly disrupts his sense of monotony. Her presence is described with such vivid detail, particularly the image of her leather-gloved hands and effortless self-possession, that she feels both mesmerizing and dangerous. A moment in which she assists Dylan in cleaning up a spilled slushie feels disarmingly intimate, yet beneath that quiet interaction lies a deeper threat. It’s this layered ambiguity that immediately drew me in.
The writing itself surprised me. It’s sharp but accessible, with enough emotion to pull you in without ever getting overly dramatic. I appreciated how Rehm balanced horror with heartbreak. Take the murder of Stacy Yelander, for example. That discovery scene was utterly haunting. Dylan stumbling across her mangled body in the snow, those glowing eyes in the woods gave me goosebumps. And yet, the real gut punch wasn’t just the horror, it was Dylan’s numb reaction. His fear. His powerlessness. It’s not just about monsters in the dark; it’s about being trapped in a life you didn’t choose, where the world doesn’t care if you survive it.
What kept me turning the pages was the strange push-pull between Marie’s charm and Alec’s terrifying silence. Something about them is clearly not human, but Rehm never lays it all out. She lets the dread grow like frost on a window. Alec says maybe three words, but you feel him in every room. The slow pace gave me time to settle into the tension, to care about Dylan, and to dread whatever was coming. And there’s something refreshing about a supernatural story where the creatures don’t sparkle or monologue, they just stalk, manipulate, and kill.
Inescapable is a cold, quiet scream of a book. If you’ve ever been the outsider, the weird kid, the one who just wanted to get out of your dead-end town, this will hit home. It’s for readers who like their horror with heart, who don’t mind a slow build, and who enjoy being unnerved by people who are just a little too perfect. This is not a book for those needing instant gratification, but if you like stories that simmer before they burn, this one’s worth it.
Pages : 361 | ASIN : B0DPJ6F7TF
LITERARY TITAN 