Demon’s Choice follows a demon in human form who finds himself intensely attracted to a human waitress despite the idea of a human/demon romance being ill-advised. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

My husband and I were rewatching Supernatural for possibly the fifth time, and the season where Dean becomes a demon, however short-lived that was, made me wonder how a demon would react if their loved one was threatened. Dean as a character is very protective of his family, and the thought occurred to me that as a demon this characteristic could be magnified. This went on to consider how a demon would react if their loved one ending up being the sacrifice used to summon them.

But I didn’t want to just repeat stories I had read where the sacrifice was merely sent to the demon and they end up sparing the sacrifice’s life with a new deal. I wanted it to be something that stood out, that pulled on heartstrings from the beginning. The only way I could see that being done was to turn the sacrifice into a blood ritual, meaning the sacrifice would already be dead on the demon’s arrival. Obviously, with this being the love interest that would bring the story to a very abrupt end before it even begun. That in turn birthed the creation of boundlings, sacrificed souls that agree to live on to serve Hell. From that, I delved into creating a full world with intricate lore for how Hell functioned, and how each demon served a purpose.

The relationship between a demon and a human developed naturally from that. Demons are immortal and serve a very specific purpose in the expansion of Hell. If humans knew about them, that would greatly hinder their work, so logically demons that operated on Earth had to be secretive. And everyone loves a forbidden relationship.

Your characters are richly developed, making readers want to get to know them. What character did you enjoy writing for? Was there one that was more challenging to write for?

Ambrose was my favourite character to write in Demon’s Choice. He is a character that has lived in my head for I’m honestly not sure how long anymore, but he never really fit into a story until now. When the concept for Demon’s Choice came to me, I knew instantly he was made to fill the shoes of the main male character and love interest. The story itself focuses on Lena’s journey, but it is through the patience, support and love that Ambrose provides her that makes that journey possible.

However, one character that gave me the greatest challenge was Cyrus. Not because he was difficult to write, or that I didn’t enjoy developing his character, but because he wanted to be the focus of any scene he was a part of. I am a firm believer that our characters are real to us and Cyrus absolutely proved that to me. I frequently had to have conversations with him to tone his attitude down, to the point where I promised him the second book in the series so he would get his time to shine. And boy, did he.

In fantasy novels it’s easy to get carried away with the magical powers characters have. How did you balance the use of supernatural powers?

Before delving into the power systems of Hell, in a rare moment of actual planning, I wrote out how each power manifested. The different kinds of elemental power I wanted to introduced and how they interacted, or counteracted, with each other. Self-healing was a necessary for some demons, but much like with sports, some are better at it than others, and some cannot harness this ability at all. This was helped by introducing demonic rankings, creating lower and higher-level demons, all with varying ranging of abilities and powers. The key was simply to be consistent, and to refer back to my lore as and when needed.

Where does the story go in the next book, and where do you see it going in the future?

The purpose of the series is to build to the actual Apocalypse. Book 2, Demon’s Faith, focuses on Cyrus and Marcus, characters introduced in Book 1, and their developing relationship as they support and serve Lena in her new role. Likewise, the following books will focus on different couplings, but all driving towards the same goal. Bringing about the Apocalypse.

The final book in the series will be told from four perspectives or one character from each of the preceding books. It will be the ultimate end and culmination of all previous narratives. All will be tested more than they ever have been, and not all will survive. It’s the end of days after all.

I also plan to have a number of spin-off novellas, features characters we have met along the way, but that have no real bearing on the main storyline. Giving me the opportunity to continue living in my world of demons.