Coffee, Murder, and a Scone follows a sarcastic, introverted mystic who starts having vivid visions of a dangerously handsome man, murdered women, and her own death. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
My inspiration came from a dream. It was vivid enough that I kept thinking about it while I went through the day. I decided it would make a great start to a novel. I tossed out the first few chapters the next day and then left it for a while. It wasn’t until last year that I came back and finished it. I have to admit the scene where Violet physically encounters the malevolent spirit of Steven’s ancestor was close to an experience I had with the supernatural. It wasn’t pleasant. I can only hope that I was able to encompass that feeling in the scene enough that others can understand what it was like.
I found Violet Blueblade to be an intriguing character. What was your inspiration for this character?
I fashioned Violet after myself. Admittedly, all my female main characters exhibit some part of my traits or personality. With Violet, I used my self-doubt, sarcasm, and introverted personality in the hopes that it would bring levity to the scenes and characters. I hoped the character Violet could show that even in the darkest moments, you can find the light and hold on until the storm passes.
Violet is happy with her routine and life of avoiding people, but her visions and her niece’s emerging powers change things. Do you think there’s a single moment in everyone’s life, maybe not as traumatic, that is life-changing?
No, I feel there are always more than one. Life is filled with ups and downs and things that require us to make decisions. We may not notice our decision in the moment, but those moments are what change our lives. Some events will be joyous or fun, and others will be traumatic or depressing, but it is how we face those moments and the decisions we make that change our lives. Sometimes the changes are for the better and sometimes for the worse, but in the end, we are not who we are without them.
Will this novel be the start of a series, or are you working on a different story?
Originally, I wrote this book as a standalone. I had this idea that kept itching, and I needed to get it out of my mind by putting it on paper. As I was writing, I found I had more fun than I did with any other story or novel I have written. I don’t tend to write like most other authors. I don’t map out the story ahead of time, create outlines, or any of that. I create a character in my head and let that character show me where the story goes. I felt that this story bombed, but after having a few of my close friends and relatives read it, they begged me to write it so that it could become a series. I have a feeling that Violet and Steven will be investigating another mystery in the near future.
Violet is no ordinary woman; in her small town, she’s known as a witch. Haunted by unsettling visions, she must navigate her nieces’ emerging powers, a shocking murder, and Steven’s relentless quest for true love. Can she uncover the truth behind the crime before it’s too late?
Steven has lost three wives under mysterious circumstances, and now he seems intent on making Violet his next. But is he seeking a partner—or a victim? As Violet delves into his past, will her visions reveal the innocence he claims, or will the specter of his past prove more dangerous than she ever imagined?
The Secret of Spirit Lake follows a 14-year-old who has her life uprooted and finds herself experiencing haunting events in her family’s new Victorian lake home. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I grew up in a small town where everyone knew everyone else, and I actually thought it would be great to move somewhere new where no one knew me. So I decided to write a book exploring the journey of a teenage girl who does just that. The house where I grew up was over 200 years old, and several family members claimed it was haunted, although I never saw or heard anything, and I am actually pretty skeptical when it comes to ghosts. But I find the possibility intriguing enough that it found its way into my story. Also, I moved to a lake in Virginia when I retired, and I wanted to write a story set at a lake.
What is it that draws you to write books for teens and young adult readers?
For the past eight years, I have been volunteering for an organization called Childhelp, which serves children who have been abused and/or neglected. Over that period, I have run several book clubs with some of the older girls, aged 11-14. Having read many young adult books with them, I gained some insight into what types of plots and characters appeal to them. I also have three grown daughters, and I remember the types of books they liked to read as teenagers. I have always wanted to write, and teenagers, especially girls, seemed like a natural target audience for me.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I was interested in how both Amy and Penny face the different challenges that life throws at them, and how they mature as a result. How teenagers deal with hardship. The importance of friends and relationships, even with a ghost.
I find a problem in well-written stories, in that I always want there to be another book to keep the story going. Is there a second book planned?
I am not planning to write a sequel to The Secret of Spirit Lake, because I am not sure where I could go with it. But I am working on a book tentatively titled Glo-kids, which is about teenagers who discover that they are half-alien. They can transform into energy, and they need to fight an evil energy being. It is currently in the editing process, and I am now thinking about a sequel. Writing young adult novels is fun!
In a haunted Victorian home, two girls from different eras uncover a chilling mystery. As Amy navigates her new life and Penny fights for survival, their paths intertwine through a ghostly nanny, leading to friendship, courage, and the truth behind a tragic past.
Set against the backdrop of a picturesque North Carolina lake, The Secret of Spirit Lake weaves the tales of Amy and Penny, two young girls separated by time yet connected by fate. In 2023, Amy moves into the old Victorian house with her family, feeling lost and resentful of her new life. The transition is daunting, especially with her parents uprooting her from her childhood home and friends. As she grapples with her feelings of isolation, Amy discovers the tower bedroom, where whispers of the past linger.
Eighty-five years earlier, Penny faces her own challenges as a young nanny after losing her parents in a devastating fire. Orphaned and placed with distant relatives, she suspects their intentions are less than noble. Struggling to protect the children in her care, Penny’s resilience shines through as she navigates her new reality.
The connection between Amy and Penny deepens when they encounter Sally, the ghostly nanny who haunts the tower. Sally’s tragic story unfolds, revealing dark secrets and a shared history of loss. As Amy and her friends delve into the mystery surrounding Sally’s past, they uncover the truth about Penny’s fate and the injustices she faced.
Through courage and friendship, both girls embark on a journey of self-discovery, ultimately finding strength in their shared experiences. The Secret of Spirit Lake is a haunting tale of resilience, love, and the bonds that transcend time.
Reservations follow a gifted FBI profiler with psychological insight whose mentor dies while working on a serial killer case, leaving her to pick up where he left off. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
First, I have to start with a backstory. In 2017, I was having a difficult time in my life; ending a 28-year marriage, leaving a job I was unhappy in, selling my house, and in need of a life overhaul. One day, I woke up and demanded a do-over from the Universe. Several nights later, the dreams started, and the books began. This book, Reservations (originally under a different title), was written in less than a month, followed by six more in a period of six months. I dreamt every night and wrote every day. The dreams were a visceral guide, with me filling in the blanks. A lot of stops and starts, but eight years later, here we are.
Samantha Wright is as real a character I could write because she is all of us. She is me. The story is about losing those who are close to us, who have made us who we are, and when they are lost to us, how we move on and try to make them proud with our attempt, we try to make things better. Sam has a career at the FBI, dealing with death while trying to find justice for the victims of the heinous things people do to each other. In this world, we all deal with what Sam does, just in a more unnoticed way. Just as Sam is trying to learn to live with everything she witnesses and is surrounded by daily, so are we with the very personal stories we all have to tell about how we live within the 24-hour news cycle and the reality we all see. I needed Sam to be many things, and she could be those things if her job had leverage to it.
I enjoyed Samantha’s character; she is engaging, intelligent, and complicated, not at all predictable. What was your inspiration for Samantha Wright’s character, and how did you craft her outlook on life?
They say you write what you know, and there is a lot of subconscious memory that is a treasure trove of bits and pieces that surface once they are awakened. Samantha Wright is a culmination of women I’ve known over the years that made a difference in me and my thinking, and by morphing those qualities and remembrances – well – Samantha was born. Once I had Samantha Wright and the dreams, I pieced the puzzle together. I’ve worked for attorneys as a paralegal, and that brought connections to stories of people and situations that made sense of the dreams and enabled me to weave a story together anchored by this amazing woman, Samantha Wright. Sam’s outlook is one of despair backed by hope. Strength of conviction, but willing to be weak, with not always knowing what to do. A yearning for love, but knowing her responsibilities will always color any relationship she would have. Again, Sam is us. I write with first and third person – I want the reader to know at all times all the characters in the scene and what they feel, think, and say, even when Sam isn’t part of the scene.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I have always had a connection, an affinity to Native culture, having lived in the Western state of Colorado. I’ve been drawn to the sense of Tribe and the rich history since I was young. I’ve also lived in situations that brought abuse, addiction, strength through fear, cultural divides, and love, of course, in my life and the life of those I know. I try to slowly bring themes into the plots, without being preachy or making it stand out – themes don’t have to stand out; they just have to be absorbed by the reader as part of the story. I want the reader to think back and see layers in what they’ve read.
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?
The series has seven books – the first, Reservations: A Samantha Wright Crime Series, the second, The Last Profile, which just launched on Amazon, continues the core characters that are so integral to the plots and the important stories they bring forward. The Last Profile has Samantha following a case on and off the reservation, three plots going on at the same time, leading her through a maze of lies and betrayal by the very people her life centers around. If you love Will Little Bear, he helps Sam work the case that is supposed to finally free her from the FBI, so they can have the life they yearn for. Five more books follow; manuscripts finalized, waiting in the wings to be launched every six months. Plots that you may never have read before, characters that attach themselves to you, and relatable stories that resonate with the reader. The books are about people who have a family life and a work life – they figure out how to make it work, and in Sam’s case, her family, her tribe, is her foundation that gives her the ability to do her most difficult job, finding justice and a voice for those who can’t speak for themselves.
A brutal case. A haunted profiler. A killer hiding in plain sight.
When Special Agent Samantha Wright’s mentor dies while profiling a disturbing serial killer case known as “The Reservations Case,” she’s left to pick up the pieces—and finish what he started. Young Native American boys are being abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered across multiple states, and the trail leads deep into the heart of the American West.
Sam is no ordinary profiler. Gifted with an uncanny psychological insight and a darkly self-deprecating sense of humor, she sees patterns others miss. But as the case grows more complex—and culturally sensitive—she’ll need more than sharp instincts to bring the killer to justice.
With help from her commanding yet complicated boss, Special Agent Charlie Falken, and a skilled Cheyenne tracker, Will Little Bear, Sam must navigate the perilous intersection of federal law, reservation sovereignty, and cultural trauma. As tensions rise and bodies pile up, alliances deepen—and so do emotions.
RESERVATIONS is a gripping crime thriller that blends psyc
When I first picked up Chris Neo’s Between Eros, I thought I was stepping into a straightforward love story, but it opened up into something bigger. The book follows Aris, an older, seasoned man juggling a collapsing marriage, unpredictable friendships, and a dangerous ocean voyage that turns into a survival fight. What begins as a romantic adventure quickly spirals into storms, sabotage, and tangled emotional loyalties. The story blends romance, action, and psychological tension, giving it the feel of romantic adventure fiction tinged with thriller energy.
As I read, I found myself reacting as if I were listening to a friend tell me wild stories over coffee, pausing every so often to say, “Wait… what?” The writing leans into momentum rather than subtlety. Neo moves quickly through conflict, argument, seduction, and danger, rarely lingering on inner reflection. The fast pace kept me turning pages. I didn’t expect the mix of interpersonal drama and near disasters at sea to feel as chaotic as it did, but it fits the book’s emotional landscape. Aris is constantly pulled between desire, responsibility, ego, and fear, and the writing mirrors that turbulence.
Aris is written as both admirable and deeply flawed, and the women around him range from seductive to volatile to tender. The tone sometimes slides into melodrama, but in a way that feels intentional for the genre. What stood out most to me were the moments when characters dropped their masks. A single line of vulnerability from Kay, or a burst of insecurity from Uri, did more for me than some of the larger plot swings. The book seems to ask whether love is a force of destiny, a psychological illusion, or something we build through trial, error, and sheer stubbornness. It doesn’t hand you a tidy answer.
By the time I closed the book, I had the sense that Between Eros would appeal most to readers who enjoy high drama, fast movement, and a blend of romance and danger. If you like romantic adventure fiction that leans into passion, betrayal, big emotions, and bigger twists, this one delivers exactly that. It is bold, emotive, and unafraid to swing for the fences.
Stealing Stealth follows a CIA officer tasked with protecting a new stealth technology who must enlist the help of a brilliant thief to stop it from falling into the wrong hands. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I wrote the initial draft of this story when I was deployed in Afghanistan. I was constantly in this battle with what is said and what is left unsaid, in an intriguing chess match with men who were both my ally and not at the same time. To capture this specific paranoia, I thought of the mid-1970s. We often look at the Cold War through the lens of the 80s. That was the end. But just before that, everything was messy. The Church Committee was exposing CIA secrets, Vietnam had just ended, and trust in institutions was crumbling. I wanted to drop a “Boy Scout” character like John Olson into that moral grey zone and force him to work with someone like Gabrielle Hyde, who represents pure, chaotic individualism. The stealth technology itself was the perfect catalyst because it represented a revolution in warfare that terrified everyone. The idea that a plane could be invisible to radar felt like magic in 1977.
There was a lot of time spent crafting the character traits in this novel. What was the most important factor for you to get right in your characters?
Competence. Nothing kills a thriller faster than characters who make stupid decisions just for the sake of the plot. I wanted Olson and Hyde to be masters of their respective crafts. When they fail, it’s because they were outmaneuvered by a smarter opponent, not because they were making bad choices. I also wanted to explore the cost of competence. For Olson, his dedication to the CIA cost him his personal life. For Hyde, her tragic youth led to brilliance as a thief, but it also left her isolated. The most important factor was ensuring that even when they were enemies, they respected each other’s skills. That mutual respect is the engine of the book.
How did you balance the action scenes with the story elements and still keep a fast pace in the story?
My background in special operations taught me that real action is rarely a continuous two-hour firefight. It’s hours of tension followed by seconds of chaos. I tried to replicate that rhythm, but with a better balance. Also, it is important that the reader cares. 1970s politics and game-changing aircraft technology are complicated enough, but I needed the reader to feel that pressure. Then, as the tension built through briefing room politics, the surveillance, and the planning, the reader finally felt the stakes. The pacing comes from the pressure cooker effect; the clock is ticking, and the walls are closing in. Then I added the guns.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?
The next book is Arctic Fire, releasing in April 2026. It is a tonal shift from the spy world of Stealing Stealth. It’s a Neo-Western Noir set in the Alaskan wilderness, following a female Marine veteran who uncovers a conspiracy in a small, frozen town. Think Wind River meets Sicario. After that comes Eye of the Caldera. It’s a high-octane disaster thriller inspired by incredible true events and a declassified CIA operation. It drops in the Fall of 2026.
John Olson hunted Gabrielle Hyde for years. Now he needs her help.
At the height of the Cold War, America’s revolutionary stealth technology could tip the balance of power. Now the race to control it threatens to derail a critical nuclear treaty between the world’s two superpowers.
Soviet operatives are close to acquiring this game-changing military secret. CIA Officer Olson has just seven days to protect America’s biggest technological advantage from falling into the wrong hands. His only hope lies with the brilliant thief he couldn’t catch: Gabrielle Hyde.
Inside the secretive Skunk Works facility, nothing is what it seems. Hyde and Olson discover Moscow isn’t the only enemy. A traitor from within is thwarting their every move. With both the FBI and KGB closing in and bodies piling up, Olson faces an impossible choice: follow orders from an agency that no longer trusts him or follow Hyde into an elaborate con against his own government.
From a decorated Air Force Colonel with 26 years in special operations and field command comes an authentic Cold War thriller where the greatest threats wear familiar faces.
Trust no one. Question everything. And never underestimate Gabrielle Hyde. For fans of David McCloskey’s Damascus Station, John le Carré, and Daniel Silva, Stealing Stealth is a high-stakes heist where the only way to protect freedom is to steal its deepest secret.
Drinking from the Stream follows two young men on the run for different reasons who cross paths and set out together exploring East Africa and their own morals in a world where dictatorship and mass murders are the norm. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I left the US to travel one week after graduating college. When I came back five years later, my mother kept asking me, “What did you really do in Africa?” How to explain what I was thinking, whom I had met, where I had gone, what I had seen and felt and heard, smelled and tasted, what I had learned, what scared me, what made me laugh, and what inspired me? I decided to write a novel, a kind of anthem for the generation that came out of the wreckage of the ’sixties and whom I met on the road. I thought the story I wanted to tell would have more weight if the character who kills his antisemitic persecutor was not actually Jewish, thus forcing him into unexpected psychologies. Having two narrators allowed me to broaden the scope and to develop the characters in many more settings and situations than would otherwise be possible, and through their eyes also to show more of Africa and of the world.
You took your time developing the characters and the story, which had a great emotional impact. How did you manage the pacing of the story while keeping readers engaged?
There are novelist tricks that I had to learn. A novel consists of scenes. Something must happen, or else there’s no reason for the scene to be there. Scenes should ”start late and end early,” not waste time, and leave the reader wanting to know what comes next. I alluded to massacres at the start of the book, which I hoped would give readers a feel for what came next. There is a rhythm to travel which speeds up and slows down, and the action of the book also speeds up and slows down.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
A partial list: friendship, long-distance travel on bad roads with little money, politics and history, courage, the world of the early 1970s, East Africa and Ethiopia, judgment, colonialism, revolution, mass murder, dictatorship, insurrection, racism, loyalty, small acts of bravery.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?
Next book: A TRIP BY CANOE (short stories) to be published by Koehler Books July 2026.
Part action-adventure novel, part political thriller based on historical facts, Drinking from the Stream is set during 1971 and 1972, a time of violent upheaval when the Vietnam War and the Chinese Cultural Revolution marked a generation. The action leapfrogs from Louisiana to London, Paris, and Tanzania in a coming-of-age tale of international youth colliding with post-independence Africa.
Jake Ries, a twenty-two-year-old Nebraska farm boy turned oil roughneck, turns fugitive when he unintentionally kills a homicidal White supremacist on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. On the run, he meets Karl Appel, a restless Oxford dropout and former anti-war activist struggling with his own personal demons. Together they throw caution to the wind and plunge into the Ethiopian and East African hinterland, where they discover that dictatorship and mass murder are facts of life.
Aries I – The King of Mars follows a 13-year-old boy who, after his mother’s death, ends up part of the Mars colony, leading him on a journey of self-discovery and understanding of what survival really means. What were some of the emotional and moral guidelines you followed when developing your characters?
When developing my characters, I followed emotional and moral guidelines rooted in loss, survival, and empathy. The death of my son last year fundamentally changed how I understand pain, resilience, and what it truly means to endure. Grief stripped away any interest I had in shallow motivations or easy answers. From that point on, I felt a responsibility to write characters who carry weight, who hurt, adapt, and keep moving forward, not because they are fearless, but because stopping isn’t an option.
One of the strongest guiding principles was an understanding that all life is engaged in a constant struggle to survive. Whether human, animal, or even systems we build to sustain ourselves, survival is never abstract; it is physical, emotional, and moral all at once. I wanted my characters to reflect that truth. Their choices are often imperfect, driven by fear, love, guilt, or hope, but always grounded in the instinct to protect what remains and to find meaning in continuing on.
Emotionally, I allowed characters to be shaped by loss rather than defined by it. Grief does not disappear; it changes form. I tried to honor that reality by letting characters carry their wounds quietly, sometimes awkwardly, and sometimes in ways that create conflict. Morally, I avoided clear heroes and villains in favor of people making the best decisions they can with the tools they have at that moment. Survival, after all, rarely allows for clean moral lines.
Ultimately, these characters exist because I believe survival itself is an act of courage. Every living thing fights to breathe, to belong, to matter—even in hostile environments. Writing from that place, shaped by personal loss, became a way to acknowledge pain without surrendering to it, and to recognize that continuing forward, however imperfectly, is one of the most human acts there is.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
At its core, this book is centered on a single idea: life fights to survive. Everything else grows out of that truth. My experience with loss helped me to see survival, not as something dramatic or heroic, but as something constant and relentless. Life persists even when it is broken, even when it is exhausted, even when it has been reshaped by loss. That realization became the emotional foundation of the story.
I wanted to explore survival in all its forms, not only the physical struggle to stay alive, but the quieter, harder fight to keep going emotionally and morally. Every living thing is engaged in that struggle, adapting to hostile conditions, scarcity, fear, and uncertainty. In the book, survival demands resilience, cooperation, and sacrifice, whether the challenge comes from an unforgiving environment or from the weight carried inside a person’s heart.
The idea that life continues forward also shaped how I approached legacy and responsibility. Survival isn’t only about the present moment; it’s about protecting what remains and making space for what comes next. Even after loss, life pushes forward through memory, through purpose, and through the act of building something that can endure.
Ultimately, this story is about the stubborn persistence of life. It doesn’t deny pain or minimize grief, but it recognizes that choosing to continue—to breathe, to build, to hope—is itself an act of survival. Life may be fragile, but it is also determined, and that determination is what drives the heart of this book.
Where do you see your characters after the book ends?
When Aries I: The King of Mars ends, the story is really just beginning. The characters may have survived the first and most dangerous step, arriving and establishing themselves, but survival is only the opening chapter of a much larger journey. Mars is not a destination that stays still; it pushes back, changes the people who live on it, and forces them to evolve.
Aries, in particular, is only at the beginning of becoming who he will be. By the end of the book, he has proven he can survive, adapt, and contribute, but leadership, identity, and consequence are still ahead of him. Mars will demand more than intelligence and resilience; it will test his values, his relationships, and the kind of future he believes is worth fighting for.
The other characters follow similar arcs. What starts as cooperation for survival will grow into conflicts over control, legacy, and what it truly means to claim a new world. Some characters will rise in unexpected ways, others will fracture under pressure, and alliances that seem solid at the end of this book won’t remain untouched by time or hardship.
In many ways, Aries I is the foundation stone. The next chapters explore what happens after survival, when building, ruling, and protecting a world brings new dangers that are no longer purely environmental. This story was always envisioned as a trilogy, and the later books dig deeper into the cost of leadership, the weight of inheritance, and how far people will go when Mars is no longer just a place to live, but something worth fighting over.
Thirteen-year-old Aries never asked to leave Earth behind. But after the tragic loss of his mother and a father obsessed with colonizing Mars, Aries finds himself hurtling toward a future written in red dust and steel.
At first, Mars is just another hostile frontier, a place for scientists, soldiers, and survivors. But when disaster strikes and no one listens to the boy who knows the colony best, Aries must choose: follow orders or forge his own path.
What begins as rebellion becomes legend. Alone among the wreckage, Aries discovers that survival means more than oxygen and water, it means leadership, courage, and the will to challenge Earth itself. In a world where every breath is borrowed, one boy dares to claim a planet.
Shifting Sands follows the survivors of Sol Thalen in the aftermath of its fall as they try to rebuild their culture and society when everything has literally been destroyed. How did you approach writing about this destruction and your characters’ response to it?
For me, destruction is never just about the physical loss of a city—it’s about what happens to identity, purpose, and relationships in the aftermath. When Sol Thalen fell, it wasn’t just the loss of a home; it was the unraveling of legacy, belief, and the illusion of safety. I approached the writing with a deep sense of grief—both personal and communal. I asked myself, What do people hold onto when everything collapses? The characters’ responses came from that place of questioning. Just as some characters choose hope—clinging to survival and the chance to rebuild and dream of a future—others give up hope for themselves, often believing that their own death or disappearance might still serve a purpose. There’s this tragic tendency to justify surrender as a kind of sacrifice: If I fall, maybe someone else can rise. That contrast—between hoping for self and hoping for others—is the heart of the emotional conflict I wanted readers to feel. It’s rarely clean or heroic. It’s messy, human, and deeply personal. And it’s in those moments, I think, that the soul of a story reveals itself.
It seems you took your time in developing the characters and the story, creating a great emotional impact while the survivors process what is left of their world and civilization. How did you manage the pacing of the story while keeping readers engaged?
Thank you—that means a lot. Pacing is something I pay obsessive attention to. I wanted the emotional beats to land, but I also didn’t want the story to feel like it was dragging its feet. What I aimed for was a rhythm: moments of stillness and reflection followed by bursts of urgency. It’s like breathing. When the characters pause to mourn or reflect, the reader breathes with them. But when danger returns—and it always does—they’re pulled right back into the action. I layered multiple storylines so that even when one character is reeling, another might be scheming or moving forward. That way, readers never feel stuck. There’s always a heartbeat somewhere.
I also use an outline, and I’m meticulous about following it. That’s where I catch when there’s too much breathing space, when a chapter feels like it’s meandering, or when a sequence clearly needs to be tightened with rising tension or sharper stakes. The outline becomes a map of emotional flow and momentum, helping me keep that delicate balance. I layered multiple storylines so that even when one character is reeling, another might be scheming or moving forward. That way, readers never feel stuck. There’s always a heartbeat somewhere.
Are you a fan of the fantasy and adventure genres? What books do you think most influenced your work?
Absolutely, I’m a lifelong fan. Fantasy gave me the language to talk about things I didn’t always have words for—identity, grief, power, longing. I grew up reading Tolkien and C.S. Lewis like many others, but it was later on that I was deeply moved by authors like Brandon Sanderson, Cassandra Clare, J.K. Rowling, and Ursula K. Le Guin. Each of them, in their own way, showed me that fantasy could be epic and intimate. That worldbuilding could serve emotional truth. Their works taught me that it’s not just about dragons or swords or kingdoms—it’s about the people who bleed and hope in between. I try to carry that into every page I write.
I hope the series continues in other books. If so, where will the story take readers?
Thank you—and yes, it absolutely does continue. Shifting Sands is the fourth installment of a five-book saga, and the next book is the finale, where everything comes to a head. The choices made in Shifting Sands ripple outward, and readers will be taken to corners of the world that have only been hinted at until now. The political game gets even deadlier. Old wounds resurface. And the more fantastical elements take center stage in ways that force the characters to question not just their loyalties, but their very sense of identity.
If Shifting Sands was about surviving the collapse, Ancient Paths is about reckoning—learning who you really are when certain truths come to light, and deciding what kind of legacy you want to leave behind. Some legacies, after all, might be too broken to rebuild. And some people may discover they were never meant to serve themselves, but something far greater.
Readers have often told me they don’t know how the stakes could possibly get any higher—and to that, I say: I’m excited for them. Many have also noticed how I tend to plant seeds in earlier books that only bear fruit later on. Well, this fifth and final book is where all those seeds bloom. Every thread comes together. Every secret is revealed. This is the climax of everything.
Hunger Games Mockingjay meets Attack on Titan in this powerful fourth installment of collapsing eras, rising heroes, and the choices that determine which legacies are born—and which are destined to die.
THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA IS ALWAYS PAID IN GRAVES. And with the Sunken City subdued and Sol Thalen fallen, this truth has become undeniable. The Cycle of the Capitals has ended, leaving a world fractured by distance and silence. As Chris joins a people in exodus, he finds no victory left untainted—every gain paid for in blood, every cost sharpening like a blade. Joined by the new Chronicler, he journeys in a final attempt to save a scattered remnant from extinction—and soon realizes he must confront the creature within him… and accept that surviving the monsters around them may require becoming one himself.
Elline faces a different reckoning. With the Capitals isolated and every line of communication severed, mistrust coils behind every stone of Djarin Tor—ready to ignite a coup that would ensure their defeat in the widening war. To stop this collapse, she must embrace the birthright she has long avoided—even if it means defying the Magister. Meanwhile, Havet’s designs tighten with a precision that suggests his victory has already begun, and his cruelty shows no end. As an era dies in silence, the fate of the next will be written not by those who hope to endure it, but by those who dare to shape it from the ruins left behind.
A fast-growing favorite among epic-fantasy readers, this saga delivers cinematic battles, devastating stakes, and slow-burning bonds caught in the crossfire of a war that threatens to consume entire eras—set in a world where monsters rise and no victory comes without a price.
LITERARY TITAN 