Indie Saint follows a young woman who suddenly possess powerful abilities and embarks on a dangerous quest to stop a madwoman from destroying the multiverse. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?

My biggest inspiration was to draw a comparison between the protagonist, Jane, and the antagonist, Eileen. They are both women who suddenly have the power to change the world. They both have family struggles and a desire to help other people. They both come from humble roots and are afraid of the rapid changes in their lives – both mundane and supernatural. However Jane works to stand against the darkness even though she is afraid and Eileen chooses to hide behind it. I wanted to show what happens when fear rules our actions and prevents us from being who we are meant to be. I liked the idea of contrasting that when we are faced with incredible challenges we can choose to stand tall or let it twist us.

For the setting I wanted to pull some flavor that doesn’t usually get page time. My inspirations from Catholic tradition, Sumerian Mythology, Urban Legends, and Jewish Mysticism (later books) is the kind of thing I crave as a reader who has been up to my neck in werewolves and vampires for the last two and a half decades.

Jane is an intriguing and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?

Jane is a combination of two of my friends from high school with a dose of Urban Fantasy lady protagonist thrown in the mix. I liked the idea of starting the book with a character that hit a few tropes so I could gently subvert as the story went on. A strong, snarky woman – but she’s primarily a healer, not a badass combatant. She’s inexperienced and sometimes clueless, but she questions everything she learns and realizes quickly that some of the pieces don’t fit (more on that in later books.) She’s swept up in a whirlwind romance, but instead of throwing caution to the wind she thinks about her choices and implements boundaries. I tried to tie her struggles and decisions back to core ideas that everyone has to face in real life because, ultimately, that’s why superheros are interesting: not because they have powers but because we can see ourselves in them.

This seemed like a fun book to write. What scene did you have the most fun writing?

I loved writing the Bunnyman scene – it was probably the most difficult because the point of view was so skewed, but trying to walk the line between horror and ridiculousness is one of my favorite elements to play with. The Jersey Devil fight was also very enjoyable – I based the initial encounter on an interview with a woman who survived a grisly bear mauling and incorporating her first hand descriptions of the event gave the scene a lot of flavor. Dialogue was also highly enjoyable, the characters developed their own voices very quickly and intra-character dynamics were really enjoyable to write. It often felt more like I was recording a conversation than making it up myself.

What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?

Neon Redemption (Words of Power book #2) and Suicide Kings (Words of Power book #3) are available now through Amazon! Righteous Eight (Words of Power book #4) will be released August 17th. While this series is coming out I have started a new series about a man named Wade Rhodes in rural Virginia who works for the supernatural branch of animal control and is sent out on cryptid calls. I am planning on doing a mash up of a redneck Supernatural and a gay retelling of The Little Mermaid. His urban fantasy romance adventure is still in the works, but I hope to be ready to look for a publisher by Christmas.

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