Helen’s Tale follows a lonely Elder woman working for the royal family who is entrusted with mentoring a new Elder-in-training with whom she forms a bond. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Helen’s Tale is a companion novel to the Otherworld Trilogy. The trilogy itself is focused on Alexandria’s adventures. (Alexandria is the princess of the Otherworld.) Helen also appears as a secondary yet important character in the trilogy. She received mixed feelings from the readers. Some were fascinated by her character while others found her snobbish and standoffish. Therefore, I decided to write a prequel for the trilogy featuring her as the main protagonist. I was inspired by two movies—Black Swan (2010) and Spencer (2021). Both are psychological films. I decided to step up my game and include some Gothic elements in Helen’s Tale and make some parts of it horrifying.

What’s the moral of this dark tale, you may ask? Does it aim only to scare? Being the preachy author I am, I made sure to include an important message in the book: We all have weaknesses. You can be a tough, macho guy or a strong, independent woman, but in the end, none of us is invincible.

What was your writing process to ensure you captured the essence of the characters?

The writing process was very much like most of my books—I didn’t follow the sequence of chapters when writing Helen’s Tale. Instead, I worked on the scarier chapters first, derived great pleasure from writing them, and patched the holes (missing chapters) at the end. I did not have to work hard to capture the essence of the characters because I was already familiar with them, having finished the Otherworld Trilogy before starting Helen’s Tale.

Are there any emotions or memories from your own life that you put into your character’s life?

The answer is a very fortunate no. Although like Helen, I was bullied, the level of bullying she experienced was inhumane, while my plight paled in contrast. She suffered from PTSD, depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety in the aftermath, and while I was lucky enough to walk away from the bullying un-traumatized, I know many people aren’t as fortunate. Being an author, it is important to empathize with our characters and imagine what we would have done if we were them.

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

The next book from my publisher might be Eric’s Tale, another companion novel to the Otherworld Trilogy. Like Helen, Eric is also a character with a sad past. The other two companion novels I’ve written for this series are Zack’s Tale and Eileen’s Tale.

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