In the The Quasi-Crystal, a young gem cutter is launched on the journey of a lifetime after discovering an extraordinary crystal that exists simultaneously across multiple realms. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Each of my books has a theme. In this book, it was about truth and scientific inquiry. The fog that Ran-dhal has to battle represents many things. It is the fog of ignorance, it is also a fog that prevents us from seeing into the inner workings of thing. It is the fog science tries to clear when they look deep into the nature of things, be it peering into the structure of an atom or looking into the deep recesses of space. Exploring these issues was the inspiration for the book. In my reading I came across this concept in physics of a quasi-crystal, that has the properties of a rock and a crystal. I expanded the concept to have the quasi-crystal exist in two realms. In one it would look like an ordinary rock and be a magical crystal in another.

In a lot of coming-of-age fiction novels authors often add their own life experiences to the story. Are there any bits of you in this story?

In some ways there is some of me in the book. I usually identify most closely with the secondary characters in my books. So, in this book, I identify more with Theb, the gem cutter, than with the major characters. Theb is the observer, the one who asks the most questions, the one who never quite gets it. I feel he represents my feelings and process better than the other characters.

How did you manage to balance magic and its use throughout the story to keep it believable?

I deliberately tried to keep the magic to a minimum. In fact, one can question if there really is any magic in the books. The power to reach into minds and control them isn’t really magic, but a skill that can be acquired through training and practice. The fact that crystals store power isn’t really magic, although it seems like it. So, there are only a few fundamental “powers” in the books and that made it much easier to manage.

Will readers soon see a fourth installment in The Wanderer series? If so, can you give us a peek inside?

There is a fourth installment in the Wanderer series called The Golden Tree. This book concentrates on The Wanderer. I felt her story was incomplete and I wanted to get back to her. She has already been to the Silver Forest and found the Golden Pulcher, so what comes next for the person who has obtained enlightenment? The book should be out middle 2025.

I have also outlined a fifth book in the series that will take us back to Remer and his family and I’m looking to possibly do another three book series that gets more detailed on what happens inside the silver forest. So stay tuned!

Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon