Evolved follows a former agent grappling with his identity as he embarks on a rescue mission to save loved ones while unraveling a tapestry of intrigue, all within a world that fuses superhero elements. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

There are moving parts, as I see it, to the story. There is obviously the superhero aspect of the story which would be considered an event in any comic now. A huge change in the dynamic of how the world in which the Evolved takes place and the characters must find a solution. People with gifts, the Evolved, are being hunted. The inspiration behind that part of the story is from being a huge X-Men nerd my whole life, but also combining that with the real-life situations I think the world could barely fathom. The story was conceptualized during the quarantine when the world was seeing such division, when kids were being kept in cages.

The more personal story very much originated around Pahras’ relationships, more so with his family than anyone else. The inspiration behind the story was definitely relationships in my life. I’ve always loved the idea of a superhero but I definitely wanted a hero who wasn’t the norm by any stretch. When I decided this was going to be a superhero story, I knew I wanted to tell a story that maybe isn’t touched upon. Yes, Pahras has these complicated romantic relationships, but the inspiration behind the setup was always to have this man, who has superpowers, find an equilibrium in facing his even more complicated familial relationships.

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

From the very beginning, Pahras was always going to have this indomitable spirit. Blow him up, submerge him in the ocean, take his powers, whatever else, and he’s going to fight back. He is resilient beyond his abilities, which was always something I needed him to have to make the story believable. I look to characters like X-Men’s Storm, who briefly lost her abilities in the comics and went on to not only be an asset to her team but be the leader of her team through her sheer fortitude and capability. I wanted Pahras to be able to push forward, even when there was no hope.

One of my favorite parts to write was a chapter where they infiltrate a high-security prison, and he has to perform a feat not even he believes he can do, but he preserves. I feel that in that moment, I hope it showed a lot of development. At the start of the story, we find him meandering on a sabbatical of sorts, having left the team and the love of his life. It was that chapter that, while writing, informed me (as the author) of where I needed him to go.

I also knew very early on that one of his biggest conundrums would be how much he is or is not like his father. In the story, his father is a Magneto-like character, with the added scope of growing up an African-American man at a time when it wasn’t easy to be one. At the core of the story, and Pahras’ psyche, the question really is how much is Pahras like him? Is the world safe in his hands? And I think the story does a good job of answering that question and in what good and bad ways.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

I think some of the most important themes in the story have more to do with family and the relationships we foster. Pahras had a lot of fatherly relationships to sort out and in a metaphorical and very literal way, those relationships informed his other relationships. You also see that in other characters. I wanted the story to be very revealing as far as what a family can look like. Not everyone has the stereotypical relationships, and not every family we are born into is as important as the family we find.

Another big theme I really hope shown through is resilience and its power. Very early on when I was outlining the story, I had to make a lot of decisions about what powers Pahras would have and how that would affect him in the long run. Losing his powers, an extension of himself that he had become so reliant on, caused him to readjust how he took on life. It sometimes made him feel powerless and sometimes made him feel empowered, and when he looked back at what he accomplished, it was with pride.

I also hope that I conveyed the power of letting go. It’s a lesson that I have to constantly remind myself of because I am far too much like Pahras. When we meet Pahras in the beginning of the novel, he is holding onto everything. And by the end of the book, there is a moment with his uncle and cousin where he has this cathartic talk where he is at peace and he knows what he has to do. Of course, I am not stating everything that happens to get him there (check out the book) but he has this moment where he is acutely aware of himself because he said the things he needed to say, did what he needed to do, and was ready to face the future, unburdened by his past.

It was a good moment as an author.

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

Right now, I am outlining. I wasn’t able to stop myself and I did write a couple of chapters to the sequel. How could I not with where the story leaves off? The next book I release will be a sequel and will likely lean more into the mystical side of the universe. At this current time, I am not too sure when the release date will be. Follow me on social media, my website, and my Amazon Author page for updates!

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