Severed Roots follows a group of people living in a dystopian world where women are in control and men are subordinates. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I want a better world. We all do. It’s well known that over 90% of violent crime (including wars and terrorism) is committed by men, and women and children are often innocent victims. This is true not only today but throughout history.  In recent decades, Western society has tried hard to dismantle toxic masculinity, misogyny, sexism, male privilege…and most recently, even gender differences. So far, all efforts to achieve the desired outcome have failed. I asked myself a simple question: Is there something about men—and patriarchy—that inherently prevents humanity from creating a utopian world?  And if so, how do we deal with that reality?

The characters of Nick, Beatrice, and Morrie are well-developed and intriguing. Did you create an outline for the characters in the story before you started writing or did the characters’ personalities grow organically as you were writing?

When planning my novel, I created a detailed profile for each of the major characters.  During the writing process, I allowed these characters to develop organically. That was deliberate. I consider them my “children”; I gave each of them a unique set of characteristics and placed them in a specific environment, but at some point, as a “parent”, you have to let go and allow them to make their own decisions and chart their own course. That way they can become truly authentic and interesting.

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

My goal was to produce not only a gripping and entertaining story but also to provoke reflection about our society and where we may be headed.  (Indeed, “though-provoking” is a frequent descriptor in many reviews of my novel.) Among the questions that Severed Roots explores are:

• Who are you if you have no roots, no real connections?
• What, really, is the value of marriage and family?
• Should people, merely by virtue of attaining a certain age, be considered qualified to raise children?  Or should the State take over that enormous, challenging and all-important responsibility, thereby ensuring healthier future generations?

Other themes that Severed Roots touches on are:

• The continued relevance/importance of male-female gender roles
• The nature of true freedom vs. the illusion of freedom (at both the individual and societal levels)
• The importance of thinking critically and questioning the values and beliefs ingrained in us by the powers that be.

Can you tell us more about where the story and characters go after book one?

Sorry, that’s a carefully guarded secret. All I can say is that the stakes will increase dramatically –and not just for Nick and Beatrice, but for all humanity (which includes all you readers out there!).

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