Spirit Light: Volume 1 follows two sisters with great magical abilities who are being hunted by a dark Empire set on taking over their world. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

One day about five years ago, I was daydreaming about how fantasy authors come up with such creative magic systems. I tell myself stories when I’m waiting to sleep, so that night, I decided to give it a try and come up with my own magic system. The only thing I remembered the next morning was the idea that, when they were young, the magically adept caused pain in others. I wanted to know what their life was like.

For some reason I’ll never be able to explain, I found myself writing in a coffee shop that cold, snowy morning. I hadn’t written a word of fiction since ninth grade. All I had was that question, two characters and a situation. Three hours later I had a pivotal scene in my first novel, Spirit Sight. It was awful. I couldn’t get the words to reflect what I saw in my head. But I loved it. When I walked out of that coffee shop, I knew I was going to be a writer.

I continued to write disconnected scenes while I tried to come up with a story. I’ll never forget racing home to tell my partner, Deb, one of my ideas. When I was done, she said, deadpan, “That’s the hunger games.” It was nearly a mortal blow.

It wasn’t until I went back to what started the whole thing, the magic system, that I finally got the basic pieces of the story. The people at the center of the story are called the Alle’oss. It’s a Norwegian phrase that means ‘all of us.’ So, I read a lot about Norse mythology and shamanism. That was what I needed. Once I had the magic system, the main character and a setting, the rest just started falling into place.

The Spirit Song Saga is a sprawling story in a world as complex as in The Game of Thrones. Eventually, there will be six books in the main series and six prequels. But I’m as passionate about it as I was that morning in the coffee shop five years ago.

What were the driving ideals behind the characters’ development throughout the story?

At the heart of the overarching story is the contrast between the peaceful, collectivist Alle’oss and the authoritarian, hierarchical Empire. The importance of family and community is reflected in many aspects of the Alle’oss’s culture and language. For example, as I mentioned above, the name means ‘all of us’. They call their mountains na’lios which means our home.

My main character is Minna Hunter. Despite being persecuted as a child, she grew up with the values her people hold dear. It’s why she can remain grounded when her people require her to step onto history’s grand stage.

Minna is the best sort of fantasy hero. I originally wanted to base her on Vin from Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series or Nona Grey from Mark Lawrence’s Book of the Ancestors series. But she refused to fit the mold of a young, powerful girl made angry and defensive by a cruel world. She’s humble, open and unwaveringly kind. She isn’t always sure what she’s supposed to do, but she has a bedrock belief in herself. She never draws attention to herself, but she never fails to rise to the occasion when required.

What character did you enjoy writing for? Was there one that was more challenging to write for?

I love all my characters, even the ‘evil’ ones. Everyone has a story, and everyone’s story can be interesting. Of course, my favorite character is my main character, Minna. I know her so well now, writing her scenes are second nature.

But the character that’s the easiest for me to write is Nara Flynn. She’s a powerful witch. The self-professed ‘best storyteller in the Empire,’ she’s ‘flamboyant, impertinent, disrespectful, sassy. Some, mostly Imperial officers, would call her obnoxious. But she is loyal to a fault to those she deems worthy, and, despite her love of the spotlight, she’s never the hero in her own stories.’ I can write her scenes almost as fast as I can type them. It took me a while to understand why, but when I figured it out, it was obvious. She’s my partner, Deb.

Can you tell us about the next book and when it will be available for fans to purchase?

The third book in the main series, Spirit Light Volume 1, comes out August 1 and the second book in the prequel series, Desulti, comes out November 1.

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