In The Gatekeeper of Pericael, a 12-year-old boy races to protect the gate that keeps his people safe from the soul thief threatening his people. Where did the idea for this novel come from?

The Gatekeeper of Pericael started as an action-packed adventure without romance for my young sons. While I’ve always liked the idea of magical worlds, I always thought that if there were real kids that grew up in (or beside) a magical world, there would be some who would take it for granted, or even fear it. So, I really wanted to explore how a preteen who sees his magic practice as a chore and has legitimate, valid fears of a dangerous magical world he was expected to protect. At its core, The Gatekeeper of Pericael is about a boy learning to accept the world around him—both the wondrous and the terrifying. It’s about a boy accepting his responsibilities and learning how to move forward in spite of his fear—themes I hoped to impart to my own kids and other readers.

I found the edge-of-your-seat adventure in your novel to be quite appealing. What scene in the book did you have the most fun writing?

I’ve always loved monsters and intense action since I was young, so this was a super fun book to write for me. I think my favorite scene to write was the cave sequence in which Porter and his friends are trying to lead the village away from the Terzi. Between their realization of what the Terzi are, the stakes of so many people depending on them, and Porter really coming into his own—it was awesome to go through that emotional roller coaster with the characters.

Were you able to relate to your characters while writing them?

Absolutely! I think every one of my characters carries a piece of me. Like Porter, I started out as a fearful kid that had to make the conscious choice to be brave. But then, I’ve also had times in life where I’ve felt very much like Fira—frustrated by the limitations of her village’s system and with a steely passion to succeed in spite of it. As I grew older and had to be responsible for others younger than myself, I developed more patience and dependability like Conri. And of course, I feel like it’s the most fun to be like Ames, silly and irrepressibly optimistic.

I find a problem in well-written stories in that I always want there to be another book to keep the story going. Is there a second book planned?

I’m so thrilled you enjoyed it! I’d always envisioned The Gatekeeper of Pericael as a trilogy–the characters growing a year or two older with each book—and I definitely had big plans for Fira, Porter, and Ames. Unfortunately, I’ve found upper-MG/lower-YA creepy fantasy hard to market, so I moved forward with other projects instead. But I wouldn’t be surprised if I find my way back to Pericael one day to continue the series. It definitely calls to me!

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