The House on Chambers Court follows a corporate spy who’s forced to steal a special book in a magical but dangerous land. What were some sources that informed this novels development?

I challenge myself with each book. In the case of “The House on Chambers Court” I wanted to write a ‘caper’ novel, but within a Fantasy setting. That was the core of the book and the story evolved from there. More than any other book I’ve written, it evolved with the writing, a lot of the characters and circumstances appearing rather than planned. The secret is to write what one knows, and I’ve years of experience in martial arts, and include rock climbing as part of my past endeavors. I was living in Mexico during the writing. As I was a 6’4″ red-headed Gringo, there was no way I was ever going to blend in, and I thought it made for an odd counterpoint for a ‘spy’. I also love the intelligence inherent in the animal kingdom and all of my books give them some kind of inclusion.

This seemed like a fun book to write. What scene did you have the most fun writing?

It was fun throughout, as I really felt like I was trying to keep up with the characters rather than leading them on. The whole instance of them stealing all of the horses instead of just the one was a prime example. I live on a farm now, and horses have their own heads. It was obvious when I started writing the scene that, like the horses, it was going to get away from me and yet it provided the opportunity for the packet to fall in their hands. The interactions between Xavier and Kendra were fun to write as well. Their conversations really fell out of me easily, two people who genuinely liked each other.

What were some ideas that were important for you to explore in this novel?

The idea of writing of shapeshifting really started listening to a recent album by Santana called ‘Shapeshifter’. I was blissfully unaware of the glut of ‘shapeshifter’ urban fantasy novels on the market, or I’d never have used the device. The album, and cover, really got me thinking more in terms of the shamanistic legends as the basis for my character. In researching the worlds related to spirit or guide animals, it’s really a mechanism by which we try to understand at our own natures. We have elements of the animal kingdom that influence us, we are animals after all. We also have our culture and the genetic memories of our ancestors. There are also the male and female qualities inherent in each of us. Thinking of ‘shapeshifting’ allowed for all of these things to come into play for me, so in the process of writing the story, a lot of those ‘conclusions’ came out. It’s impossible to put ourselves into the minds of the various beasts. We’re so involved in verbal communications and the electronics of life. I wanted to explore the animal sense where so much of the communication is non-verbal, then relate that as a writer. I dedicated the book to the ‘animals in our lives’. Anyone who loves their pets will understand.

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

I presented myself with another goal, to write a murder mystery. Agatha Christie did it. Why not me? And of course toss in layers of magic, for what would Fantasy be without it? Those sorts of whodunits have all kinds of suspects and motives and so it presented a new challenge for me as a writer. I hadn’t gone too far along in the plotting before I included the characters of Xavier and Kendra which were introduced in ‘The House on Chambers Court’. They were still fresh in my mind and fun to write, so I kept going with them central to the plot. The story has become “The Masque of Count Milado”. It’s a spoonerism on a Poe title and I’m not changing it. Bibliophiles will laugh. ‘The Masque …’ isn’t a sequel, rather a whole new tale. I’ve just had the second draft returned by my editor, so the final draft is being polished. I hope for its release in Spring 2022.

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