When Heaven Sundered chronicles the rise and fracture of a divine family, as twin brothers Helel and Michael are driven onto opposing sides of a celestial civil war that turns creation into tragedy. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

The setup came about when one of my readers told me that they needed to know more about the lives of the angels and demons after reading Horsemen Rising, so I thought I would just write a short story about it but it grew into a much bigger story.

How did you balance the scale of cosmic events with the intimacy of family conflict as the cast grew larger?

I knew I didn’t want to tell the same run-of-the-mill tale of one major battle of good versus evil. I wanted to tell a story about how tensions grew into a war in which everyone involved was deeply invested in and affected by the schism, no matter which side they chose.

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

I wanted to continue exploring and experimenting with how the Angels would interact with their Fallen and Demonic siblings, and how they all interacted with the Pagan Gods. I also wanted to explore the struggle of wanting to grow past the idea of what your parents want you to do or be, and growing into your own person and what you thought was right

Lucifer seems to be sympathetic here. What aspects of his character were most important for you to preserve or reinvent?

I wanted him to be the catalyst of the Schism, but not the main reason for it. I didn’t want him to be a power-hungry son that wanted his father’s throne but a son that wanted his freedom after he learned some things from Angra Mainyu and soon learned the cost of that freedom and the repercussions his actions had on his Fallen siblings and their lives in the events that followed.

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