What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write this book?
The honest answer is I wanted to write a dark, slightly humorous enemies-to-lovers romance. What I ended up with was murder, espionage, revenge, and a splash of romance. A for effort, I guess.
If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of your book, what would they be?
Nathan: Leave Me Alone by Michael Jackson
Ishmael: Radioactive by Imagine Dragons and Memories by Fall Out Boy because he wouldn’t choose just one
Vivian: Triumph by Bishop Briggs and Bad Guy by Billie Eilish because she also would not choose one
What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?
Fantasy, and I have written more non-fantasy. Fear is a mashup of romance, murder espionage, hidden identity mystery. It’s the reason I love fantasy, to be fair. Murder mysteries and psychological thrillers are my fave, and fantasy can be that and magical without normal life fiction restrictions.
What books are on your TBR pile right now?
I had to Google this because I just bought the hard copy a few weeks ago but, Written On The Dark by Guy Gavriel Kay
What scene in your book was your favorite to write?
First to come to mind is a training fight scene that involves a main character, and two other mains are watching him get destroyed by a much smaller woman character. It’s funny and serious in tone. It was fun to write because I get to retell the same scene from all three perspectives so I could drop some plot cues that I couldn’t otherwise if I just focused on one of them, and things I couldn’t do if it was in first person. The book is in third person, so it was fun.
Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)
Nothing really, but I have a habit of watching/listening to things I have already watched, usually in PIP, usually in the right corner of the screen. Or I split it entirely and have a movie or series on the bottom half and work on the top. Either way, I wait for audible cues for the parts I actually want to watch- short scenes here and there. And get back to typing.
If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?
Life is messy, and things don’t go according to plan most of the time, but with found family and determination, sometimes we can overcome the very worst of things. Survival doesn’t have to look perfect, but we can still persevere.