Kindred Interview

Does this book have a special meaning to you? i.e. where you found the idea, its symbolism, its meaning, who you dedicated it to, what made you want to write it?

The Akasha series is a love letter to science, healthy relationships, and self-expression.  It’s important to me that all kinds of people find something they can relate to in this epic, while still being representative of my progressive values. I hate living by anyone’s idea of what a person should be, and I hope this series serves as a battle cry for everyone to live authentically.

Where do you get your storylines from?

If you had the ability to look inside my head, you’d find a Jackson Pollock painting, each color being representative of another idea, another piece of dialogue, another character waiting to be fleshed out. I’m constantly thinking about stories and the various directions they can take. I’m inspired by the things I read and watch, but I’m also inspired by my own life and fantasies.

Was this book easier or more difficult to write than others?  Why?

Kindred, the second book in the Akasha series, was written just after the first book, and was easier to write in a lot of ways. Since I had already set up the story and the world in book one, Passage, the second book was just about enriching the world I’d already built, experiencing the characters I’d already created, and continuing the story I’d already begun to tell.

Do you only write one genre?

No. This series is genre bending, as a Sci-Fantasy, but I also write Literary Fiction and short stories. I also write comedic essays and articles about current events on my blog.

Give us a picture of where you write, where you compose these words…is it Starbucks, a den, a garden…we want to know your inner sanctum?

Depends on my mood. I write wherever I feel most comfortable at the time, or for what exactly I am hoping to accomplish. I have two local coffee shops I visit on a regular basis, where I will usually do a lot of my editing. I visit the library when I can’t seem to get motivated, because there’s nothing there to do but read or write. At home, I set up a writing area in my sunroom, where my very large and wooded backyard makes me feel at peace, or I sit at my antique dining room table, where I feel connected.

And finally, of course…was there any specific event or circumstance that made you want to be a writer?

I’ve been writing since I was a teenager, but I finally felt inspired to write something with the intent to publish after reading yet another famous YA genre novel that left me feeling extremely frustrated. The relationships depicted were unrealistic and unhealthy, the female characters were one-dimensional and unrelatable, everyone was white and straight (except maybe one token gay character), and all the male characters were the most interesting and well-developed. I became a writer to write something I could connect with, with the hopes that there would be many readers who would connect with my words too.