All three books were published within a single year. Does your brain hurt from all that writing?
Is my editor reading this? That might change my answer. Writing the entire series posed a huge challenge. There were times that I wasn’t sure I would be up to the task, but I am so grateful that I was given the opportunity to push myself. It was a unique opportunity to be able to write the story from beginning to end without feeling the expectations or anticipation of the next installment from readers. Cia, Tomas, and the world of the United Commonwealth were mine and mine alone throughout the writing process. And now I am thrilled that the readers who have joined me in the journey get to come along for this the final ride.
The series asks questions about courage, loyalty, duty, and honor. What drew you to these topics?
I am a huge civics junkie and I love debating politics. Every time an election come around, I hear people throw around words like courage and loyalty and honor all the time, but rarely do they seem to connect with what those things mean in the larger context of the world. While writing, I wanted to explore the words that our leaders use in sound bites and test what they really meant to me.
For Cia, she thinks she understands what those words mean. But it isn’t until her beliefs are tested that she truly understands the importance of loyalty and how there are different kinds of courage required in our leaders. Most people believe it takes courage to face an enemy head-on. People understand the ideas of duty and honor when the choice appears black-and-white. But I believe the greatest forms of courage happen in the choices that no one sees, and that duty and honor are most important at times where there are no good answers.
You’re a singer, an actress, and a voice coach. In what ways does this inform your writing?
When you perform on stage, you have to create a character that audiences will connect with and make sure that you perform each scene with enough energy and interest that the audience will want to come back after intermission. When I write, it often feels like a performance, because the characters have to be well-rounded and each scene has to make the reader come back for more. And since both fields involve a lot of reviews and rejection, I tend to be really good at dealing with both of those, too!
