Rhode Island based psychologist, J. L. Doucette is the author of the Dr. Pepper Hunt Mysteries. Her new novel, On a Quiet Street, is the second in the series following her award-winning debut, Last Seen. After earning a doctorate in counseling psychology from Boston University she moved to southwest Wyoming. The stark landscape of the high-desert, where a constant wind stirs crimes of passion, is the setting for her psychological mysteries.
Tell me about yourself. What inspired you to write?
I have always loved stories and the beauty and effectiveness of words to convey meaning. The first adult book I read was Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I was moved by the insight the book provided into the character’s internal experience. I wanted to be able to do that.
Describe your desk / writing space. My desk is in front of a large window that overlooks a river. On the desk I have lots of small mementos of Wyoming the setting for My mystery novels.
Do you have a writing routine, or do you write when inspired? I write most mornings. I used to be a night writer, but the timing switched organically for no particular reason I can point to. I like morning writing it gives me a sense of accomplishment. I feel more alive on the days I write in the morning I think because of the mental boost from being creative.
How do you come up with the title to your books? The titles, Last Seen, On A Quiet Street, and Unknown Assailant are all terms I read in newspaper reports of murders.
What was the hardest scene for you to write? Which scene was your favorite to write? In my last novel there are two love scenes because the relationship between the two main characters progressed to that level of intimacy. These scenes were hard to write because I wanted them to convey the various levels of intimacy experienced. My favorite scene was in the first novel, where one of the detectives visits the crimes scene, which happens to be on the top of a mountain, and he is confronting the desolation of the landscape and the corresponding desolation of the crime.
What inspired your book/series? True crime stories which I then altered and amplified into fiction I am drawn to rime with strong psychological context.
What are you working on next? Book 4 in the Dr. Pepper Hunt Mystery Series. The working title is Innocent Bystander, which begins with an infant kidnapping.
What authors or books have influenced your writing? Tana French, the Irish author The Dublin Murder Squad Series and Jane Harper, the Australian suspense author. author. They both create ensemble characters that develop through the series.
If you could live anywhere, in this world or fantasy, where would you live? A tropical island in the 1930’s
What is your favorite meal? Steak Frites
Coffee or tea? Wine or beer? Coffee, wine
Describe yourself in three words. Curious. Persistent. Resilient.
JC Brown is a Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy author who loves to whisk her readers away on larger-than-life adventures into fantastical worlds. As a passionate wordsmith since Middle School, she enjoys nothing more than writing page-turning novels that capture readers’ imaginations with werewolves, magic, feisty heroines, and the charming hunks they fall for. From high-octane action and edge-of-your-seat suspense to pulse-pounding reverse harems, you’ll always find something to love in her books.
JC or as her family knowns her as “Mistress of Minions” currently resides in the New England area with her four wonderful goblins, a hysterical husband, and her supportive parents. When not dreaming up her next story idea, you can find her cooking Cuban meals or watching scary movies
Tell me about yourself. What inspired you to write?
I am a mother of too many children and the wife to a giant toddler. Kidding. My husband is more like a preteen class clown. But he is supportive and makes me laugh. I have always been interested in reading and writing. I can remember the day I found my mom’s old typewriter in my grandmother’s attic, she let me keep it and that what I wrote my first story on. One that will never see the light of day of course, but it absolutely kickstarted my passion for storytelling. As I got older, I wrote fan fiction, and horror stories with my best friend. I write stories about crazy adventures and romance that couldn’t be possible in the real world. I wanted to write things that would help people escape like reading did for me.
Describe your desk / writing space.
My desk is a mess. It’s what I call organized chaos. But I rarely sit at my desk. I do most of my work on my laptop all over the house. My wonderful husband understands my need to move around and bought me a rolling desk. I wheel it all over the living room and kitchen, sometimes I even drag it out into the yard.
Do you have a writing routine, or do you write when inspired?
I wish. I hope to one day when my children are all old enough to fend for themselves and can leave me the heck alone. Right now, I try to write during the day while they are in school, or very late at night while they are all sleeping. It’s basically whenever I have time to write, I will try.
How do you come up with the title to your books?
That’s a good question and I’d love to tell you, my process. When I figure it out for myself. Really it is just completely random and sometimes it is a struggle because nothing feels right. I still have a few stories I haven’t published because I don’t know what to call them.
What was the hardest scene for you to write? Which scene was your favorite to write?
This one was a fairly easy question for me. Some of the hardest scenes I’ve written were in Asmodeus the Gift of Lust. You think from the title its just a nice, smutty, angel and demons’, enemies to lovers’ book but it is definitely much more. It touches on some heavy topics that even the scenes that allude to them are difficult.
Some of my favorites though would be all of the Meeting Scenes in the Sinful Seven Novels. The demons that represent the seven deadly sins all come together and have quarterly meetings to discuss their progress. Shenanigans often happen during these times.
What inspired your book/series? The Obsidian Crown Series that the Poisoned Princess is a part of just came from my desire to make a spicy fairytale retelling. It is a reverse harem and I wanted to keep the theme of snow white and the seven dwarves so here we are. We have snow white and her seven sexy werewolves. There is no way I could fit all their own character arcs, romance arc and retelling arc into one book so a series is born. The Sinful Seven Novels on the other hand was a product of my co-author’s mind. However, I will say that it is super interesting to have a series with overlapping time frames and characters, yet still be able to read them out of order if you so choose.
What are you working on next? I have ADHD so I am almost always working on more than one thing at a time. Currently I am working with my co-author Lena Lane on Leviathan the Gift of Envy, the third installment in our Sinful Seven Novels. I am also working on a prequel of sorts to the Poisoned Princess for the Sigils and Spells anthology that is currently up for preorder. My writing schedule is packed. When those are finished, I have another a short story in an exclusive anthology for a literary event I will be attending in July, and of course book two of the Obsidian Crown Series.
What authors or books have influenced your writing? Well, I love Laurel K Hamilton. She is one of my favorite authors and I would say she is one of the reasons that I write. Before I decided to make the leap into self-publishing my big dream was to be published under Penguin Putnam Inc., like her. Some craft books that have really helped me along on my writing journey is Save the Cat writes a novel by Jessica Brody. I used to be a pantser but my ADHD would often take me on what I like to call “side quests” that wouldn’t further the actual main plot and often left me directionless. It helped me to plan a structure, a skeleton outline that even if I take a “side quest” I will always come back to the main quest.
If you could live anywhere, in this world or fantasy, where would you live? Silver City. I don’t even have to think about it. It’s crawling with werewolves and of course you know that I love all the shifters, especially the wolves. I’d be moving in hoping to find my fated mate. (That is of course, If I wasn’t already married to my very human fated mate already lol)
What is your favorite meal? I love Korean food. My favorite meal is Korean Barbeque. You get to eat so many delicious things and it’s a great experience. But if you don’t count that it’s definitely Rabokki.
Coffee or tea? Wine or beer? Why Choose. Coffee is my go too beverage in the morning. Afternoons I drink different forms of tea and water all day. Usually during my editing though ill have a glass of wine because edits are never any fun.
Describe yourself in three words. I am a self-described “Hot Mess Express”. Ha ha.
Gledé Browne Kabongo writes gripping, unputdownable psychological thrillers. She is the Eric Hoffer, Next Generation Indie, IPPY and National Indie Excellence Award-winning author of the Fearless Series, Our Wicked Lies, Fool Me Twice, and Conspiracy of Silence. Her novel Winds of Fear was voted one of 24 Books to Read During the Coronavirus by Rhode Island Monthly Magazine.
Gledé holds a master’s degree in communications and has spoken at multiple industry events including the Boston Book Festival, Sisters in Crime (SinC) New England Crime Bake and the Women in Publishing Summit. She lives outside Boston with her husband and two sons.
Her new book, Reign of Fear arrives May/June 2023.
Tell me about yourself. What inspired you to write?
I’ve always loved stories and reading. Growing up in the Caribbean, I devoured Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mysteries, as well as the Famous Five series by British author, Enid Blyton. Back then, I was around nine or ten years old and wanted to be a journalist, so I studied journalism in college and did some freelancing afterward. It wasn’t until 2005 that I was struck with the writing (fiction) bug.
Describe your desk / writing space.
My desk is L-shaped with lots of drawers. There’s also a ton of space for other stuff besides my laptop; a printer, piles of books, mugs, and a candle. I sometimes burn scented candles when I’m writing.
Do you have a writing routine, or do you write when inspired?
I used to write when inspired but figured that’s not a recipe for commercial fiction success. Over the past few months, I’ve been trying to stick to a routine, even if I don’t reach the word count I set for the day. Every little bit adds up. I’m also trying to embrace writing out of sequence. I have a nasty little habit of abandoning the manuscript when I get stuck. Instead, I write scenes as standalones and determine where they best fit in the story later on.
How do you come up with the title to your books?
That’s a fun game I love to play. I write the blurb for the novel first. That helps me to think about the story holistically. The title also needs to align with the genre and give readers an idea of what the story is about.
Sometimes I will look up how many books already have the title I’m considering. The novel I released in 2021, Our Wicked Lies, was originally called House of Lies and I even had the cover done under that title. Then I remembered there was a series on Showtime starring Don Cheadle with the same name, as well as a few books on Amazon. I changed my book title to Wicked Lies but the competition was still stiff so I added “Our” to the title and that’s what stuck.
What was the hardest scene for you to write? Which scene was your favorite to write?
The hardest scenes to write are the big ones that are crucial to the plot and will have a big emotional impact. I spend a lot of time figuring out how to approach those scenes because they’re multi-layered and have major repercussions for the characters and change the trajectory of the story in some instances.
My favorite scenes to write are the ones when opposing characters, i.e. antagonist and protagonist interact. What’s going on beneath the surface is just as important as what they say or do if not more so.
What inspired your book/series?
My Fearless series was inspired by my novel Fool Me Twice. My teenage character, Abbie Cooper, was also a POV character in that novel and I felt that she had so much more to say. Readers liked her so I thought it would be a great idea to build a series around her. Turns out that was a good decision. Some of the most gut-wrenching, emotionally brutal writing I’ve ever done is in that series. I won four book awards which was nice validation. Reign of Fear, the final book will be released in late spring of 2023.
What are you working on next?
I’m working on a standalone next, about three friends who are hiding bombshell secrets from their pasts. Someone is threatening to expose the truth unless they confess.
What authors or books have influenced your writing? I think there is a type of storytelling that has influenced my writing more so than particular books or authors. I like big epic stories with compelling characters and plot, multiple POVs, emotional depth and of course suspense. When I was in college, I read James Michener’s novel, Caribbean. That story stayed with me all these years because of the way it was skillfully told. Michener wove a fictional story using 700 years of Caribbean history— history I grew up studying— as a backdrop for a sweeping saga filled with compelling, larger-than-life characters, tumultuous history, romance, and intertwined destinies.
The paperback edition of the book is almost 900 pages in length and I devoured every page because the story was that powerful. TheCount of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas is another one of my favorites because of similar characteristics. That book almost reads like a thriller but again, the storytelling, compelling characters, multiple POVs, themes such as revenge, which is common in thrillers, and the emotional heft all resonated with me.
What is your favorite meal? I don’t have one, but I do like seafood and a good steak.
Coffee or tea? Wine or beer? – Coffee, black or tea but it has to be fruit-flavored. I love tangerine, peach and mint, although mint isn’t technically a fruit.
Describe yourself in three words. – analytical, curious, compassionate.
Often mistaken for sisters, Leigh and Victoria (Vikki) consider themselves twins from different mothers.
We met on the sidelines of our sons’ baseball game and quickly bonded over books, baseball politics, and Mrs. Brown’s ‘famous chocolate chip cookies’. No surprise to anyone, our decision to write a book also came about over a pizza dinner and we’ve been sharing a love for writing and eating ever since.
You can follow Brown Corliss through their social channels:
Do you have a new book coming out? If so, what’s the title and when?
Funny story: we’ve just spent the better part of two years drafting a story we were so excited to share with our readers, until suddenly, we weren’t, and instead of publishing our fourth women’s novel, we decided to table it instead. Sounds crazy, right? After all the countless time and energy, not to mention brain cells we’d expended bringing our baby to the finish line, why would we simply stop short like that? Well, like the song says, to everything there is a season, including works of fiction and we came to realize that this wasn’t the time for this particular story to shine. Somewhere along the way, our thinking had changed, and exciting new ideas were emerging for another, different tale that’s more in line with both our writing style and what we’re like as women, today. It wasn’t an easy choice by any means, ending a long-term commitment before it reached fruition, in fact, it was quite possibly the toughest call we have ever had to make as co-authors. Understanding that our decision to drop one story to start another could potentially cost us readers, many of whom have been waiting patiently for the next Brown Corliss book to come out, was scary, but it was even more important to be honest with ourselves and each other. And we’re clear, now, if our work doesn’t 100% meet our expectations, we have to let it go, if not forever, at least for the moment. So, even with three published titles under our collective belt, we’re still discovering the many trials and tribulations of being an author, proving there’s always more to learn about the world of writing.
Tell me about yourself. What inspired you to write?
Vikki: I’ve loved reading for as long as I can remember, which I believe has also nurtured my love of writing. Before Leigh and I began co-writing together, I worked in Marketing for several years, a career that afforded me many opportunities to try my hand at diverse forms of writing, from speeches and annual to reports, to proposals and press releases. Today, I enjoy writing women’s fiction and penning a genre of stories that coincidentally I also like to read. Everything comes full circle….
Leigh: I wrote my first book in the fourth grade. It was a scintillating tale called “Harry the Frog” and I’m pretty sure it’s sitting in a box somewhere in my attic. My first paid job, at fourteen, was at the town library. My role was to check out books and then shelve those that were returned. I would spend hours combing the book spines and pulling out anything that interested me. That job solidified my love of reading and planted the seeds of one day writing a grown-up story of my own. Many years later, when that opportunity presented itself and included writing with my dear friend, I jumped at it.
Describe your desk / writing space.
Vikki: I write in a small home office with a bay window that provides a lot of natural light and a great view of my neighborhood. From this vantage, I settle into my cozy chair with computer in hand, prepared to write. From this vantage, I also spend a lot of time staring out the window, waiting for the words to come together in my head as I watch the commuters head off to the office and children run for the school bus.
Leigh: I also have a dedicated home office/desk writing space but I can write pretty much anywhere. We always joke that you could plunk me down in the middle of a mall on Christmas Eve and I could still write despite the chaos around me.
Do you have a writing routine, or do you write when inspired?
Vikki: When we are actively working on a manuscript, I try to be disciplined and be in my office by 9:00 A.M., Monday through Friday. That doesn’t mean I won’t work weekends or evenings if an idea strikes; I have to jump on it before it leaves my head! When we are promoting our books, anything goes really and our schedules for events and programs are very flexible.
Leigh: Vikki and I have very different writing routines. I write as if I have a movie going on in my head and I’m transcribing what I see. We were just recently describing our different writing styles to an acquaintance, and I noted that Vikki creates (the words/sentences are very important and are selected deliberately) while I report (I see the story and I’m telling the reader).
How do you come up with the title to your books?
Carefully! We learned this very important lesson the hard way with our first book, Second Chances. Without thinking, we selected the title and released it, never checking to see if there were any other similarly titled publications. Guess what? There are 80,000 Second Chances, just on Amazon alone. We haven’t named a book since without first running a title search.
What was the hardest scene for you to write? Which scene was your favorite to write?
Of our three novels, Second Chances is probably the most risqué. Knowing our mothers would eventually be reading the book, we were very nervous about them seeing the “racy” parts. Whenever asked who wrote those scenes, we would point accusingly to one another and deny, deny, deny having any hand in it. That feeling we had of getting away with something “daring” may also rank them as some of our favorite writing moments.
What inspired your book/series?
Each of our books have thus far reflected something of ourselves in them. In other words, writing from our own perspectives and experiences as women, allows us to create stories that feature a commonality that is relatable for most if not all women who enjoy reading women’s fiction.
What are you working on next?
A major reason we decided to pause work on our fourth manuscript is because we had an idea for another story that has us so excited, we’re chomping at the bit to start writing. That’s all we can say for now except, stay tuned.
What authors or books have influenced your writing?
Vikki: Leigh and I share a few favorite authors, but I particularly enjoy reading anything by Jodi Picoult, Karen White, and Elin Hilderbrand. I also like to read a variety of genres including non-fiction biographies, autobiographies, and historical novels. I appreciate learning so much more now, as an adult, than I did as a student in school.
Leigh: While I have favorites, I like to give all authors a try. I am very fortunate to be part of a few different groups that pass along books and often I’m reading an author’s work that I might never have stumbled on by myself. For those books that I enjoy reading, I’m always trying to evaluate what the author is doing right to keep me coming back for more.
If you could live anywhere, in this world or fantasy, where would you live?
Vikki: Tough question. I honestly can’t pick just one place.
Leigh: Jurassic Park. No, just kidding! I grew up near the ocean and it’s ingrained in my soul. Wherever I am, the ocean has to be close by and I’m happy.
What is your favorite meal?
Vikki: Another tough question. I’m not sure, but a crusty a French baguette with a creamy Brie cheese would probably have to be a part of it. Oh, and chocolate anything.
Leigh: I only need a few things to survive….pizza, French fries, chocolate chip cookies and cheese.
Coffee or tea? Wine or beer?
Vikki: Both and both.
Leigh: Neither, I’m a Diet Coke drinker. Definitely wine and its sparkling cousin Prosecco.
Errick Nunnally was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, he served one tour in the Marine Corps before deciding art school would be a safer—and more natural—pursuit. He is permanently distracted by art, comics, science fiction, history, and horror. Trained as a graphic designer, he has earned a black belt in Krav Maga/Muay Thai kickboxing after dark.
Errick’s work includes: the novels, BLOOD FOR THE SUN and LIGHTNING WEARS A RED CAPE; LOST IN TRANSITION, a comic strip collection; and first prize in one hamburger contest.
The following are some short stories and their respective magazines or anthologies: PENNY INCOMPATIBLE (Lamplight, v.6, #3 and the Podcast NIGHTLIGHT); JACK JOHNSON AND THE HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE OF THE GALAXY (The Final Summons); WELCOME TO THE D.I.V. (Wicked Witches); A FEW EXTRA POUNDS (Transcendent); and A HUNDRED PEARLS (PROTECTORS 2: stories to benefit PROTECT.ORG). Eventually, Errick came to his senses and moved to Rhode Island with his two lovely children and one beautiful wife.
He is currently working on a novella and a novel. The novella is currently under wraps, but the novel is The Headless Woman, sequel to All The Dead Men and that’ll be it for the Alexander Smith novels. For now.
Tell me about yourself. What inspired you to write?
I’ve always been interested in stories. My earliest memories are my mother reading comic books like Fantastic Four and Hulk to me, the Lee/Kirby stuff. My curiosity was primarily focused in illustrative storytelling such as comics and cartoons. I ended up with a lot of action figures like Micronaughts and Marvel heroes. I needed multiple characters to play out the stories that kept popping into my head. My mother and grandmother were very crafty, so none of the toys I had remained in their “universe.” I’d recreate all sorts of costumes and tools, and create new characters. Some of that stuff stuck with me for so long, those ideas made it into Lightning Wears A Red Cape. I think, like most genre writers, the first inkling that I might write a novel came from reading Fantasy and Science-Fiction. Horror came later, mostly through those genres.
Describe your desk / writing space.
Essentially any flat surface where I can be left alone for an hour or two! To be honest, I have a desk in the basement, half surrounded by bookcases and my other stuff that I use. It helps to have the things I can’t let go of around me. Just items of interest from writing utensils, notebooks, novels, dice, lava lamp, little things my kids have made, the list goes on. I do try to keep space on the desk, however, I hate complete disarray.
Do you have a writing routine, or do you write when inspired?
I wish I had a writing routine! I write when inspired, yes, but also when I have time. My responsibilities to family, home, and work chew up quite a bit of time. I write whenever I can, basically. And it has been that way for years now. The upside is developing the discipline to write when needed.
How do you come up with the title to your books?
No idea! I do enjoy a punchy title or phrase. I think I’ve been mimicking the movie-style of titles, generally keeping it between two and four, relatively short words. Trends change and rules get broken, however. The working title for my novella is rather long!
What was the hardest scene for you to write? Which scene was your favorite to write?
In general, I think scenes of deep despair or loss are the most difficult. Especially when it comes to kids. For instance, two of the most recent were in the anthologies The Bad Book and Fright Train. The former involves the main character’s mother having her teeth taken and why. The latter is witnessing the final breaths of a mother and daughter. In the Alexander Smith series, the hardest scenes to write are Alexander’s inner-dialogue when he’s suffering mental collapse, particularly when they’re triggered by loss—losing his mind, his daughter, his lover.
What inspired your book/series?
Alzheimer’s and dementia. Memory loss, overall, along with Black and Indigenous trauma. Both of my grandmothers and one of my aunts suffered through memory loss in their twilight years. I used to get these elongated postcards with missing children on one side. There’s also the inequity of attention when BIPOC kids go missing. Mix all of that with my love of thrillers and werewolves and my loathing for cultured vampires… This all came together in a comic I painted, around 1996. I collaborated with a friend at school to develop the idea as a comic but we never got beyond plots and sketches. The idea stuck with me for over a decade after that, until I wrote the novel as a challenge for myself when I was laid and unable to find work for a couple of years.
What are you working on next?
Two things: 1) A coming-of-age novella set in 1970s Boston during the aftermath of Civil Rights and COINTELPRO, the heyday of music, at least one explosion, an illicit bookstore, and the possibility of having an alien mother. 2) The third book in the Alexander Smith series which explains much about where he was going (New Orleans) when he ended up in Boston at the start of the series, the origins of weres and vamps, demigods, a zombie henchman, two undead alligators, sorcery, voudon, etcetera, etcetera. The usual stuff.
What authors or books have influenced your writing?
David Gerrold (most of his books), Kim Harrison (the Hollows series), Richard Kadrey (Sandman Slim), Walter Mosley (Easy Rawlins and others), Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson), Lilith Saintcrow (Jill Kismet), a stupid amount of comic books, and whatever else caught my eye along the way.
If you could live anywhere, in this world or fantasy, where would you live?
Kauai, probably.
What is your favorite meal?
That’s a moving target, but I’d reckon an all-beef hot dog is a constant!
Coffee or tea? Wine or beer?
Assam tea, usually. Red wine, beer, and cocktails. I can’t bear the flavor of coffee. It tastes like perverted chocolate, and I love chocolate.
Angelina Singer is a young adult / new adult author with a romantic comedy, “Just Like a Pill”, books 1-3 of a dystopian science fiction trilogy “The Upperworld Series”, and both books of The Rewind Duology available for purchase on Amazon now. In addition to her writing career, Singer graduated Magna Cum Laude from Stonehill College in 2019, where she studied English, Music, and of course, Creative Writing. Angelina is also a board member of the Association of Rhode Island Authors, managing their Young Adult initiative. She’s also a freelance editor and ghostwriter, often helping clients bring their literary visions to life.
In her spare time she enjoys crocheting (with a portfolio of work available for purchase on Instagram), as well as mentoring younger music students at a local music store, where she studied guitar for over a decade. She views her writing as a way to simultaneously escape from and embrace reality.
You can follow Angelina through their social channels:
Tell me about yourself. What inspired you to write?
I always LOVE this question because it’s genuinely hilarious. Basically, I had a monster crush on this lead guitarist I knew from band camp for years. I finally got so fed up with him when I was 19 that I decided to write a story about how I felt. And of course, I casted him as the love interest. That’s when I realized my story could be published as a real book, and the rest is history.
Describe your desk / writing space.
I try to keep it neat; I really do! But my “office” space is more like the catch-all room for everything else. So, while my space is definitely workable, there’s always random stuff on the table ranging from sticky notes to tortilla chips and salsa bought for an upcoming party. You just never really know!
Do you have a writing routine, or do you write when inspired?
I’ve been in a long dry spell for a while now. I have very clear ideas and a loose outline, but my content writing jobs have been sucking my creativity dry. My next mission is to find the right balance between all of it so I can keep doing what I love while also building a life for myself. The dream would be to blend those two things together, and I’ll do whatever I can to make that happen.
How do you come up with the title to your books?
It’s a straight-forward process! I usually just think about the story and try to find the connecting thread through it all. Or, like I did for my most recent concept The Rewind Duology, I just thought about what John Green might name a similar book. And that’s how I got Forgetting What I Couldn’t Remember / Forgiving What I Couldn’t Change!
What was the hardest scene for you to write? Which scene was your favorite to write?
I would say the hardest scene was the confrontational scenes between Lynn and her older alter ego, Vera, in the classroom with her old bullies (The Rewind Duology). Revisiting that difficult time in my life was something that hurt as much as it healed me. But I got to link up with KIND Campaign – a charity that prevents bullying in schools. It’s amazing to get to contribute to a cause that I care about so deeply with a portion of the proceeds from my creative work. I know that I’m in a better place emotionally now because of all I’ve been through, and now I’m using it to make a real-world difference.
As for my favorite scene, I’d say any romance scenes are always the most fun to write. I know they’re also my favorite to read, so tapping into that highly emotional sugary-sweet stuff is always a blast. I won’t share any spoilers about who Vera ends up with though – you’ll just have to read The Rewind Duology to find out.
What inspired your book/series?
My life, honestly! My most recent concept of The Rewind Duology involving a conversation with my younger self is heavily based on my experiences through the grade school years and beyond. I really appreciated the chance to expand this book set from a short 10-minute play I originally wrote in college to be the two-part experience that it is today.
What are you working on next?
Breakup Queen is the next project on my mind, and I do plan to try to get this one traditionally published. It’s something I think is extremely marketable, due to the sheer fact it’s a fake-dating rockstar romance. There are some unique twists to it, and there will be pieces of me in the main character (who is probably my angsty goth alter ego). But I know it’s going to be something that people will really enjoy interacting with conceptually.
What authors or books have influenced your writing?
Another great question! I would say John Green and Suzanne Collins are some of the strongest influences, but more recently I’ve also really enjoyed books by Colleen Hoover and Jenn Bennett. Granted, the latter two are more heavily romance, but there’s something so enjoyable about the gritty honesty of those kinds of coming-of-age novels. I’m 25 now, but I still think I’m in the middle of coming-of-age. In fact, I kind of wonder if that particularly unsteady feeling will ever really wear off. But that’s fine, because I’m not sure I’d want it to anyway. It keeps every day and every present moment so vivid and intensely interesting. Monotony is the kiss of death; gotta keep things fresh!
If you could live anywhere, in this world or fantasy, where would you live?
I always like to daydream about somewhere tropical, but all I’ve ever known is here in Massachusetts. So in theory, maybe Hawaii or something. But in practice, that doesn’t really resonate with anything too meaningful to me. Plus, I can’t think of any fantasy worlds that I’d actually want to live in, because most of the ones I read have a dystopian twist to it. No thanks, LOL.
What is your favorite meal?
Probably pizza or burgers. Actually, no – it has to be Salisbury steak. Which is basically like, fancy hamburger with gravy, caramelized onions, and mashed potatoes. But my mom makes it sometimes and it’s basically my favorite thing ever, so I always ask for it on my birthday.
Coffee or tea? Wine or beer?
Definitely herbal tea – I’m already hyper enough even without too much added caffeine. I will do the occasional caramel or white chocolate mocha latte though if I need something decadent to sip while I haunt Starbucks for an afternoon. Alcohol has just never been my thing, so I’ll say neither for the latter question. Call me straight-edge, but I always like feeling in control and present in the moment.
