What can you tell us about your new release, Welcome To The Inbetween? Welcome to the Inbetween is an LGBTQ+ teen fantasy story that was an inspired project for me. It began as a dream about a magical world, following a genderfluid teenager called Chris on an adventure through the enchanting realm. Chris was an incredibly fun person to write, and I’ve never had a writing project flow so naturally before. The tale explores identity and family through the eyes of a witty kid with the fate of a whole new world on their shoulders. What or who inspired you to become an author? I’ve wanted to be an author since I was a little kid. Stories have always captivated and inspired me. I started telling my own from a young age and eventually practiced enough to get good at it. What’s on your top 5 list for the best books you’ve ever read? Top five books, not top five lists? Okay. My favorite book of all time is Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman – I’m a huge Pratchett fan and most of his work would probably make this list if I’m being honest. However, I also love In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan. The Family Tree by Sheri S. Tepper was big for me as a child, so was The Belgariad by David Eddings (I’m counting it as one book, shhh). I would add Bed of Nails by Antonin Varenne as well. Would recommend it, and… I’ve run out of room. Let’s just say I like to read things that are different from my own work. Say you’re the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask? I think I would drag some of my author friends on and then start a hunt for fantastic lesser-known and just-starting authors. If I had a literary talk show I’d want to use it to help publicize people whose writing I loved but who was still struggling to be seen and needed the exposure. What’s your favorite thing about writing? The satisfaction of a story well told. I love getting to the end of a book and making everything come together neatly. It’s a challenge for me each time to see how well I can weave all the threads into a satisfactory bow. What is a typical day like for you? Writing in the morning until my brain stops working. Sometimes I get through the whole day and feel like a champion. Sometimes by the afternoon I feel like a failure and eat cookies and watch tv and wallow in my angst until I think I can do better than what I’m watching and the fires of inspiration are once again lit through the evening. What scene from Welcome To The Inbetween was your favorite to write? Anything with AJ in it. Anything and everything with AJ in it. He definitely snuck through to steal the favorite character trophy from me in this book. Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by? It’s life, you can’t do it wrong. I struggled with crippling perfectionism for a long time when I finally had a friend say that to me. It was eye-opening. I spent so much time trying to get everything perfect and not do anything wrong, but having someone talk me through that notion was exactly what I needed to be able to let a lot of things go. I remind myself of it whenever my anxiety starts acting up. It’s your life, you can’t do it wrong.
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