After people read A Shrouded Spark, they usually ask about the process of writing the book and how the story came to be. And, to be honest, I always stumble over the answer.

Not because I can’t articulate it, but more in an “I have too much to say and too little time” kind of way. That on-the-spot feeling prompted me to sit down and think about the journey from start to finish (usually an overwhelming task). I wrote this post to talk about the process of creating A Shrouded Spark--its origins, its inspirations, and its journey.

The inspiration for the story started with the idea of the Yggdrasil--the Tree of Life, in Norse mythology. I was interested in the idea that the Yggdrasil could connect multiple realms or worlds; I wanted to play with that, to see what it would be like to write a scenario in which a character or characters could utilize or visit this tree and travel between worlds and/or planes of existence.

Before anyone put their eyes on it, the working title for A Shrouded Spark was “Divine Intervention”. There were overtly biblical themes littered throughout the book (angels and demons, no less). The main character’s name was Grace. She was white, her friends were wealthy and white, and her savior was a white angel--furthermore, the “worlds” that I wanted my characters to travel to were recycled--versions of heaven and hell. It was all very much born out of two things--1. My Christian/Catholic upbringing and 2. My affinity for reading about, watching, and writing fanfiction about characters that just so happened to be non-black....Read More