Olga Lopez asked Oliver Phipps:

A Tempest Soul is such an amazing story. How did you ever think of it? I just wonder how you could imagine such a detailed story. Thank you

Oliver Phipps Thank you for that great question Olga.

I've been asked that type of question before in interviews. My short answer would be that 'A Tempest Soul' has been the most organic novel I've written so far. Once the characters came into place and the framework established, the story almost wrote itself.

But, on a more personal level, A Tempest Soul is very dear to my heart. I believe Gina, and later Serena could be any one of us at one time or another. We all want to feel that we have value. For Gina, this thought was diminished by her mother leaving her at a young age. To make matters worse, when she was finally feeling independent and responsible, an innocent mistake throws her back to the floor.

So, I suppose to try and answer your question Olga. I decided Gina would be the kind of young woman that, once in this position, if she saw a slight thread of hope, she would get a death grip on that and pull herself out of the hole. And as this occurred in the story, everything else she wanted came to her.

The dance didn't solve all of her problems though. And it actually brought new ones to her. But in the end, Serena had the ability to overcome and to finally find peace in her heart. This I feel is something we all can hope and strive for. And it's something we can be happy Serena found, since the road she had to travel was much more difficult than many others.

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