Got Questions?

Here are a few common ones!

FAQs

Which book of the saga should I start with first?

In a way it is like Star Wars. You can start with either series. But, if you were to consider an OG, it would be the Trials of Andoria, since it was that story I constructed first. There's been many IPs out there with debates of which order pieces fit into the whole (the MCU is a good example). But for me, my order to read is release date, oldest to new. Then Antiquity reads more like flashbacks, not history.

What inspired you to become a writer?

When I was a kid, I often watched television, read, or when I finally got my own system, Nintendo. I dove into other worlds to cope, I suppose. Years later, I was filled with inspiration. At that point I had played so many video games and seen/read so many sources of stories that I had a general concept of the archetypes of characters. But for the most part, it was Chrono Trigger that made me want to write, at first as a video game script writer (a dream) but eventually as a novelist.

Where do you get your ideas?

The characters for the Andoria series is a mixture of my old D&D characters and a few I borrowed from old friends. I wanted to surprise them as a nod of respect to how I still value our time together enough to include them now. Most wouldn't recognize them but by name as they've changed over time. Some of the story was based on those old campaigns we played, but it spawned into this massive world, with far greater implications for its resolution than I intended in the beginning.

Oh definitely a plotter. You can see it in the way I write. So far, all my published works have featured a five act setup. This is only really meant for this specific saga, I won’t use it in everything I do. Organizing, typing out things, helps me imprint them into my mind as kind of a muscle memory. Repeat recalls of my ideas works it into foundation. When I sit down and write, its pantser, running as fast as my fingers and the flow of that inspiration from the ether comes to me, but every other aspect is planned out, even if it gets multiple changes.

What is your writing process like? Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Is there sex and violence in your novels?

Here's the thing, there's a time and place for both, and in any genre that features them. Personally, I only intend on going as far as I think the story deserves either to go. In the case of my current series, violence is a part of it because that's the nature of the story and genre. But its not glorified. As far as sex, there are references, light foreplay, and suggestions, but little else. Again, this is to not glorify it. I don't judge anyone else's work for being more descript on those things, I just write where I feel comfortable.

Do you plan on other work besides the Andoria saga?
What about politics?

I don't think any of us can get away from that. The world you have, if you've built it well enough, will have politics of its own baked into it. Your themes will likely draw from real world politics even subconsciously. But arguments in a story you create go the way you design, including the dramatic miscommunication. In real life we don't have that opportunity. Part of my point in this saga is to show that dividing people weakens the whole even for those who would be benefactors.

God-willing, as long as I live I don’t think I’ll stop now. There are so many side stories to this saga to keep me busy forever, but I do have other works that I’ve dabbled with over the years I might rekindle. They range in genre from sci-fi/dystopian noir to small town mystery. I will let the universe direct me.

What are you currently working on?

The second installment of Antiquity is set to release in December so I have several rounds of editing to do on it. Volume 6 of Andoria will be released first quarter of 2027. While Andoria is completed minus major edits, Antiquity is still in progress. I've not yet started on volume 3, but have a lot of prewriting. I'm excited for that one because it allows me to finish an arc I've held onto for a very long time.

Are you open to collaborations?

Write often, save everything, its all part of the puzzle. As a writer you're a sculptor of words. Themes, stories, arcs, they are all our flair, built from so many pieces of so many things. Don't undervalue any thought you have, they all mean something. Sometimes you have to just let it rip, and other times you have to reserve it. Use music to inspire, find places that foster your best work and capitalize on them. Most importantly, don’t let anyone tell you your story is meaningless. No matter how wide an audience, all stories end up in the pantheon of humanity, your work will reach at least one, and that is always enough. One can end up many one day, but to truly touch another life is priceless in a world filled with capital.

Absolutely! I know that many writers are strong in specific ways, and combining efforts can create amazing results. Where I am at the moment, still splitting time with work and writing as a part-time effort, there's little time. But I will always keep my options open. I love to write, and share my writing. And I'm open to working with artists as well, here's to hoping for a dark comic or anime version of the series (haha).

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
What themes do you generally have interest in?

So far from what I've written in this series I enjoy showing the realistic side to protagonists. This lends to leaning on anti-hero characters, but the truth is too often we have a pristine, glossed version of legendary people in life. People in such an ancient past will likely have much, much more about them and what they endured than we know. In our modern era we can tell each other our feelings, thoughts, everything at a moment's notice. Nothing seems hidden. But in antiquity, only what is written, which is very curated, is what we actually know of the past and the heroes in it. I like showing the real side. Not to denigrate heroes or challenge tradition, but to show people well-rounded, not some archetype that's just a perfect version of themselves. The events that take place in my stories? That kind of curated history can happen and likely has in our own world, so how much fantasy is it, really?