But every story has its beginning, and mine is no different.When I was a young child, my older brother was very much like Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer. He would pull pranks on myself, family members, as well as local townsfolk. He could make you believe just about anything, so sincere with his tales of this and that. A natural storyteller, and aching to put the fear of God into his little sister, he would tell tales brimming with ghosts and monsters with such enthusiasm it’s a wonder I slept at all.

Of course, his unique imagination and way of looking at the world rubbed off on me. Soon, I was writing down story after story into my notebooks. How many trees were put to the axe to feed my need to write, I may never know. Naturally, these stories had a darker edge to them, and soon I was taking on my brother’s role as ‘storyteller’. My younger cousins would soon be requesting Scooby Doo style tales of ghosts and monsters.

How many trees were put to the axe to feed my need to write, I may never know

I would continue to write through high school, but once I left for university I found that there was little time for writing. But it was at university that I discovered another passion . . . history. I doubled down in my studies, becoming a member of Phi Beta Kappa while earning a BA in anthropology and economics from UNL.

In 2000 I had enrolled back at UNL to obtain a MA in Museum Studies with an emphasis in Archival Management after having taken about a 4-year hiatus after receiving my undergraduate degrees. I also got married that year, so as you can imagine I was quite busy.

But between the demands of school and wedding planning, I found time to do a couple of character sketches for two voices who were just itching to claw their way out of my mind . . . Amarys and Leoric. Intrigued by the nuances of these sketches, I wrote the moment that these two characters met, and you could say I was hooked. Not knowing more than that, there was a sense of longing to find out more about these two characters…one pure, kind, and perhaps a bit naive; and the other dripping with dark charisma and an air of mystery.

There was a sense of longing to find out more about these two characters…one pure, kind, and perhaps a bit naive; and the other dripping with dark charisma and an air of mystery

Soon thereafter, I was on a walk in the countryside with a close friend – Holly. During that walk, we were talking about our shared interest in writing, and determined that we would each write and share chapter by chapter until stories end. I knew that Holly liked medieval history, as did I, so it worked out perfectly as I was able to take numerous classes on medieval culture and art . . . coursework that was applicable towards my MA degree. We had a great time doing this, sharing our excitement, frustrations, and plenty of laughs along the way.

Eight years in the making, The Taking was a bastion of secret desires to create a novel with complex characters that you’d love to hate…characters who’d evolve throughout the arc of the story. With a tremendous amount of research and attention to detail, I wanted the world to feel real and ‘lived in’. Ultimately, I wanted the reader to feel that this world could exist and the decisions the characters made were realistic however misguided they might be.

This novel was the genesis of the Tales of Malstria vampire series set in medieval and ancient cultures. The entire story arc of the series is not entirely known to even me. But, I have a lot of ideas, and multiple stories in this series are in various stages of completion.

Be assured, the Tales of Malstria series is going to continue! I’m also in the process of writing a historical fiction novel that has no dark fantasy elements, so I’m excited to see this project come to fruition.

I hope you enjoyed this brief romp, and it gives you some insight into my writing.

Thank you!