1–What is the title of your latest release? MAGICIAN AND FOOL – Book One, Arcana Oracle Series 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Pamela, a seer and empath hired by a cult to design tarot cards, must summon the muses of her cards, High Priestess and Empress, to help her thwart Aleister’s demons and stop the Carlists from trying to destroy all female rulers. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Magician and Fool is based on the real-life Pamela Colman Smith who lived in London, Jamaica, and New York in the later part of the 19th century, so I was lucky to have lush, exotic and fascinating environments already suggested. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? I would have loved to attend one of Pamela’s Bohemian Soirees that she held in her flat in Chelsea in the early 1900s. Part-performance, part-social event, these soirees were attended by some of the most fascinating artists and authors of the day. I would have been there in a New York minute! 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Talented, psychic and ambitious describes Pamela Colman Smith. 6–What’s something you learned…

I’m curious about the world these Dangerous Damsels stories take place in. Is it a real time and place in history, but with a magical twist? Or is it set in some alternate, yet similar to our own, world? It’s real Victorian England, with the twist that a magical incantation was discovered many years before and a small group of people have access to it. Despite the fantasy element, the general setting is firmly established in historical reality – and yet, I also had to consider what that reality might look like under the circumstances of pirates in flying houses!   How does the Wisteria Society crime sorority of the first book in this series compare to The League of Gentlewomen Witches? The Wisteria Society and the Wicken League are remarkably similar to each other, although they would not agree with this. Both groups make claims in a decidedly resolute manner (ie, using guns, sharpened hat pins, and snubbing each other at parties) as to their superiority, but the fact is, even these powerful and dangerous magic-wielding women still find themselves conforming to the essential norms of Victorian culture. I’m interested in showing how women in a prevailingly patriarchal environment…

In the narrow streets of Solus, the soldiers in red made their assault on the Harkan kingsguard, hurling spears, pressing forward, arrows raining down from every direction. The soldiers in black did their best to arrest the charge of the red army. Shield pressed shield. Shoulders butted. Iron screamed against bronze. The kingsguard fought back against their attackers, but there were simply too many soldiers in red and not enough in black. Hands flailed and shields crumpled. “We’re digging in our heels,” said Gneuss. He huddled alongside Ren, keeping his head low. “But we can’t hold out for long. Sooner or later these sons of bitches are going to break through our wall. So when the boys in red make their push, we’re going to give them a surprise. They’ll expect us to hit back. Instead, we’ll retreat into that open space, the one up there,” he said, pointing to the place where the street emptied out into a wide plaza. “It’ll look like chaos when we hit the clearing.” Gneuss wrapped his fingers around the neckline of Ren’s tunic. “They’ll expect us to fan out like a bunch of fools, but we’re going to do the opposite. The men’ll…

The pandemic has given us a very different 2020 than most of us would have anticipated. Would you say that the pandemic has helped or hindered you creatively? Do you have any advice for writers or artists trying to navigate their creative pursuits during this time? I’ve been doing all right for the most part. I work at home, so quarantining doesn’t change that. Near the beginning, I’d get bummed out being on lockdown, but I’ve adjusted, and writing is nothing if not an escape. I really would have liked to go to New England to research a book this summer, but I couldn’t (and still can’t) do that, which has been unfortunate. For those trying to navigate creative pursuits–writing is mostly done online anyway. You can pitch, sell, and even buy books without leaving your computer. For others, it’s not so easy. No theaters, no art shows… it’s a lot harder to go out into the world for inspiration. Though a lot of museums have virtual tours now, which can spark ideas! Most conferences have gone online as well, which, while not having a social element, can actually make it easier for those with disabilities or those who can’t…