We’re all limited by time and the one life we’re given. But stories allow us to break free from those limitations and experience different periods, places, and worlds. We get to walk in someone else’s shoes and feel things we might not otherwise get to. This is why we love stories. Every story we’ve created had something about it that captured our imagination, and we hope it does the same for you.
High Risk was created almost entirely in the span of few weeks. It was the closest we’ve experienced to a story writing itself. The impetus of the book occurred one fateful but typical night at the office. Security came around to lock up the building. We wondered what would happen if we got locked in? If that occurred over the long Christmas holiday, the building would be shut down and without power. Then we asked ourselves, what if someone did something like that on purpose?
The original idea behind the Ghosts of Sherwood came to us when we were lost in the daily grind of the rat race. The story sprung to life during a soul-sucking commute to work. When you’re a kid, no one envisions themselves as an adult, creeping along in a tin box on a crowded freeway, dying a little each day. When you’re young, everything is magical, new, and exciting. Does that feeling have to end? And with that question, the Ghosts of Sherwood was born.
History of Lies has been our most ambitious endeavor by far. The idea came to us after we’d read an article about a new technology that allowed scientists to see what someone else saw through their eyes. What if that technology was used when someone died? Could you see what’s on the other side? There’s the old saying that your life flashes before your eyes when you die? What if someone used this technology and saw the flash of multiple lives? This led us to the idea of past lives. Something about that idea grabbed hold of us and wouldn’t let go. It’s the type of idea that has thousands of permutations. There were many moments when we felt like Alice in Wonderland and had fallen down the rabbit hole of endless possibilities. After a lot of blood, sweat, and four-letter words, we finally created a story we felt was worthy of the idea.
Nina Winter and the Age of Darkness came to me as I thought about my daughters. I wanted to write something for them. As they grow up, I know they’re going to encounter difficulties, so I wanted a story that showed the triumph of the human spirit. I wanted to create a character that would have to face adversity on an epic scale. The Dark Ages seemed like the right setting and then I imagined a young peasant girl who lost her father. And finally, a beast emerges from the forest and terrorizes her village. This is the world of Nina Winter. I enjoyed writing her first story so much that I kept writing the second book, Nina Winter and the Age of Exile.
