One thing I get asked a lot is, “Where did you get the idea for your books?”

I think somewhere back in the annals of history (read: one of the past acknowledgments) I mentioned that these books started in my brain when I was a kid. That is absolutely true. I remember lying in the clover patch in my backyard next to my dog, looking up at the sky and imagining a fantastical world beyond ours. I wondered if I could ever visit it; I wondered if it would have the same redemption story as ours.

Over the years, that world kept growing in my mind. Even into adulthood, I kept thinking about it. Characters materialized, and I often used their stories to help clear my mind at night. It never once occurred to me to actually write them down.

Until one day I did.

And boy oh boy, when I did, it was like a dam had broken. I couldn’t stop thinking of this world I had made up. I couldn’t stop exploring the lives of the people in it. And somewhere along the way, I decided to let someone other than myself read them. Hence, The Promised One was released into the world.

But fast forward to today, the latest books in my little universe (namely: The Stag at Hand and The Song in the Shadows) represent new characters and a new storyline, all within that same world. Why, you ask? The reason is simple: it’s really all one big story.

If you’ve read enough of my books by now, you’ve probably picked up on that. Every character’s individual story is telling a much bigger story. One that spans time and even space. (Yes, I said space. Just you wait, Henry Higgins. Just you wait!!! But more on that later.)

So why do I write these books?

Well for one, because I love them and I just can’t not write them (I know that’s a double negative. Sue me). But the main reason is that I think I’ve had an ongoing love affair with the Creator from the time I was a child. My view of him is probably a little different than yours (an obvious observation to any thinking person, I agree). But I’ve just had this ongoing compulsion to share that viewpoint. Maybe the Creator is not quite the figure we’ve painted him to be. Maybe the story is a bit more nuanced than we realized. And maybe we’re all figures in his grand masterpiece–strokes of his brush if you will.

And maybe we can see a bit of ourselves in these characters. Maybe we’re all Miri–struggling to believe in our own worth. Or maybe we’re all Ezra–loving as hard as we can, even when it hurts. I’ve lived vicariously through every single one of my characters and I can honestly say that there’s a tiny piece of my soul in each one of them.

So I guess I write these books because it’s the best way I can be honest about myself.

Yes, that’s probably the real reason.