By: Roger Danchik Published by: Atmosphere Press Publication Date: December 13, 2022 ISBN: 978-1639886203 Reviewed By: Kathy Stickles Review Date: December 9, 2022
Viila and the Doomsday Affair is one of the oddest, funniest, and, to be honest, fabulous books I have read in a very long time. I simply adored it because, in the middle of all of the humor, strange characters, and ridiculous circumstances the characters find themselves in, is a story that teaches us so much about friendship, loyalty, and the need to do something and become someone important.
This is the story of a mission that is undertaken by a very interesting group to attempt to save the universe. We have a rabbi, his completely oblivious son, a vampire, a teraphim, a cat, a demon, and a man who cannot walk and instead crawls everywhere on his stomach. Honestly, it sounds a bit like a really bad joke but it is far from that. Our group of misfits embarks on a quest to save the world, even with all of its faults, so that a new and better one can begin. To do this they must reach the expected Hidden Room inside, you guessed it, the Sacred Mount. In order to get there they will have to survive three tasks that are basically hopeless ones.
As this very odd mix of heroes blunders along the reader is treated to some other groups, like the Sect of the Holy Nose Bashers (don’t you just love that name?), who decide to follow along as they have been waiting for their own chances to find this room and be the heroes that have been foretold. Only by living through this long trek can the heroes accomplish their goal and bring about a new world. Throughout the journey the reader is treated to wonderful stories told by the Rabbi, daring feats of bravery from Viila our new favorite vampire-like creature, fun and sometimes explicit suggestions from a teraphim, and a lovely budding romance. The climax of the book is so much fun to read and I know that this is a book meant to be enjoyed by so many.
Mixed into the novel, among the strange people, places, and situations, are some actual facts and some wonderful examples of developing friendships, developing romances, and simple respect and loyalty that should not be missed. Mr. Danchik has put together a novel that is really wonderful. The characters, be they human or something else, are very well-developed and interesting. The humor of the situations is absolutely not to be missed. It was so much fun to read and I can only imagine how much fun the author had in writing the book. I highly recommend Viila and the Doomsday Affair to anyone who wants to learn and laugh at the same time.
Quill says: The perfect book is one that is full of humor, great characters, and can help to teach you something at the same time. There is no doubt that this is just such a book and one that everyone should take the time to enjoy.
For more information on Viila and the Doomsday Affair, please visit the author's website at: danchikwritingbeware.com/
We've had a last-minute category change to our award program. Our poetry category has exploded this year and with it, so has the number of children's picture books written in rhyme nominated for the poetry category. After discussions, we decided it made sense to separate the children's books into their own category. If you've already nominated your children's book and didn't enter it into the poetry category (but it is written in rhyme), and would like to enter, we will make it work without requiring an extra copy. If you haven't entered yet, there's still time. Entries close December 15th.
Contact us at admin@featheredquill.com for information on how to proceed.
Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Barbara Bamberger Scott is talking with Jerry Lovelady, author of Grief and Her Three Sisters.
FQ: How much of your poetic observer is really you?
LOVELADY: The observer in Grief and Her Three Sisters is me. The entire first section of the book, “The River Gods,” was written at a semi-secluded retreat: a camp house which my wife and I own and maintain, built near the banks of the Sabine River in rural East Texas. “Our Cabin in the Woods” has spawned many poems in this book, though the ones which are pertinent to this section are some of my favorites.
FQ: While much of this work focuses on sadness and frustration, the ending piece, “Move Your Mountain,” seems to suggest hope and renewed determination – will that be the theme of your next collection?
LOVELADY: It is too early to tell which direction the new book will turn. I am leaning toward a whimsical collection, and also toward a collection which concerns itself exclusively with observations about human interactions, since that is more in the realm of what I am doing now, teaching high school English. There will be more sorrows and fateful predetermination discussed in this new book. I am also inclined to write about a tendency that we have developed as a society to ignore the fundamental values of human beings who are often overlooked because of their physical impairments and predicaments, or their social status. These topics will certainly be an important focus of the next book, judging from what I have compiled so far.
Of course, once one commits to a course of action in writing he is doomed to mold his thoughts toward that end. I prefer to let the creative process provide its own direction, much like the transcendentalist poets of the mid- to late-19th century did. They believed that knowledge could be obtained outside of the school house and the church house through keen observations of nature. They considered their most important ideas and encounters to be gifted to them by way of spiritual experiences.
I specifically cite Mary Oliver as one of the most important examples of a modern-day transcendentalist poet. I feel that poets of her generation and mine are still drawing inspiration from the early transcendentalist pioneers like Walt Whitman and Emily Dickenson.
I consider the transcendentalist movement to be a traditional, ongoing poetic movement which I intend to follow, and support to some extent, in all of my further creative works.
FQ: Did the isolation of “Covid times” spur you to write more, share more, about sorrow and loss?
LOVELADY: I had not really thought about “Covid times” having caused me to frame the mood of this book in such a downcast way. Covid may have “subliminally” set the mood of Grief and Her Three Sisters, I don’t really know. My first book, Other Worlds, in Other Words, came out during Covid times, but most of the poetry in it was written prior to the beginning of the pandemic. I intentionally left out any poetic references to the pandemic in Other Worlds, hoping that it might avoid being lumped into the category of “Pandemic poetry.” So much poetry had already been written about this sad and very unfortunate period in world history. Instead, when I wrote Grief and Her Three Sisters, I wanted to get out ahead of this trend, using the collective melancholic mood generated by Covid to focus the reader’s attention on healing our collective grief, and surviving the emotional aftermath of the pandemic.
FQ: What writer/poet has influenced you most in your creations?
LOVELADY: Walt Whitman’s writings have provided me with the most fertile ground for planting poetic seeds. I find his views on spiritualism and his transcendental philosophy to be both fascinating and alluring. The way in which he turned his phrases has always appealed to me. His ideas about people living beyond their suffering and death, becoming changed in one way or another, or transfigured into other forms, has plainly influenced my writings.
Robert Frost has had a tremendous influence on me, as well. His rhyming prowess and his use of simple characters whom he celebrates in his poetry always glows with such passion and fascination that I continue to be impressed. I have read practically every poem he ever wrote and still enjoy reading them again, and again. The way he detailed the changing times that he and the people of his generation experienced is still valid today, in my opinion.
Read “Out, Out–” which recounts the tragic death of a young man at a Vermont sawmill, and Frost’s perception of the callousness of society toward child labor during the later-day Industrial Revolution. The descriptive style Frost uses in this poem is conveyed in such a matter-of-fact way, relating what one might consider a particularly horrific incident, that the reader gets the feeling it probably happened all the time back in his day. Such sorrowful events certainly are still occurring in other developing industrial societies around the world where child labor laws have not yet been instituted.
Then read “The Line Gang,” which seems to deride the onslaught of Progress, which reaches deep into Frost’s isolated, mountain community to bring the gift of communication to rural America, at the cost of throwing down the forests to achieve its ultimate, paradoxical end. These kinds of themes fascinate me. Frost's style of poetry is frank and honest, and filled with repeating moral conflicts; classic poetry laced through with “man vs. nature” themes. These are some of the reasons why I think that he has probably influenced me the most.
FQ: What is your favorite poem in this collection? Does it evoke certain memories?
LOVELADY: It is so hard to choose which poem is my favorite. I think that it’s a toss-up between “Headstones Set in Rows” and “Relic.” Both are impressive to me for different reasons.
The former is extremely nostalgic and is written about my father, Huey Lovelady, and the great vacuum he left in my life after his passing. He attempted to leave a legacy for his children in the form of the land he homesteaded and maintained for six decades while his progeny eventually wandered away, leaving him and his dreams behind as they went about forming their own lives. He wound up instilling in me a different legacy: an attitude of perseverance, for which I am eternally grateful.
“Relic,” on the other hand, is a celebration of the perpetuity of life and its ever-changing nature. I was walking along the beach bordering the river near my cabin one morning when I came upon a fossilized seashell in the sand and began to wonder about the changes it had endured. All of the events which had transpired over millions of years came racing into my mind. I began to imagine all these changes had taken place just so that this fossil would be left there, specifically for me to find.
I then imagined myself as being that living creature and I described what it was like enduring the processes of decay, degradation, calcification, and finally redemption. I imagined that these processes brought me full circle, to the present, with the passing of time, till I wound up a trinket in the hands of a small child playing on a beach.
The opening stanza reads:
“Ocean employ your roaring, gurgling voice.
Tell me the number of my days
You patiently count
Grain by precious grain
Falling, ever falling.”
I used the tried-and-true symbols of the “ocean” for eternity and the falling sand for “measured days of time” to set a mystic mood for the poem. The rest was imagination.
FQ: Do you journal your thoughts and ideas, as suggested by some of the opening lines of the four sections of this volume?
LOVELADY: Yes, I do some journaling, but mostly I jot down strong impressions which evolve into more concrete ideas about poems, which I later develop, often leading to some interesting poetry. Most of my journaled ideas have never been published. They are in prose form and may lead to a book of short stories or memoirs some time in the future. I would have to write them as fiction because no one would ever believe some of the things that have happened to me in real life. I have nothing planned along that line right now.
FQ: Do you constantly “think in poetry” as you observe the world around you?
LOVELADY: I don’t walk around thinking about poetry all day. I often see or hear something happen that says, “Hey, that would be a great thing to write about.” Usually it is something that is sad which comes to mind about the human condition; there is so much of that surrounding us. I often think of this or that event as being “poetic” or representing poetry—the irony of life events, this or that occurrence playing out as if it were destined to happen. I don’t see life as being just a fortuitous, or an unfortunate set of circumstances which produces a specific outcome. Life is definitely more than that.
If poetry is beauty, I see beauty. If poetry is witnessing failure and ugliness, I see poetry in that. If poetry is enlightenment, I see it as enlightenment. When I sit still, enjoying the silence of the morning on my porch, watching the sunrise as the rest of the world wakes up, I feel nearer to something in a place where I think true poetry resides. I think that place has a vibrant life of its own and constantly seeks a way to intermingle with us. Perhaps I am obtaining small glimpses of the creation process spoonfed, a bite at a time, by some generous, creative intelligence, not wholly contained within myself. I still have to make an effort to get to that place each day that I write. I just have to open my eyes and my heart to see the messages waiting there for me.
FQ: What single piece of advice would you give to a person preparing to read your work with no previous knowledge of its content?
LOVELADY: The title of the book throws some people off. Grief and Her Three Sisters is not so much about surviving the grieving process as it is about celebrating the gains in happiness we may obtain by leaving behind what we have lost, and concentrating, instead, on what comes next.
There are probably millions of ways to do this. I believe in and practice appreciating others. I believe there is great reward in appreciating our own lives and the people who have helped us get to where we are now in the present. I see nothing to gain in dwelling on the sadness of our pasts. It is all right to see our pasts in a different way than how we first remember them. This is how the healing process begins for me each time I experience grief.
If you grew up and are still living in a dense-packed, urban environment, navigating the chocked full, tightly woven matrix of humans interacting with one another, try to view this book holistically.
By that I mean if you can visualize the entire world being a whole, then we, as individuals, must exist as one, whether we think of ourselves as existing in or outside of Nature.
Think of it all as just being different parts of that same whole.
By attempting to adopt such a view of ourselves within the world, reading what someone else says about Nature interacting with us in our own environment doesn’t seem so frightening or confusing.
Somehow we all find a way to relate to the feelings that are expressed in almost any poem, no matter what venues poets choose to showcase their feelings.
Dragon's Eye: Who's Watching You? (The Jack and Maddy Gamble Series, Book 2)
By: Gregor Pratt
Publisher: St. Armands Press
Publication Date: October 26, 2022
ISBN: 979-8986919300
Reviewed by: Diane Lunsford
Review Date: December 5, 2022
Dragon’s Eye is Gregor Pratt’s second book in his Jack and Maddy Gamble Series. Intrigue and mystery are abundant across the pages of this captivating thriller.
Maddy Gamble is married to Jack Gamble. According to Jack, this was more than coincidence. "...My trial lawyer swagger is gone, as are my skirt-chasing days. When I found Maddy, I found myself, the good parts of me, and I overcame my distrust of women. Maddy came to Ebola Island to help with my rescue and had helped me wind up what was probably the most significant lawsuit ever..." Maddy and Jack aren’t your typical homebodies. Rather, after solving a major case tied to the Ebola Island matter, they married in Malagasy and having done a fair amount of research, they decided to settle in Nelson, New Zealand. The joy of Maddy being pregnant with JJ (Jack Junior) and less than a year later, the birth of their daughter Allison, meant they were well on their way to their happily-ever-after fairytale. JJ and Allison are both enrolled in Auckland Point School, and in the same class since Allison turned five shortly before JJ was six. So how does Julia Adamson fit into this scenario?
Julia Adamson is having an affair. While relaxing on the balcony of her second-floor room at the Palazzo Motor Lodge, her mind wanders as she justifies her clandestine trysts with a married man. Now that he’s discretely left to return to his real life, Julia sips her wine and thinks about how the affair has complicated her life. It’s not that she had great disdain for her husband. Rather, she had nothing for him—they didn’t fight; they simply ignored each other. Something snaps Julia out of her reverie. She sees a woman crossing the courtyard by the pool below and what captures Julia’s attention is the pair of Manolo Blahnik pumps the woman is sporting. What’s a gal like that doing in a place like this? Time for Julia to leave until she notices the six figures all dressed in black from head-to-toe en route to the same room where the woman with the fabulous shoes had gone moments before. Is Julia in the wrong place at the wrong time and witnessing something she probably shouldn’t be witnessing? This is just the beginning of a tangled web of murder and mystery, and how does China plays into the entire nightmare about to unfold?
Not having read Ebola Island, the first book in Mr. Pratt’s Jack and Maddy Gamble Series, the action and adventure that plays out across the pages of Dragon’s Eye is inspiration enough to go back and do just that. The breadcrumbs Mr. Pratt places along the path in the opening pages of this read are excellent. On Page 1, he is enticing his audience with character Julia Adamson and plants the seed of how she will be relevant...later on...keep reading, he’s just getting started. Even though this is a work of fiction, even the title, "Dragon’s Eye," connects to relevance in our modern society in terms of - are we being watched? Mr. Pratt builds layer upon layer of intensity as the façade of normal, every-day life for characters Maddy and Jack Gamble is just that, a façade. He cites sublime nuances toward what was once and is no more: "...There were still internal combustion vehicles around, but they seemed fewer and fewer except for the collector vehicles..." He also does a superb job of showing the surveillance concept around China being at the center of its existence: "...The Chinese surveillance camera had been widely used against the Uighurs in China, a subculture that had been all but wiped out after first being monitored virtually everywhere..." There is a lot to unpack in this fast-paced, compelling read and it’s worth every page to do so. Well done Mr. Pratt.
Quill says: Dragon’s Eye takes the concept of ‘Who’s Watching You’ to the next level and then some!
For more information on Dragon's Eye: Who's Watching You? (The Jack and Maddy Gamble Series, Book 2), please visit the author's website at: www.gregorprass.com
Patients in Peril: The Demise of Primary Care in America
By: Gregg Coodley Publisher: Atmosphere Press Publication Date: November 2022 ISBN: 978-1639886265 Reviewed by: Barbara Bamberger Scott Review Date: December 5, 2022
Gregg Coodley, author and physician, has arrayed statistics and suggestions in this wide-ranging look at a disturbing change that has taken place in American medical care in recent years.
Coodley’s book begins with the general history of becoming a doctor in the US. Once considered a rather lowly and often maligned profession, medical practitioners have risen to a level of high respect as education expanded to tighten requirements and allow for established certifications. The major basis for doctors was traditionally the personal care physician (PCP) model: someone who would take care of most or all a patient’s medical needs, even visiting them in the hospital, communicating directly with the patients and family and recommending any outside care needed. This model has gradually altered, as insurance, government, and private industry have intervened in the realm of American medical practice.
The current model for patient care has changed so that now a patient in the hospital may see a “hospitalist” – sometimes a different one every day – and far more of his/her care will be siphoned off to a wide variety of specialists. Change of insurance can result in mandatory change of PCP, the poor will see only the often-changing group of caregivers in public facilities, and only the very wealthy can afford to engage one doctor for all care. One result of this is that far fewer medical students opt to become PCPs, and that patients are no longer treated directly by someone who knows them, will have observed them for a long period of time, and can offer greater comfort and healing because of the relationship. America is unique in this model, with proportionately far fewer PCPs than elsewhere in the world. Coodley, who boldly established a PCP clinic to benefit his local community, sets forth various possible changes that would offer a better template for medical care, with a reversion to the traditional “family care” doctor being the goal.
Coodley, who has authored/co-authored other factual materials, presents his case here in an intelligent, well-organized forum, so that almost any sensible reader will, from the first page of this extensive exploration, feel a kinship with the author’s clear treatise, his ideals and cogent suggestions for change. He supports his thesis with a vast number of references, factual data and telling statistics, casting light on financial dealings and governmental interventions that have made simple medical care almost too complex for ordinary citizens to comprehend.
Quill says: Gregg Coodley’s book, Patients in Peril: The Demise of Primary Care in America, should be given serious attention and his ideas widely propagated so that Americans needing medical care can feel that they are being offered the best possible options.
For more information on Patients in Peril: The Demise of Primary Care in America, please visit the book's website at: www.patientsperil.com/
Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Dianne Woodman is talking with a.w. karen, author of SPVCE.
FQ: From mechanical engineer to author - that’s a great story in itself! Did your desire to write stem from your career and do you think writing a futuristic world story is the natural choice for someone working in the sciences?
KAREN: I actually started writing SPVCE before I decided to be an engineer. It wasn’t until my junior year in high school – in the midst of my college search – that I impulsively switched from wanting to be a math teacher to wanting to be an engineer. I believe I started SPVCE during my sophomore year of high school. I’ve always loved books and writing, and the ideas behind SPVCE really grabbed me. It was the first book that I was able to get past the first few chapters and actually keep writing.
I think working in the sciences can make you really passionate to write sci-fi, futuristic worlds because that’s the mindset and subject you’re comfortable with. On the other hand, some people might want their writing hobby to be as separate from their work as possible. I see the draw in both sides. I think – for me – I’m interested in writing a variety of genres to see how my voice and my values shine through each genre’s lens.
FQ: The story is geared toward young adult readers. What made you decide to focus on a group of teenagers rather than adults?
KAREN: A lot of what inspired SPVCE comes from the pressures I faced in school and my personal mental health journey. School, obviously, is mainly relevant to teenagers and young adults. Plus, my anxiety started when I was 13-years-old (around eighth grade). So, I really wanted to capture a lot of the raw emotions and personal growth I went through in my young adult years.
FQ: Why did you create a society in which children are treated as objects rather than being treated with respect and value as human beings?
Author a.w. karen
KAREN: In a way, SPVCE is my commentary on our current education system. I think students are often reduced to their grades or the statistics they provide for schools and states. Even worse, they’re often reduced to some kind of cookie-cutter “renaissance man” that society expects them to be. We expect every kid to be good at the same subjects regardless of whether they need them in the careers they want. We look down on students who might not want to go to college and discourage those who might want to take a chance on an artistic field. There’s so much stifling of creativity and confidence; it breaks my heart.
FQ: You created a diverse and relatable set of characters who played essential roles in the story. They’re a great mix of STEM disciplines (plus a few others). Did they come, at least partially, from your experiences in different science courses that you took through the years? Do you think your real-life experiences helped make them believable?
KAREN: I don’t think I necessarily drew from classes I’ve taken. I wanted to include a variety of academic specialties because I think any team benefits from a variety of perspectives. Plus, I’ve always found it fascinating how your interests are often reflected in your personality, so having a diverse group of specialties allowed me to create a diverse team of cadets.
I do think I based the characters’ personalities, instinctively, on people I’ve met throughout my school years. I mean, you meet such a myriad of different personalities at college. When I started writing the story, I laid the foundations for a character and then I just...let them talk? It’s hard to explain, but I guess I imagined what a “real” person might say or do – like imagining how a friend might act in a given situation – to guide the characters’ behaviors in the story.
FQ: Maci specializes in psychology. Why did you pick that field of expertise for her? How did you decide on the specialties you chose for each teenager?
KAREN: I wanted Maci to be grounded in something purely human. And I think that’s reflective of myself. I was inspired to become a mechanical engineer out of my desire to help people. For me, it’s cool to see where the machines and the humans collide – to see what we can create when we design to help people and improve other’s qualities of living.
I think, as I mentioned in the previous question, I wanted to include a variety of specialties to ensure the crew had a variety of perspectives and personalities. Also, there’s something to be learned from every academic field. I have mad respect for people who study stuff outside of engineering – like business and chemistry and art – because I’m not sure I could do it. As important as technology and STEM are, they’re not the only fields of value, you know? The world would be so boring without artistic careers… and completely dysfunctional without logistic and trade school careers.
FQ: Within the story you share your personal perspective on anxiety - was this difficult to do and/or was it perhaps cathartic?
KAREN: Writing everything down was extremely cathartic. It gave me a chance to take a step back, for once in my life, and put my anxiety into words. I never got to talk to anyone about it growing up. It wasn’t until, honestly, two years ago or so that I got professional help for the first time since being diagnosed at 13. SPVCE was my chance to finally talk about my struggles with anxiety.
It’s definitely nerve-wracking, though, to think about people reading the novel because very few people in my life know about my anxiety… or how severe it is. But I wanted to share my experience because I know there are people out there suffering through the same stuff. My embarrassment or nervousness is a minor price to pay to help others know they’re not alone.
FQ: While the story shows characters dealing with anxiety attacks, it makes it clear that such issues do not define the individual nor take hold of every aspect of a person’s life. How important was it for you to educate readers about this?
KAREN: So, so important. As I mentioned in the previous question, very few people know about my anxiety because I forced myself to hide it for years. People thought I had everything 100% together because I was an overachiever – straight A’s, extracurriculars, working a job, acting in community theater, always smiling, always helping people. But I was extremely fractured on the inside. I kept myself busy so I didn’t have time to listen to my brain. Mental health wasn’t something people talked about, and – while I was growing up – it was often viewed as a weakness. And I didn’t want people to see that I was barely holding myself together… especially my family and my friends. They thought the world of me, and I was terrified to lose their respect.
Fortunately, mental health is finally becoming more normalized, part of the everyday conversation. Even in just the span of my lifetime, I’ve been amazed how much society has shifted, how much people are willing to fight for mental health awareness. It brings me to tears sometimes because I don’t want anyone to go through what I did. I want people to know their mental health does not lessen their worth or define their limits. It’s another part of being human, another factor that makes us different from each other. And the more open we are about the topic, the less people have to suffer in silence.
FQ: Are any of the character’s bouts of anxiety attacks based on firsthand experience?
KAREN: As hard as it is for me to admit...yes, they are. I’m not ashamed of sharing my experiences – it’s just hard for me to tell my family and friends who read SPVCE that I really did go through much of what Maci does. I’ve already had some people reach out to apologize and say they had no idea and that they wish they had done more. But, you know, it’s in the past, really. I don’t blame anyone for not reaching out to help me because I thought I didn’t need help. I was trying to figure it out myself, and I thought I had it under control.
And I think a lot of these thoughts are reflected in the novel. Maci’s brief journey captures a whole decade of my living with anxiety. I really got to flesh out her thoughts and the different symptoms she experiences because I had time to digest how I felt and was dealing with them.
I touch upon it in the novel, but – for me, at least – my anxiety is very much a series of different waves. I’ve had various periods in my life where my anxiety switches between different triggers, different symptoms, and it’s definitely not been easy to deal with, but it’s been very eye-opening. Anxiety is a very intricate disorder that manifests in so many different ways. I’m hoping the novel can spread some awareness on what those around you could be experiencing when it comes to their anxiety.
FQ: Your website is very cool. I love the main page/background visual as well as the book trailer. The rest of the site is clean and easy to navigate. So many authors skimp on their websites but it’s obvious you put a lot of thought into your site. How important do you think your website is to your marketing and what would you tell other authors about working on their sites?
KAREN: Aw, thank you! Honestly, I’m a very visual person – I’m one of those people who is obsessed with making PowerPoints and was always in charge of them for group projects. I think presentation is very important, especially nowadays with how much information is conveyed online and through social media. I’m still learning how to handle all of the marketing that comes along with being an author, but I think having an author website is pretty essential. It serves as like a hub for all your information, and it gives you an opportunity to offer a deeper look into your brain and your creativity.
I think it’s worth it to invest some time into a clean, user-friendly site. I use Wix for my website, and it is amazing… really straightforward with a lot of options for customization. As I said, I think presentation is very important, mostly because it conveys a message to your audience before you say a single word. I’ve always made my PowerPoint presentations – back in school and in my current job – very clean and as visually appealing as possible because these aspects tell my audience that I’m professional, put-together, confident in what information I’m sharing with them. I think the same applies to an author website, for sure.
Also, as a fun fact, the book trailer was something I had an absolute blast making. It gave me an opportunity to dust off my community theater chops, haha.
FQ: The ending leaves the door open for a sequel revolving around the teenagers in the story. Are you planning on writing one?
KAREN: You know, I went into SPVCE confident there would not be a sequel. But I’m on the fence now. Maybe one day there might be… it depends on if the characters have more to say. I am, however, working on a companion piece for SPVCE. More of a short-story thing that offers some background into one of the characters that we – in my opinion – don’t get to learn enough about in the novel. I’m hoping to release more information about this in 2023!
