Hello V. R.! Thank you for stopping in today. Can you tell us a bit about yourself as a writer?
- Thank you for having me! I wrote my very first story when I was just six years old, a few little paragraphs about some kittens. One of my older sisters revealed an amazing thing called quotation marks to show dialogue—blew my mind! No one thing inspired me to be a writer—it was an uncontrollable, innate urge since before I even understood punctuation. Crucially, no one along the way discouraged me. No one pressured, hovered, interfered, or tried to steer my course. They accepted that I was a writer and left me alone to do my thing. That insatiable need to create stories never left me and in the last decade I finally implemented some discipline and dedication and got serious about it.
I recently read your wonderful series Gravity Shattered. Where did you get the unique idea of shattered gravity?
- I saw a picture on Pinterest, one of those manipulated photos where a girl is asleep in a hallway…on the wall. My “what if” engine went into overdrive. What if gravity didn’t work right? The following deluge of questions and speculations rivalled the Niagara Falls—why? How? Consequences? How would people live? React? Adapt? I wanted my main character to have a direct connection to gravity, beyond just navigating it as a grav-walker (scavenger). Controlling gravity would be an epically cool superpower—almost too cool. I wanted to turn the idea of that superpower on its head and make it so dangerous and uncontrollable that it risks Jasper’s life every time her gravity changes.
It seems like you had fun writing about “broken” gravity. What were some of the unique challenges the characters faced due to it?
- The biggest challenge for the characters is travelling through the city when it is filled with gravity zones where the orientation of gravity may vary between one step and the next. While it is admittedly difficult to convey at times, I enjoyed thinking through the mechanics of each scene—of walking across ceilings, of climbing “up” perpendicular floors or streets, of leaping the gaps between buildings and slipping on windowpanes. Falling up into the sky is always the biggest danger because even if you stop at the “ceiling” of the zone and “float” in midair, how will you get back to the ground? So of course I made my characters face this very challenge in Gravity Tower!
What was your favorite character in the series and why?
- Hard to say. I love them all equal—who am I kidding, it’s Grammar. He was supposed to be a minor character, a sullen fighty pack kid who becomes Jasper’s sort-of apprentice. Instead his fierce anger, protective instinct, and heartbreaking vulnerability absolutely stole my heart. Which is why he is now the main character in the follow-on series I’m writing, Children of Gravity.
The scene opens with Jasper, the main character, in a broken gravity zone with her brother and former boyfriend, Merlot. Did you consider having Merlot and Jasper get back together in the first book, Gravity Girl?
- I considered a lot of things in the years it took me to finish the series. But ultimately, no. Merlot represents a part of Jasper’s past that she needs to come to terms with and a version of herself that she needs to forgive and let go. They always had chemistry but they weren’t very good for each other.
Some poetic lines run through the book. Are you a poet? If so can you share one of your poems?
- I went through a phase as a teen where I wrote poems. It taught me rhythm and flow and the joy of playing with words and imagery without the strictures of proper sentence structure, but ultimately I moved on to write longform fiction albeit. However, that poetry phase had a powerful hand in shaping my prose. While I don’t consider myself a poet per se, I do enjoy the whimsy and thematic depth poetry can bring to a narrative.
Why do you consider your books young adult when you explore some very adult themes?
- Honestly, when I wrote these books, I had no notion in my head of genre or age group. I wrote what I wanted and felt. It was only much later when I was trying to publish and market that I was forced to consider where on a bookshelf my books would best fit. Young adult is not a perfect fit, but Jasper does take a journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance which is a common feature of young adult stories.
On your website, you say that your themes are healing, hope, family, and the search for connection. There is another theme in the book about death. Jasper faces the real possibility of dying if they can’t find a cure for the alien bacteria in her. Moreover, a close friend of hers committed suicide. The book explores how suicide affects everyone around the person who dies. Is there a reason you picked death as a theme?
- I’d love to say everything I did was intentional, but as is often the case, some themes emerge organically and some themes people point out to me that I hadn’t even noticed. The theme or mood that I was intentional about was one of overcoming regret, mending the mistakes you can and accepting the rest, and forgiving your younger self. Jasper has faced her impending death for a long time and has come to peace with it because it seems easier than living with everything she’s both suffered and done. Deep down she believes that she doesn’t deserve to live. And when she realizes she still wants to live, she’s forced to face some difficult parts of her past. The theme of death is only one side of the coin; the other is the courage it takes to choose living.
I’d like to add: Shortly after the publication of these books I lost my brother to suicide. Choosing to live is not a decision made once. Like my brother, Jasper’s friend fought every day—sometimes every minute of every day to stay alive. She was a warrior, as was my brother, and every day that they lived was a bloody, hard-won victory against a brutal, unseen foe. They were victorious…until one day they weren’t. They didn’t fail, they weren’t weak, they weren’t selfish. They were defeated by an enemy that on one particular day was too strong for them. Jasper is fighting the same battle…but learning to reach out to her friends and family—for healing, hope, and connection.
What writing project are you currently working on?
- I’m currently working on the follow-up series to Gravity Shattered. The series (and probably the first book) will be called Children of Gravity. It will take place five years after the events of Gravity Shattered and will pick up the story of some of the younger characters (Grammar, Neverwhen) and their friends.
Son of a monstrous warlord father and the woman who shattered gravity—who will he become?
Grammar has spent all eighteen years of his life in a city quarantined for its broken gravity. To his friends he is a fierce and loyal protector, but to everyone else he is a hotheaded troublemaker, with all the dangerous potential of his hated parents. He’s also the last remaining host of a mysterious gravity-controlling alien bacteria—dormant, for now. All he wants is a home and a life free of his father’s shadow. And maybe to kiss his long-time friend, the brash and irrepressible Lieutenant Zanna Kingston.
But now a ruthless bandit army is threatening his home and everyone he loves. After a brutal attack on a nightclub, Grammar finds himself at the centre of an escalating war. To make matters worse, the dangerous, unpredictable power in his blood is beginning to awake, heralding city-wide catastrophe.
He can’t run from his dark heritage any longer. But if he’s not careful, the biggest threat to his home and friends may be Grammar himself.
You offer several free short stories. How would people get on your mailing list and get your stories?
- You can join my mailing list on my website
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
- Thank you for giving my books a chance! It means a lot to me, and I’ll have more gravity books out for you soon (all fingers crossed)! Also, Gravity Girl AND Gravity Curse, the first two books, will be 0.99 in November for a rare dual sale! Here is the link. Amazon
Thank you for being my guest this month.
