Magic

When you invent a world of magic, it can be pretty intimidating. Anything goes, so where do you begin?

I saw this meme once that inspired me when I was figuring out what sort of magic would exist in the world of Twisted Soul Magic.

So this was sort of the basis for Willa’s shop. I wanted her to create things that would make everyday life so much better if they existed. I didn’t explore it a ton in Crossed Souls, but I plan to in the future books just as fun little nuggets here and there of how much more awesome it would be to be an Extra instead of just a Dull (aka a mortal or non-magic user).

If you were creating a magical world, what would it look like? What sort of power would you have? And what kind of product would you wish existed? Leave a comment and let me know!

Shadow Phoenix: The Band

When I was brainstorming Zen’s book, I knew I wanted him to be in a band with at least four other guys. But I had no idea what kind of band or what their name would be.

Fun fact: The band was originally named Dark Phoenix but then I realized that was the name of an X-men movie and I had to come up with something else. I used the shit out of the thesaurus and came up with the new name.

I’m not terribly attached to the name, mostly it just had to be something band-ish enough and not girly because teenage guys named this thing. I’m not (nor have I ever been) a teenage guy, so I just had to try and imagine what their thought process would be like.

And to the reviewer who gave me shit about calling the band name cool through Zen’s dialogue—I’m with you. To me, Shadow Phoenix is just a name. It’s not meant to be amazing because that’s not the point of the series. The point is the relationships, not the band (although, of course the band is important. It’s a rock star romance after all).

Alas, I think I do deserve some props, though, because holy fuck, the guys in the band are HOT and I swear every one that comes along is hotter than the last. When I write them and I read back, I think, “how did that come out of my brain?” It’s like I go into a trance or something and magic falls out.

(I swear I don’t actually think that highly of my work, I actually have a lot of issues thinking I’m not good enough. But fake it ‘til you make it, amiright?)

Okay, so back to the band…

I imagine Shadow Phoenix’s music to be a mixture of 21 Pilots and Linkin Park. Some rock, maybe not so much on the rap side of things, and also a little bit of slower stuff, too. Like Heavy by LP and Leave the City by 21P. But they can definitely rock, too, like Heavy Dirty Soul by 21P.

In my mind, when I’m writing them as artists and their creative process, I imagine them a lot like 21 Pilots, but their band makeup is more Linkin Park, or at least what Linkin Park used to be.

Which bands do you picture when you think of Shadow Phoenix and their sound? I’m curious who you imagine them to be like. Leave me a comment and let me know!

Meet: True

From the moment True announced his presence in my mind, he’s been the sweetest, most caring guy ever. He has the ability to handle shit when he has to, but mostly he’s a laid back surfer who’s good with going with the flow. He’s the peacemaker and he’s a total romantic.

True was raised by both of his parents in a loving and supportive household. He has one brother (Hale) and he looks at his parents as the ultimate example of what love should be and what he wants for his life. True is the moral compass of the group, the light one who keeps everyone from going over the edge into places that might not be easy to recover from.

He’s the kind of guy who’s happiest with a long-term girlfriend or nothing at all. He’s not a fan of hookups, and while he takes advantage from time to time, mostly he’s focused on other aspects of his life.

And musically? He’s incredibly talented on both guitar and as a singer. He and Zen both sing and play guitar, but in the official capacity of the band, True plays and Zen sings. But when they write music together? They make an amazing team. Think Lennon and McCartney levels of teamwork and creativity. True finds his peace with his family, the guys from the band, and hitting the waves.

And in Shadow Phoenix? His laid back ways get him in a bit of trouble the guys have to help him out of….

Meet: Maddox

Maddox was actually the second character that really solidified himself in my mind when I was writing Finding Zen. He was partially inspired by the song “Marry Me” by Thomas Rhett. I knew what his story would be like, but I wasn’t quite sure about his personality.

But the more I wrote him, the more of an asshole he came to be. But I loved that about him. He was the snarky one, the first one to make a snide comment, to flirt unabashedly, to stir up drama and give people shit. He spoke his mind without reservation and I loved that about him.

The one thing that he always is without fail is protective, though. He’s the fixer of the group, the one who makes problems go away. He does what he has to do, but there are lines even he won’t cross. There aren’t many, but they’re there. He has morals and standards, they just might not be what we all think they are.

When we meet Maddox in Shadow Phoenix, he’s still so torn up over the way he left Ryan behind that the guilt is absolutely destroying him. So to cope, he resorts to some unexpected things that I think will shock a lot of people. But, I really enjoy playing with sexuality in a more fluid way, and of all the guys, I thought Maddox could handle it best.

We get a little sneak peek into Maddox’s comfort level with who he is in a scene in Saving Maddox with Ryan and Quinn, but Shadow Phoenix really takes a deeper dive into exploring the dark time he’s going through trying to cope with how to move on from trying to move on without the love of his life.

Where we see Maddox in Shadow Phoenix is just the start of almost a decade-long downward spiral that he recovers from and comes out even better on the other side, but prepare yourself for a Maddox you’ve never seen before.

Meet: Jericho

When I originally came up with my first book idea in Finding Zen, I knew I was going to be writing about a band of guys. I like reading books in a series, so that’s what I wanted to write. So, I had to decide how many guys and how the band would be put together.

It didn’t take long for me to decide I wanted four guys, and for the four of them to start to show me their identities. Well, I should say three of them. Jericho… he’s been a tough nut to crack.

Originally, I thought he was going to be this super shy guy who had a really hard time in social situations, particularly with women. I was also going to have him originally born in Japan and brought to the US as a kid. But, the more I wrote the other guy’s stories with Jericho in the background, the more he changed and his character became something totally different than who I thought he was.

As you’ll read in Shadow Phoenix, Jericho’s not shy AT ALL. He’s quietly controlled and only speaks when he has something to say, not to fill the noise. He was adopted as a baby and doesn’t know his birth parents, but his adoptive parents were cold and unaffectionate.

He didn’t have a bad childhood, per se, but it was lonely and impersonal. His parents had their own lives and at a certain point, he didn’t really fit into them anymore. He used to spend a lot of time wondering why they even wanted him in the first place.

They’re not supportive of him or his career choices, and because of that he’s not close to them. He doesn’t have any siblings that he’s aware of, and so when True recruits him for the band, he jumps in with both feet. The guys become his brothers and are the only people in the world he lets see the real him. The only people he really, fully trusts.

Jericho has a dark streak to him and it presents itself in more ways than one. It comes out quite a bit in SP, but you’ll get to see a whole lot more of the darkness inside him in Playing Jericho. Unleashing his true self has been one of my favorite things but also some of the hardest words I’ve ever written. But I needed to let Jericho be who he was meant to be even if that wasn’t who I thought he should be, and isn’t that just the story of his life?

Two more members to go… Do you have a favorite yet?

Character Inspiration: Ryan

When I first started thinking about the story line for Saving Maddox, I knew who Maddox was because I’d already played with his character and spent some time developing it in Finding Zen and Loving True. I also knew some of the details I wanted to have happen in the story because they were inspired by a song. (If you’re curious, check out the Playlists tab).

But Maddox needed a girl who was tough, who wouldn’t let him get away with his shit but who was also soft enough to harden his rough edges. A girl who understood him on a level no one else ever could because she’d been there with him through some of the hardest times in his life.

A girl like that? She’d have to go through her own struggles and come out stronger for it.

When I thought about her struggles, at first I wanted her to be a tomboy through and through. But, that didn’t feel quite right. So, because I’ve always been a big fan of giving girls gender neutral or traditionally “boy” names, I started looking through name lists. The name Ryan just stuck out to me, and I thought about how kids can be assholes and would probably bully a girl for having a boy’s name. And her back story was born.

Reflecting on her home life, her hopes and dreams, her ambitions… It took weeks. I knew she had to have experienced life outside of her tiny Texas town, but why would she have ever come back? I needed to give her a reason, and her dad’s accident fit the bill.

Ryan is strong, resilient, and doesn’t let shit get her down. While I put a little something of myself into every character and every story, Ryan and I couldn’t be any more different but I love her just the same.

You can get to know her better in Saving Maddox, and see for yourself just how much of a badass she really is.

Character Inspiration: Yates

Check out my Pinterest board for Yates by clicking here.

The original idea for Saving Maddox came from the song “Marry You” by Thomas Rhett. I listened to the lyrics and pictured a guy who was totally tortured and heartbroken sitting in the back row watching the woman he’d loved for basically his whole life marrying someone else.

Just imagine the level of heartbreak. It was deliciously angsty.

I’m not typically an angst writer, but I wanted to dip my toes in and this book gave me the perfect story to do it. And as you can imagine, when faced with watching the woman you love walk down the aisle to marry someone else, that guy needs to be a tool.

That’s right: A grade-A douchebag.

Why? Well, you don’t want to feel bad for the guy she’s marrying. You want to hate him. Enter Yates.

Right off the bat, I knew I needed a guy who had a name that made me cringe. He had to be old money. Snobby. The kind of guy who looked down his nose at pretty much everyone except his equally stuck up friends and maybe his mother.

To find his name, I literally googled, “Ivy League Names for Boys,” and picked the worst one I could find. If your son is named Yates, I realize I’m being a bit of an asshole but well… Yates.

Anyway, I wanted him to be a guy that at first seemed like he was at the very least okay if not sort of good. He’s attractive and charming. He swoops in to help Ryan with her biggest problem when she thought she had nowhere else to turn.

The problems start when Maddox walks back into the picture and Yates’s plan is threatened. See, he’s a shady, shady guy and he’s determined to get what he wants at all costs. He’s tenacious and an asshole which doesn’t make for a great combination.

And when someone messes with Yates, he doesn’t just take it. He fights back and he fights dirty.

I actually had a lot of fun writing his character. On days when I was frustrated or not having a great day, I’d write a Yates scene and have the other characters give him a hard time. It always made me laugh and for that reason, he’ll always be one of my favorites.

If you want to see what becomes of Yates, check out Saving Maddox.

What Inspired Finding Zen

I do my best thinking in the shower. Yep, I said it. Not just a normal shower, though. I like to turn off all the lights and turn on Pandora and just let my mind wander in the dark. Sometimes I listen to the music, sometimes it’s just background noise while my mind wanders.

If I’m feeling stuck on a story or not sure where to go, I can always work out where I want to go next with this method. Maybe it’s unconventional, but so am I so it works.

I read like crazy. When I say that, I mean I read obsessively. Usually one or two books every single day. I like to find an author I like (currently Tessa Bailey is a fave!) and work through their entire written works before I move on to someone new.

Now that you’ve got some background, you’ll understand everything a little more clearly. Because I read so much, I knew I wanted to try my hand at writing a book. I knew I wanted it to be romance. I also knew I wanted it to be a series because those are my favorite books to read. I love when the story shifts to another new couple but you still get little updates on the couple(s) you fell in love with in past books.

Other than that, I had no idea what to write about. One afternoon I was taking one of my “thinking showers” and listening to Pandora like normal letting my mind wander. The next thing I knew, the song “The Hills” by The Weeknd came on (listen to it in the Finding Zen playlist here) and I found the lyrics intriguing.

The idea that this guy was a celebrity, a famous musician, and had all these hookups and was living this rockstar life was intriguing to me. The lyrics were crass and uncomfortable and that’s actually what made me dream up a story where a guy could go from saying things like “I only call you when it’s half past five” or “I just fucked two bitches before I saw you” to being head over heels in love with someone and sort of reformed in a way felt like a story I wanted to explore.

Because I knew I wanted Zen and Kennedy’s story to be the first book in a series (yes, I always bite off waaaaay too much when I dive into something new and writing is no exception) I knew that the story would be Zen’s but that he had to be in a band. There was too much to explore in the world of Shadow Phoenix to leave it at one book which felt just right to me.

The other side of the story is Kennedy’s and it’s a personal one to me. While her and I aren’t the same person AT ALL, we do have some similarities. I felt like it was important that the heroine of this story be strong and capable but experiencing her own struggle, one that I suffer with in my own life. It was cathartic writing the struggle from her perspective (which is not my own) and watching her fight her way through it has inspired me in my own life and shown me that I’m just as capable as her.

So there you have it, the inspiration behind Finding Zen. I hope you love it as much as I loved writing it. I’ll forever be attached to Zen and Kennedy because they both taught me how to do what I love most: Tell love stories.

Happy reading,

Heather