Voiceless: A Mermaid’s Tale follows a mermaid princess who wants to change the way her people treat women and is willing to risk everything to do so. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?

I was actually listening to ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’ on repeat when I come up the idea for Voiceless. While I was listening to the song, I thought about the terrible deal that the mermaid makes. In the original tale, the mermaid literally loses her tongue and every step she takes causes her extreme pain because she instantly ‘fell in love’ with a human prince. Even in the Disney version, the mermaid accepts a terrible deal in return for legs and she doesn’t think about the consequences or why the Sea Witch wants her to take the deal. I wanted to create a character that was more than a damsel in distress, more than a mermaid, that instantly fell in love with a prince, without even knowing him. I wanted Moriah to be in control of her own life, to make her own choices, good, bad or questionable, to get what she wants.

Princess Moriah discovers her voice when she realizes that not all women are treated as her people are. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?

One of the ideals behind the development of Moriah’s character is that people are a product of their environment as well as the people surrounding them. While Moriah does have an inkling that something isn’t quite right in Zoara-Bela, she can’t really articulate what the issue is or why she feels that way in the beginning, because that world and its rules are all she knows. If someone is told all their life that their word, their life, their decision is of less value than someone else’s, then it is very hard to not get stuck in that mentality. I wanted to explore through Moriah development as a character what might happen to a person if they are exposed to a completely different environment, to people with completely different values and beliefs.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

It was important to explore the idea of standing up for what you believe in, to fight for what is right, even if everyone around tells you can’t or shouldn’t, even if the world tells you to be silent. I really wanted to explore how this act of standing up for your rights, fighting against a government that is harming its people, has consequences. The decision to rebel against the king, to push for change, is a serious decision to make for Moriah. Participating in any form of rebellion against a government, especially a fascist government, can be deadly even to those that play no part in the rebellion themselves. I wanted to show that despite the danger; it is important that people don’t stay silent on the injustices that they face because change only happens if people talk about it or protest the treatment. If people are silent, or if no one brings attention to it, then no will know about it.

What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?

I am currently working on two illustrated picture books for 3 to 5-year-olds. One of the picture books is a Hide and Seek Alphabet book with Australian Animals. I am intending to release this book on the 21st of October. It should be available for pre-order on various platforms at the end of September. The second picture book will be coming out in early 2023. I am also currently working on a stand-alone sequel to Voiceless, following the journey of a different protagonist. This is currently in the first draft stage; however, I would like to release this in late 2023.

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Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2022/09/04/the-decision-to-rebel/