In Children of RaShell, a geneticist and a former security officer join forces to restore the world as humanity faces extinction following the release of devastating toxins. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Believe it or not, Children of RaShell started out as something completely different. I am a Discovery writer and had written the first chapter, thinking the story was going to be based soley on a conflict that stemmed from something underground. After writing the first chapter, my mind started to go in a different direction and before long, I was neck deep in a story about cloning, a dying world, and a race to save humanity. A lot of the inspiration came from a conversation I had with my son (the book is dedicated to him) about the ethics of science and whether people in scientific and medical fields were morally obligated to do more when necessity required out-of-the-box solutions for life-altering problems. Now, I did go way off topic from that conversation in Children of RaShell, but it goes to show that inspiration can come from anywhere.

How long did it take you to imagine, draft, and write the world your characters live in?

Start to finish, four months. I don’t usually write quite that fast, but there was a deadline involved and I was determined to meet it. Also, once I got going, the story flowed so well, it basically just spilled out of me. I’ve found that when I’m writing something that’s really working, that’s usually the case. 

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

I really wanted to dive into the ethics of cloning and how far was too far to go when humanity was at stake. As I wrote it, I wanted to uncover what science and medicine could potentially come up with to solve a crisis where human extinction was at stake. I also wanted to explore the idea that the world and everything in it is connected. That what we do now can potentially have unforseen consequences decades or even centuries down the road. I wanted to represent a morally ambiguous character who was willing to do anything to provide a solution, no matter how unethical. An exploration of a person, and a corporation’s, willingness to cite the greater good as a reason to crash right through the boundaries of ethical and moral behavior. And I wanted to show what the consequences of such “solutions” could be. At the end of the day, I wanted to be able to ask the question, was it worth it? 

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

Next up is my post-apocalyptic novel, 187 Days, which takes place after the world crumbles when a blood-type virus wipes out or mutates 98% of the population.  “A braver person might’ve left sooner, might’ve tried to find other immune people and help the survivors. I wasn’t brave though. I was a thirty-four-year-old lunch lady who needed to lose fifty pounds. And I didn’t want to save the world, just one person.” – 187 DaysI don’t have a firm release date yet, but it’s slated to come out late 2024. The next project after that is the sequel to Children of RaShell, titled, RaShell Reborn. 

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Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2024/07/03/out-of-the-box-solutions/