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-Why do you write? I write because I enjoy it, and I feel compelled to express my ideas in written form. I have always been a big reader, and I enjoy exploring the idea of writing, creating stories that I would find myself reading if I were the one doing the reading.

-Do you work from an outline or plot or do you prefer to just see where an idea takes you? I always create an outline for how I want the story to go, but then when I am writing the story, it always organically changes from that outline into something else, hopefully something better. I think that if I found myself writing something that didn’t change somewhat and offer itself up to alteration as I am writing it, then I would know that I’m just going through the motions. That would probably be time for me to stop writing that story, at least for the day. Perhaps forever. Some stories just don’t make it, they are dead on arrival, and it’s important for me to be honest with myself when that happens and try something else instead.

-What was the hardest thing about writing your latest book? The hardest thing about my new book, and perhaps the most fun thing, was doing some good research on the historical period in which it is set. The story is set in 1893, so we’re talking post-Old West stuff. It’s not the chaotic Gunslinger West, but it also isn’t the modern America, either. So that’s an interesting time to write about, as there would have been elements of both, Old West and Modern, present in such a time and place. And often, those two elements would not get along nicely.

-How did you develop the idea for ‘The Rose Delacroix Files Book One: The Lost Eye of the Serpent’? To be honest, I originally wrote the story with the idea in mind that the kid detectives in the story would be younger than they ended up being. But as I started to write the story, I realized that if Rose and Jon were actually fifteen years old, then they would be on the cusp of adulthood. People grew up fast in those long-ago days, and these kids would be expected to be nearly adults at that age. With the two protagonists as near-adults, the story ends up being much richer and more interesting. Rose would be expected to be looking around for a suitor to marry and start a family with, either that year or in her very near future. This is an expectation that Rose rejects soundly, as she has a much more modern view of what a woman can be and can do. She ends up rejecting a lot of expectations of her time, and for the reader, that will give them a window into her world, too.

-What is your main character like? My main character is Rose Delacroix, who is a young woman of fifteen, who stubbornly believes that women can do the same things that men can do, if they feel like it. In her case, that involves wanting to become a detective like her hero, Sherlock Holmes. As the story develops, especially throughout the other books in the series, she will grow into becoming something larger than that; but at first her intention is to become like Sherlock Holmes. The story is told through the eyes of her brother Jon, who is her twin brother, and who takes an almost Watson-like role in Rose’s story, to Rose’s Sherlock Holmes.

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1. Do all the stories you write have a history feel?

Yes, they do. I’m a lover of the ancient and medieval worlds. This came from my college classes and then teaching the literature of these worlds for 25 years.

2. How is Young Knights of the Round Table: The King’s Ransom different from or similar to your other stories?

Young Knights differs only in the setting from my ancient Egypt stories. All my books for middle grade and YA readers have protagonists who—in the course of looking for who they are—take readers on an adventure that at times can be dangerous and even life threatening.

3. How is Young Knights of the Round Table: The King’s Ransom inspired by King Arthur?

Young Knights takes the concepts—loyalty, friendship, courage, honor, and justice—at the heart of Arthurian legend and allows readers to explore those ideas in themselves just as the characters do.

4. How are the three main characters alike?

All of them—Gavin, Philip, and Bryan—have dreams for their futures, and are afraid that they may not be able to realize those dreams. They share many of the traits found today’s pre-teens and teenagers: they are fiercely loyal to each other and The Wild Man; they are reckless in that their decisions are not fully thought out; and they desperately want to belong to their world in some way. They have all found that friendship with The Wild Man fills up a hole in their lives.

5. How are they different?

Each of them approaches life from very diverse backgrounds. Gavin is a prince; Philip is an orphan; and Bryan is learning to be a blacksmith so that he can help support his family and himself. This colors how they look at their life. Gavin knows what is expected of him, but fears that he will fall short of his family’s expectations. Philip has lost everything and is trying to survive day-to-day. Bryan harbors a secret hope for his future that he fears will never happen because he doesn’t have the means to make that happen.

6. How did you develop the world?

The world of Arthurian Legend was already there—the castles, the knights, the honor code, the lifestyle—just waiting for my story to drop in with its adventures and characters.

7. How is this fantasy, magic story different from others?

I’ve built unique relationships between my three characters that would not be found in the Medieval Ages. That a prince, an orphan, and an apprentice would form such a strong bond of friendship would have been prevented because of the social structure of that time period in England. However, for today’s teens, I don’t believe this would be the case even in England, which still holds onto the old ways in many instances.

8. Would you please tell us a bit about what you have planned for Book II?

Wow, that is tough because I haven’t thought it all the way through yet. Here’s what I’m contemplating: our three main characters will be approached to fulfill a promise that difficult to complete. And one of the characters—I can’t tell you which one—will find that the life awaiting is so very different from what was first thought. That’s cryptic, isn’t? Can’t be more specific without giving away a major secret from The King’s Ransom.

9. What was the hardest part of writing Young Knights of the Round Table: The King’s Ransom?

For me, the hardest part of any of my stories is getting the story in my head down on paper the way I want. In the case of The King’s Ransom, I had the story done, and then realized that I had a major problem with one of the main characters. I had to go back in and completely rewrite every section that character appeared in!

10. What do you hope readers take away from Young Knights of the Round Table: The King’s Ransom?

For my Middle Grade readers—and adults who read this—there are two things: How important it is to work together to accomplish the most difficult of tasks; and how important it is to be yourself and trust in who you are, even if that differs from who you thought you were.

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