Prince Phoenix or Nix witnessed the murders of his parents and he has no desire to take the crown, and is challenged to accept the role as the only means to save the Twilight Realm. Will he step up? Or step away? You’ll have to read to find out.

Nix’s character grew up in obscurity and meets the beautiful woman of his dreams . If you think that sounds like a bad pick-up line, then Nix agrees. But he literally had a dream where a beautiful woman tells him she’ll help him and then he finds her! One small snag, she has no desire to help him and keeps threatening him with her daggers. Will he be able to win her over? Get her to help him? And discover if there’s room for friendship and maybe more?

Nix was a fun character to write. He struggled with his identity and what that means for himself and the Twilight Realm. Because he’d seen his parents brutally murdered and grew up without parents, he feels unprepared to be king and doesn’t want to be in a role that might cost someone else their life. He stubbornly refuses the help of others and ends up getting himself into a worse mess. I liked the depth of his inner conflict because it felt real and something all of us can face at times: We’re afraid to move forward because of what it might mean due to ghosts of our past.

Is there a character who has faced ghosts they had to overcome to find their future? I’d love to hear about it. What kind of characters or struggles characters face do you find relatable?

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Every good fantasy book isn’t complete without the mentor! In Twilight’s Curse, Nate, Royal Advisor to the king, has held this role for as long as… well you won’t quite know until you’ve read all three books in the series and I’m not planning to tell you. Not yet, anyway.

Nate first comes on to the scene to help Prince Phoenix or Nix escape when the royal tree has been attacked by the regents who kill his parents. We next see him as a kind of a grandfatherly character who offers Zoe refuge when she flees her parents. He’s a bit eccentric but a gentle and kind soul who seems to know much more than he lets on.

I had a lot of fun writing Nate and discovering his story as I wrote him. He’ll get his own book in a spin-off, so if you love him as much as I do, then you’ll love learning how he became the king’s advisor! How he gained his wisdom and so much more.

Who are some of your favorite mentor characters in books? Should they be all-powerful and wise? Or perhaps larger than life? Or should they have a few winkles and flaws?

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Imagine if such creatures existed who could enter your home, clean your house, prepare your meals and not ask for a thing in return. Do such creatures exist? They do in fantasy!

The brownies are creatures of myth and fantasy. They are secretive and seldom reveal themselves to humans, but you always know they’ve been there because your home is clean and things are taken care of. I don’t know how the creatures came about or how they got the name of the delicious dessert! but after first reading about them, I knew they’d find their way into my writing.

In Twilight’s Curse, the brownies are first seen in the royal tree and then Nate’s tree. They are mostly housekeepers, about the size of an 8-10 year old child and are quite pleasant in beings. There were a few characteristics I brought forward in this book: their secretive natures and their nurture.

Despite Zoe, female lead, having lived with the brownies for a number of years, she still knows very little about them and their history. When she asks questions, Cocoa, the head brownie, shows a little irritation about being asked about things that are secrets to brownies. It gives the loving creatures a bit of mystery and charm because you don’t quite know what they’ll do next or even what they’re capable of and that leaves lots of room for the unexpected.

The second characteristic I focused on was the brownies nurturing ability. They’re sweet and loving creatures who mostly take care of the orphaned children Zoe brings to Nate’s home. But they also have a powerful mother bear type magic that’s tied to their nurture which saves Zoe in fight. As Cocoa is known for saying, ‘never underestimate the power of nurture.’

What kind of creatures do you like in your fantasy reads? Do know of some unique beings with unusual magic? I’d love to hear about them.

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