1. What genres do you find most appealing?
I’ve always been drawn to the fantasy and paranormal genres. It could be because that’s the books I chose to read or movies I gravitated towards. They were a great escape for me growing up. A place where I could have a break from a troublesome home life. And I tended to be into the supernatural. As kids, my brother, sister, and our neighborhood friends would hold seances and play with yard-sale-bought tarot cards. My friends and I had made up a game one summer. It was much like playing Not-it. But instead, at the start of the game, whoever threw a stick the shortest distance became cursed. The cursed player would then hide behind a wall while the others hid items of theirs, such as a necklace, a toy car, or some other trinket. The cursed would search the yard for the items. As each item was found, the owner of the item lost and had to sit to the side and wait. The cursed would continue to find all items. The owner of the last one found would have to tag the next cursed player. We’d run like crazy around the yard trying not to get touched. Because I’ve always been a slow runner, I got caught easily and would spend many games being cursed.
2. What themes/message(s) do you want to explore in your work?
The themes and messages I enjoy exploring are ones of love and family. I tend to write about a more realistic family. Like, families where the parents are divorced or one where the members aren’t related but chose to be a family. And then, as in the Fated series, about sisters. Growing up, I had such a close relationship with my sister, and we relied on each other to get through some really difficult times.
3. Please tell us about your work on the Fated series, Analiese Rising, as well as any other projects you'd like to share about.
The Fated series are stories involving four sisters with a touch of magic. The idea came about after a tarot reading I’d had in New Orleans. I wasn’t sure where my idea for the story was going. I just had a vision of a girl changing someone’s fate with a simple touch of a tarot card. A month later, while attending my publisher’s conference in Las Vegas, I brainstormed the idea with my author friends in an elevator. It was such fun bouncing around ideas with my talented friends. ANALIESE RISING, came from my love of mythology and wanting to explore gods living among us in today’s world. Her powers come from a god of death and her powers can be destructive and weaponized by the wrong person. Enter the God of War. I also wrote the Library Jumpers series. It’s about a girl who discovers she can travel through gateway books hidden in the world’s greatest libraries. Along with the books, is a secret world of magic and she learns her role in it. Currently, I’m working on two new works I hope to share soon. Keeping my fingers crossed! 4. Where can we find more information about your work?
You can find more about my books at brendadrake.com.