Beneath Her Lies follows the gripping journey of Ruby who embarks on a journey through her family’s history, unveiling buried secrets that threaten to rewrite their shared future. What were some sources that informed this novels development?

Life is a very short journey when you really sit back and look at the big picture. It’s so tough to lose the ones we love, and sometimes when we do, we spend time going through their belongings and clinging to memories of the past. After losing both of my grandparents during the Covid pandemic and seeing my aunt begin the daunting task of sorting through their life’s worth of treasures, the idea spawned somewhere in my mind of the possibility of unmasking a whole other past buried somewhere within their things. I knew them as my loving grandparents, but what if they had something buried in their pasts that no one knew about, and how would that rock the family after they were gone? That is where the idea of this story really began to pick up momentum.

The cryptic letter plays a significant role in the plot. How did you decide on this element as the catalyst for Ruby’s journey?​

Ruby trusted her grandmother her whole life and regarded her with so much respect. I knew that Ruby would find the value in the letter, and that it wouldn’t be something that her character would be able to turn a blind eye towards. I liked the intimacy of an old-fashioned letter, there is just something poetically nostalgic about that, and nostalgia is what is keeping Ruby grounded when, in reality, she is fighting to just cling to a life in the present that she has so carefully began to rebuild after becoming sober and stepping out on her own.

The exploration of Ruby’s family history forms the core of this book. How did you approach the task of creating this intricate backstory?​

I had to look past just the character of Ruby and take a hard look at where she was in her life now. I knew that for her to overcome the things that she had to in the story, she had to have come from a close-knit family and that somewhere in her upbringing, loyalty would have had to have played a heavy hand in order for the story to move forward in the direction that I needed it to go. Ruby was raised with the values of respect, loyalty, and kindness, while witnessing a deep family bond towards her grandparents. She was also a girl who considered her younger sister, Banks, not only her best friend, but also felt a responsibility to protect her growing up, which lent nicely to the story.

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

I just finished up with the final editing process of my newest thriller, Ghosts in the Glades, which will also be published by Kingsley Publishers later in 2024. That one really holds a space in my heart, as the story focuses on a young boy, Jett, with disabilities that grows up in the south, trying to find his way in the world among bullies.

He befriends a small crew of self-described misfits his own age, as well as a curious older gentleman by the name of Mr. Scroggs, who has a notorious, yet questionable past in town. The story follows the boy out of high school and college, and catches him in quiet a predicament, as he is now a successful businessman with his own family, dealing with questionable investors within his lucrative foundation.

As always, loyalty will rear its head once again, and the story of Jett will leave the readers breathless and in shock, which has become my calling card. A reminder that perfection is just an illusion, and that we are all hiding something.