Every story has an origin. For me, the journey to writing This War Between Us began with a childhood of feeling like I didn’t quite fit in, and it evolved through the many books and experiences that became my lifeline.
Growing Up Between Worlds
I grew up an awkward, painfully shy girl who often felt like an outsider. As a child of a Black father and a Dominican mother, I was racially ambiguous in a 1990s Tennessee community that saw only black or white. In those days, I rarely saw anyone who looked like me, and I felt “othered” from both sides. Today the world is changing – by 2020, about 1 in 10 Americans identify as multiracial1– but back then it was a lonely place to be a mixed kid. Socially inept and short on friends, I turned to the one constant comfort I had: books. One of my first real friends was a girl named Megan, and characters in my stories often draw from real people like her. (Though, unlike a certain fictional Megan in one of my books who betrays the heroine, the real Megan never betrayed me – we simply drifted apart over time.) Books became my refuge and my companions when I felt I didn’t belong. I distinctly remember wandering into a Barnes & Noble as a teen, desperate for an escape, and stumbling upon a certain novel that would change my life.
Favorite Books & Early Inspirations
That fateful day at 17, I picked up Twilight by Stephenie Meyer and devoured it. Twilight’s tale of forbidden love between a human girl and a vampire enthralled me (as it did millions of readers around the world). It was the first time I saw how a story could utterly transport someone, sparking a phenomenon in young adult romance that defined a generation. Over the years, many stories left their mark on my imagination. Some of the most influential were:
- The Southern Vampire Mysteries (Charlaine Harris’s novels adapted into HBO’s True Blood) – This series’ blend of Southern gothic atmosphere with supernatural romance proved that even gritty, adult themes could mix with heart-pounding love and drama. I was addicted to Sookie Stackhouse’s adventures and the idea of love in a dangerous, paranormal world.
- Atonement by Ian McEwan – A very different kind of story that taught me about the tragedy and beauty of love. This historical drama’s themes of regret and forgiveness left a deep impression on me about how choices and fate can haunt characters.
- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn – This twisty domestic noir thriller showed me the darker side of storytelling. I went through a phase in my twenties of devouring psychological suspense novels like Gone Girl. They gave me an appreciation for flawed, complex characters (predominantly female characters) and the art of keeping readers guessing.
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – A wildly popular dystopian series that I, like many of my generation, couldn’t put down. Beyond the high-stakes action, I loved Katniss’s strength and the social commentary. It inspired me with its fierce heroine and the idea that a story can entertain and say something meaningful about society.
- A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) by Sarah J. Maas – This epic fantasy romance series rekindled my passion for reading in recent years. I picked up ACOTAR after a long break from books (blame motherhood and the exhaustion of adult life) and it swept me away. The mix of magic, rich world-building, and steamy romance was exactly what I didn’t know I was craving, and it directly inspired a new direction in my own writing (more on that below).
Each of these works, in its own way, fed my imagination. As a 36-year-old millennial, I realize many women my age were shaped by the same cultural touchstones – the vampire romances and dystopian battles and domestic thrillers of the 2000s. You’ll find pieces of all these inspirations woven into This War Between Us.
From Reality to Romantasy: My Writing Evolution
When I first started drafting This War Between Us, it was a straight contemporary romance. I wanted to tell the story of Seraphine Blackwell – a young woman navigating the hardships of military life – and I drew heavily on my personal experiences as a woman who served in the military. The early version of the book was grounded in reality, exploring themes of belonging and resilience in a demanding environment. It was intimate and heartfelt, but at that stage, it was not a fantasy story at all.
Then something shifted. Remember how ACOTAR pulled me back into reading? Well, it did more than that – it opened a floodgate of creativity. I fell head over heels in love with the romantic fantasy (“romantasy”) genre after binge-reading Maas’s series. Suddenly, I found myself imagining magical twists and epic world-building for Seraphine’s story. What if I blended my love of romance with the kind of fantastical elements that had always intrigued me? I began to experiment, infusing fantasy lore, supernatural stakes, and an entire invented world into the narrative that had started as a simple military romance.
The transformation was exhilarating. The story of Seraphine evolved from a single novel into a much larger saga. In fact, my first draft became so long and layered that it effectively contained two and a half books’ worth of material! I realized I had to split the tale – what was originally one book became Part One and Part Two, each now its own volume in a series. Incorporating fantasy elements gave This War Between Us a new depth and texture that I hadn’t anticipated. The process of world-building – inventing cultures, histories, and magical rules from scratch – was challenging and sometimes exhausting, but it was also the most creatively fulfilling thing I’ve ever done. I loved watching this fictional universe spring to life straight from my imagination onto the page.
Looking back, I’m so glad I allowed my writing to take that turn toward romantasy. It brought together all the things I’m passionate about: a love story drawn from real emotional truths, amplified by the excitement of an otherworldly adventure. The final version of This War Between Us is truly the product of all the influences that shaped me – the lonely schoolgirl who sought solace in libraries, the young woman inspired by sparkly vampires and strong heroines, the military veteran with stories to tell, and the newly-minted fantasy nerd who dared to dream up a world of her own. Each piece of my journey found its way into the narrative.
Ultimately, writing this book has been a journey of self-discovery. By channeling my life and my favorite stories into Seraphine’s saga, I created something deeply personal yet hopefully universal. If you read This War Between Us, you might glimpse those echoes of Twilight or The Hunger Games or ACOTAR – and more importantly, I hope you’ll feel the heartbeat of that little girl who once felt alone, finding her voice at last through the magic of storytelling.
Sources:
1 washingtonpost.com, “We’re talking about a big, powerful phenomenon’: Multiracial Americans drive change” https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/08/mixed-race-americans-increase-census/#:~:text=More%20than%2033%20million%20Americans,growing%20demographic%20in%20the%20country