I like to play with tropes.

Young people like to think they're invincible. They don't like to face any situation where they've gotten weaker instead of stronger.

I almost always start with setting! I have to know the world before I know how to populate it. I have a tendency to play with doors - between life and death, human and monster, mundane and magic - and with 'ADSOM,' I knew I wanted to play with the physical doors between worlds.

As for advice for aspiring authors, the best I can give is to be brave. It sounds like a simple enough thing, but it's not. Rejection is such an integral part of this journey, and it never goes away.

Fencing is a game of living chess, a match where reflexes only work in combination with intent, and mind and body must work together at every moment.

For someone who never stood still, Lila felt like a pin in Kell's world. One he was sure to snag on.