- How did you hear about Anaiah Press? I found Anaiah Press during a Twitter pitch party. I had no idea what I was doing, but I decided to pitch my story and an Anaiah editor liked it.
- What was your first encounter with the writing world? Many writers can say C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia is what began their journey into the world of make-believe, but how many can say they created their own Narnia in the back yard? I named my world Syntara, and it was an actual place in the woods behind my childhood home. My sister, Naomi, and I were the rulers, and little brother Sam played along with any visiting friends. I wrote a short story about Syntara, which was accidentally left behind on a neighbor’s typewriter while I was babysitting. He finished off the story and bound it like a little book and mailed it to me anonymously.
- How did you get the idea for your book? I’d seen a news story about a ghost town where people had to move away from an area because toxic fumes seeped from the ground when underground anthracite coal ignited. I thought, what if people couldn’t move away? What if they had to remain inside buildings to survive? This sparked the idea behind the interconnected high-rises for the setting of Soul Hacker. Then while sitting in church one Sunday, my pastor spoke about the worst kind of lie being the one you believe is true. If you don’t know the truth of God’s word, you have nothing to anchor to. This is how the enemy ‘hacks’ our souls. He niggles in with half-truths and soon, people… a culture… begins to believe the lies.
- Do you have any strange writing habits? I prefer to write for hours at a time rather than short snippets. It takes me an hour just to get the words flowing! I don’t like starting a blank page, so I always try to leave off with somewhere to start the next day. Then, sometimes… I read what I’ve written back to myself out loud in a British accent.
- What authors have inspired you to write? L.M. Montgomery with the Anne of Green Gables series. Suzanne Collins with The Hunger Games. Very different genres, but that’s what I’m made of.
- Is there anything you’d like to say to your readers? Let someone know if you like what you’ve read. Readers who leave comments and reviews about books are like unicorns!
In a ruined world, mankind survives in a society of interconnected high-rises that values intelligence above all else. Anna has earned an esteemed position working in genetic science, but yearns to share her comforts with her low-level sister.
When Anna gets caught smuggling restricted goods to her sister, a law enforcement official coerces her into stealing classified lab materials. He offers her a chance to escape the restrictions of her high-level life, and she follows him into an underground biohacking community with a revolution on its agenda.
Layers of lies are exposed, and Anna is certain there is no one she can trust, especially not her own inner-voice. Nothing but the truth will anchor her soul, and following that truth means she’ll risk everything for the love that captures her heart.
Anaiah Press 