Why I Keep Coming Back to These Stories

I’ve been thinking about why I return to the same kinds of stories.
Not the simple answer.
Not “I write suspense” or “I love thrillers.”
Those are true, but they’re not the reason these themes keep showing up, book after book.

The real answer isn’t something I’ve figured out yet. It’s a question I keep writing my way through:
Who are we when everything changes?

The Stories I Can’t Let Go Of
I’m drawn to ordinary people placed in extraordinary situations.
People who didn’t expect their lives to unravel.
People who are forced to make decisions they never thought they’d face.
You see it in Finding Ruby Draker, where identity shifts in an instant and survival means becoming someone new.
You see it in Reinhardt, where the past refuses to stay buried and every choice carries consequences.

Again and again, I find myself writing characters who are pushed past the point of comfort… into something uncertain.

Because that’s where the truth lives.

The Themes That Follow Me
Grief finds its way into almost everything I write.
Not the kind that fades neatly with time. The kind that lingers. The kind that changes how you see the world and yourself.

Identity is never far behind.
I’m fascinated by the space between who we believe we are and who we become under pressure.
Because those two versions don’t always match.

Love complicates everything.
It drives people to protect, to sacrifice, to make choices they never thought they would.

And then there are second chances. The idea that maybe… you can begin again.

Some questions don’t have easy answers.
They stay with you longer than you expect.
But I keep coming back to the same question: Can you really start over… or do we carry who we are with us?

Why Suspense?
Suspense gives me the space to explore those questions honestly.
You don’t discover who you are when life is easy.
You discover it when something is at stake. When the ground shifts beneath you. When standing still is no longer an option. When fear shows up and you have to decide what to do next.

That’s the moment I’m always writing toward. Because I’ve asked myself those same questions. And I think you probably have too.
What would I do?
When it really matters, who would I be? Would I hold on to who I am… or become someone new?

Stories That Reflect Something Real
I don’t write about monsters.
I write about people.
People facing impossible choices.
People shaped by loss, by love, by the weight of their past.
People trying to figure out if they can become someone different, or if they’re already more capable than they ever believed.

These themes keep returning because I haven’t figured them out yet.
Maybe I never will.

But I’ll keep writing characters who stand at the edge of who they are - the moment where everything is on the line, where it could all fall apart or finally make sense.

And I’ll keep asking:
Do we stay who we are… or do we become who we need to be?

These are the questions I keep exploring, book after book.

If you’d like to step into those stories, you can find them here.