The Silence of Deceit – Book Tour and Giveaway

What inspired you to write this book?

I started this book in 2017, so the inspiration timeline is a bit fuzzy. I had a couple characters in my head, and I needed a setting for them to exist in. So, I grabbed a piece of paper and drew a blob that I separated into four sections. From there the idea snowballed into four families and the political tension that my characters would get caught up in. 

What can we expect from you in the future?

Book 2 of The Deceit Trilogy is already in the developmental editing stage and book 3 is halfway written! Aside from the trilogy I have a couple of standalone novels that are waiting in line for editing. So, there are many projects that I’m so excited to introduce when the time is right.

Do you have any “side stories” about the characters?

I had to create a detailed backstory for the Deceit’s crew so Crowe and most of his crew members have a story that expands beyond the page.

I also have a rough novella that details the original noble families and their story two hundred years before Book 1.

How did you come up with the concept and characters for the book?

I moved to Cape Cod shortly after graduating high school. The area is famous for the Whydah, the only pirate wreck to be uncovered. It was found off the shores off the Cape and artifacts are still being uncovered. You can view some of them at the Whydah Museum in Yarmouth. As you can guess, there are a lot of nods to piracy around Cape Cod, especially because of its nautical setting. It helped inspire a story about pirates and how they might actually be the good guys.

The fascination only grew when I took a college course about the history of piracy. It helped influence a lot of the small details of the book as I tried to stick to some accuracy about pirates. After writing my term paper on ancient pirates, I reshaped my MMC, Crowe, to fit the pirates that roamed the Mediterranean and pillaged Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.

My FMC, Rosalie, was fashioned after my own struggles with chronic illness. From 2017 to 2024, I had been struggling with symptoms that doctors couldn’t diagnose. After many trips to the hospital and dozens of doctor’s visits, I was fed up with it all. So, as I wrote the story, I poured a lot of my frustrations into Rosalie’s character. Shortly before I was set to publish, I was finally diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. I feel along with releasing Rosalie’s story, I had found some strength.

Where did you come up with the names in the story?

I spend a lot of time coming up with character names. Not only do I have to absolutely love the name, but I also want it to hold meaning for the character.

Silence was named after my great-great grandmother. That family line had a lot of puritanical names which were often desired traits like Patience or Chastity. But there were some odd ones like Experience and Submit. One day, I was with my grandfather looking at the family tree he had researched and he showed me his grandmother’s name. Something about the name sparked an idea in my head and instantly I wanted to write a story about a girl named Silence.

Rosalie’s name came from an idea that was eventually scrapped. But I loved the name so much that I kept it. Crowe’s name came from my habit of naming characters after birds, but if you read the book you’ll find that there’s a bit more meaning to his name than meets the eye!

I also realized I subconsciously named a lot of side characters after Massachusetts towns or icons. Lowell, Upton, Bourne, and Mendon are all MA towns. Emerson is a college and Kennedy is a name you can find all over the state due to the Kennedy family. After realizing this, I just embraced it because I love my home state!

Who designed your book covers?

Samantha Sanderson-Marshall from Smash Designs created the book cover. I’m not very visually artistic so I didn’t have much of an idea in mind when I first approached her. Sam read the book and came up with concepts that tied directly to themes of the book. I was overwhelmed with how incredible the end result was and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with for book 2.

Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?

I learned a lot from many different people. By the time I decided to self-publish I had already become quite familiar with my writing voice and my own unique process of drafting and editing. Self-publishing, however, was an entirely new obstacle. Even though I researched the steps, there were still a lot of stumbling blocks along the way. I felt I learned something new every week.

How did you come up with name of this book?

I remember writing the first draft in a café. It was National Writing Month 2017 so I was on a word sprint. In the back of my mind I was trying to come up with working titles. I wanted the Deceit to be a part of the name because the ship has such a big presence in the book. I was writing a significant scene that changes the entire plot and suddenly the title just came to me. I wanted to highlight the subtleness of deception all while using names from the book.

What is your favorite part of this book and why?

I love writing dialogue so the banter between Rosalie and Crowe was really fun to write. It took some time balancing out their relationship because enemies-to-lovers can be a thin line to walk. If you make it too nice or too mean it can really affect how readers respond to the relationship.

If you could spend time with a character from your book whom would it be? And what would you do during that day?

I would definitely spend a day with Crowe. I’ve always wanted to go sailing on a pirate ship and I might pick up a few swordfighting tips along the way.

If your book had a candle, what scent would it be?

Sea salt, sandalwood, and a hint of rose.

What did you edit out of this book?

Every manuscript teaches me the bitter reality of “kill your darlings”. There were a lot of little scenes that I clung to because I loved them so much. But after several critiques and people echoing the same advice of cutting said scenes, I had to get rid of them. Luckily, I still have all my old drafts so I can go back to them.

Give us a Fun Fact/Behind the Scenes/Did You Know?’-type tidbit about you, the book or the writing process of the book.

I was born and raised in Massachusetts so I was never more than a short drive from the ocean. When I started writing this book I had moved to where I was only a five minute walk from the beach. In the summers, I hunker down under an umbrella to write and edit on the beach.