Near the end of high school, I wrote a short story called Risalina. It was about a queen who had been captured by an evil man and forced to become his wife.

Their child was supposed to be the kingdom’s only hope — but the king accidentally killed the baby… or at least that’s what he and the queen believed. Afterward, he kidnapped a young boy with powerful magic and raised him as his heir.

When I later turned Risalina into what became Child of Hope, a lot of the main storylines stayed the same — but I also made some pretty big changes along the way.

One of the first things I realized was that Rose and Risa (short for Risalina) sounded WAY too similar. So, Risa became Whitney.

For this book, I also wanted to try something new with my writing style and experiment with a different kind of perspective. I was definitely inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender — Zuko’s storyline is one of my favorites!

As my brother (who’s also my editor) worked through the book with me, I was once again amazed at how differently he sees my writing than I do — and how much easier it was to fix things once I saw it from his point of view. He always gives me incredible ideas and fresh perspective, and I’m so grateful to have him helping me on this journey.
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If you’re an aspiring writer, my biggest advice is to find someone who isn’t afraid to be honest with you — someone who’ll tell you when something isn’t working, when it feels formulaic, and how to make it better. I’m incredibly blessed to have my brother in my corner.