1.  Can you tell us about The Frost Series and what it’s about?

The Frost Series is about the lives, loves, and deaths of incredibly beautiful but dangerous fairies in Feyland.  The Bitter Frost Series is about Breena, a human teen, who finds herself whisked off into another world known as Feyland only to find she has a destined role to fulfill in Feyland.
So far, there are four main books released: Bitter Frost, Forever Frost, Silver Frost, and Frost Kisses. There is also a standalone book called The Fairy Letters:  Letters from Prince Kian to Breena.  The Wolf Fey Series is a spin-off about Logan from Bitter Frost, which tells about the shifter fey, fairies who can shift from human form to animal form by fey magic. The Fairy Rose Chronicles is a prequel that actually was published almost eight years ago which introduced the world of Feyland.

2. What’s different about this series than other fairy series?

The Frost Series takes place almost entirely in the magical world of Feyland, although there are constant reminders of the world of humans, while other fairy series have fairies and humans co-exist mostly in the human world.  In Bitter Frost, we find Breena living in the human world of Gregory, Oregon. She’s human, and so is her best friend Logan or are they? Then through a series of events, we find Breena had entered into another world…the world of the fey.

The language in Feyland is different, too, except for those who actually grew up or spent some time in the mortal world. Fairies try to adapt and learn human ways when they cross Beyond the Crystal River (or the human world), as they call it very easily. They are a master of disguises because they can glamour. For fairies, time and space moves differently than for humans.  The fairies in Feyland are noble creatures. They live in a world with swords, rules, and chivalry. Kings, Queens, Princes, and Princesses. Knights with honor, ladies, and court life.  Yet, they are also fairies, and fairies have always been known to be tricksters and pranksters with humans.

3. What’s different about this series from other fairy series is also that there is no Seelie or Unseelie Courts.

Those terms aren’t even mentioned at all in the books since the world of fairies which is Feyland is divided into seasons, rather than the traditional fairy lore.  The Frost Series fairies are more elemental, and this comes more from fairy tale than from lore.  The lore I did base The Bitter Frost Series on was the Dutch lore of the Snow Queen and Jack Frost, which is more of a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale version of the Snow Queen. The reason for this is because The Frost Series first started out with The Fairy Rose Chronicles, for tween readers, a short series I wrote a while back, and had set aside after publishing three of the books.

The Frost Series tend to be more playful with the magic that is explored. Again, this is because the world of Feyland first started in The Fairy Rose Chronicles, where fairies are more like what we think of as children – fairy wands, wings, and dances. However, because the Frost fairies are at war, there is that grim reality and darkness that comes with war and how it affects everyone, especially in a beautiful mythical place like Feyland.

The Frost Series is also planned out and published differently than other YA Fairy books. It’s not a trilogy or by volume. It is more a “series”, which means continuous series/episodes.  This is similar to other series like The Frost Series was never meant to be volumes in a trilogy. The series was designed to be a series, like the way teen books used to be published – Buffy, Gossip Girls, Pretty Little Liar, and the Morganville Vampires.  So, there is no telling how long the series will go.


4. What to expect with the fifth book of The Frost Series, Midnight Frost? 

There will be the biggest battle Feyland has ever seen in history. There really is the sense that this is the ending, that everyone, every fey will fight to the end. Breena has finally matured, and she is quickly becoming whom and what she needs to be. At the same time, Midnight Frost is about Kian and Logan assuming who they are supposed to be and stepping up to the plate to fill the shoes of their predecessors.  Everyone will be tested. Everyone will have their moment. Some will die, while others survive. Yet through it all, there will be resolution and answers to many questions raised throughout the series.  Breena will also make her choice.

5. Who’s your favorite character and why? 

I’ll have to say I love all of them since they have lived in my thoughts (and dreams – I do get inspired while sleeping) for so long.  There’s Breena, Kian, Logan, Shasta, and Rodney to start…

Breena is the girl who is a true underdog. By no fault of her own, she did not fit into her school, and because of that, she was made fun of. Yet, despite all of that, she managed to attract the hottest guy in school, survive her entrance into a dangerous new world, and adapt, even rose to her task at hand. She sacrificed a lot, put aside a lot of her own desires, for the sake of others. She wasn’t perfect, she wasn’t always right, but at least she tried again and again. She never gave up on the ones she loved, too. And for that, they loved her even more.

Kian – how can anyone not love Kian for being so honorable and strong, for loving Breena despite everything? He’s not so beautiful that he can take Breena’s breath away, but he has ultimate patience with her in teaching her how to fight, teaching her how to assume her role and destiny. He’s also a dutiful son and a wonderful older brother to his rebellious Winter Princess sister Shasta. In The Fairy Letters, you also learn a lot about his relationship with his father and his friends, while growing up. When he’s passionate, he’s really passionate. He’s a hard one to crack, but when you do crack his exterior, he gives you his all.

Logan – the incredibly sexy and primal best friend of Breena since childhood.  Besides being very male and masculine, he’s sensitive, fun, understanding, sweet, and would go through the ends of Earth for his beloved. He cooks and plays the guitar, and composes music, too.  And in Midnight Frost, he is incredible.

6. The Frost Series world called Feyland was actually created years before in your Middle Grade series, The Fairy Rose Chronicles. What’s different about The Fairy Rose Chronicles and The Frost Series?

The Fairy Rose Chronicles takes place five years before Bitter Frost.  It is told through the eyes of 13-year-old Rose, the alchemist apprentice at the Summer Court.  Since she is a full-fledge fairy growing up in Feyland, The Fairy Rose Chronicles is about Rose and Rodney, and some friends being drawn into the Seasonal Fey Wars, learning about Fey magic and the adventures/quests they must go through. There were originally three published in The Fairy Rose Chronicles, but there will be more added to this series.  Bitter Frost has some of the characters from The Fairy Rose Chronicles, such as Rose, Rodney, the Winter Queen, and Summer Queen; but it is mostly about Breena, Logan, and Kian…another chapter in Feyland history. Kian, as the Winter Prince, became more of fleshed out, of course, in The Frost Series, although he did make occasional appearances in The Fairy Rose Chronicles.
Why do you call the fey in Feyland, Summer and Winter, rather than Seelie and Unseelie?

The Frost Series is based on the Dutch lore of the Snow Queen, and is more about elemental fairies…fairies of the seasons, rather than Seelie and Unseelie.  There is no Seelie and Unseelie Courts in The Frost Series.  Anyone who has read any of the books in The Frost Series would know there is no reference to Seelie and Unseelie at all.

7. Who are your biggest influences? 

My biggest influences in writing are C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Rod Sterling from Twilight Zone, Stephen Spielberg from E.T. and Young Sherlock Holmes, Stephen King for his amazing writing and writing discipline, Agatha Christie for her logic, J.K. Rowling for her incredible imagination.  Melissa Marr, Richelle Mead, and Melissa de la Cruz for being mentors for newer writers at these conventions (because I admire other writers for helping mentor others).

8. The theme of family is big in your books, why is that? 

Realistically, most teens and YA still live with family or are close to at least one member of their family, right?  Because I’m writing for teens and YA, I know family is still a major part of a teenager and young adult/new adult’s lives.  If there isn’t an immediate family, then there is a surrogate family.

9. Describe the two men who are after Breena’s heart in The Frost Series. Which team are you on?

Look at the answer to question #5.
Kian is what dreams are made of in so many ways, while Logan is flesh and bones and reality. They are both incredible guys so Breena has a tough choice to make.
I’m on Team Breena.



10. Is Midnight Frost the final book in The Frost Series?  What’s next? 

Midnight Frost is the last book from Breena’s eyes, but The Frost Series continues in the next book, Frost Fire. You will find out why in Midnight Frost, and also get a hint as to who will be the lead in the next Frost Books.