Sight Unseen - Alexis Marie

It was the first thing I blurted out to my agent when we were talking about the book! I wanted high stakes for her. She knows she is dying but doesn't know when. I think that reflects the human experience in general. We never know when our time is up, but she actively knows it is coming to an end for her. She has outlived her curse and every day she is waiting for it to happen. It's a lonely place to be. She's resigned and is saying she's fine with knowing this is the end but is lying to herself. I wanted her to confront her own mortality and realise she isn't ready, she feels like she has more to give!

For a long time Hiram truly believed that seers were deserving of rights, but he's never been in a situation where he's had to stand up and make his own opinions. He believes these things, but he believes these things to himself. This is something we experience on a day-to-day basis, standing up and if we see something, say something. I wanted Hiram to go on that journey, he watches these things happen but doesn't do anything, he's not actively participating so it makes him almost as guilty [...].

He is like the sun, he's important to a lot of different people and he's the support. He helps his father realise it isn't just about him, and helps Veda to realise there is more out there for her and gives her life. He pours a lot onto Veda in a quiet and intentional way. Antaris has been through so much and it hasn't really changed him (except for his silence). Without Antaris I don't think Hiram and Veda would get to where they are at the end of the book. I wanted Antaris to have his own journey. He is taken from his world: his mother is gone, his only grandparent can't take care of him emotionally. He is sent to a man he has never met who is apparently his father, in another country. It's overwhelming! Everything was normal one day, then he woke up and nothing has ever been the same again. He has to adapt, and him trying to connect with his father shows him trying, and Veda sees that. She sees a boy that has lost everything but is still fighting and trying and that sparks life in her. It's the same with Hiram, he wants to be better for his son!

It's not completely theoretical in the world, we see it every single day and it shapes our world. I like to explore real things that we go through and I want my stories to have a depth beyond magic and a parallel to the world we live in. I wanted to give a voice to marginalised people, especially based on things that they cannot control. I went in that direction with seers and mages and wanted to explore the dynamic. But I also wanted to show people aren't always fixed in their beliefs, they want to explore and step outside of themselves. I had to explore it within myself too, I had to understand why Hiram starts out the way he is. It's not a lens I have lived in so I had to step outside of my own experiences and see through the eyes of that kind of privilege.

Yes, I am working on a few things! It's what I've been doing for the last few months. I have a couple of things in the works...