The graphic novel illustrator makes her prose debut with House of the Beast, a dark fantasy about a poor girl plotting revenge against her noble father with the aid of a dangerous god.

What inspired you to write a novel?

Burnout. I was exhausted with art and needed another creative outlet. I had attempted to write my own novel a couple of times as a teen, so I decided to pick up writing again as a hobby and quickly fell in love.

How did you find the transition from illustration to prose?

I’ve enjoyed bringing other people’s stories to life, but being able to tell my own stories felt like something finally falling into place.

Your young heroine, Alma, agrees to have her arm amputated as a sacrifice to a god. Were you apprehensive to go so dark?

A little. But I grew up with anime series like Neon Genesis Evangelion and Fullmetal Alchemist, both of which go quite dark to communicate their themes and both of which I admire. I knew Alma’s sacrifice was needed to set up her anger and her father’s ruthless ambition.

Alma is consumed by revenge and guilt, but she forges on. What inspired this characterization?

I started writing House of the Beast after my mother was diagnosed with cancer. She has thankfully fully recovered now! But at the time, I was feeling a lot of fear, guilt, and general anger at the world. I ended up channeling all of that into Alma’s character, and in a way, drew strength from her journey as I wrote it.

How did you approach mixing politics, magic, and religion?

I used the Rule of Cool [a D&D concept] and a lot of problem solving. I had the idea for a world in which noble houses were dedicated to elder gods, and that was the foundation upon which I built everything else. Then I just added elements I thought were cool, figured out whether they worked, and hoped that it all came together.

There are also illustrations throughout. What was your intention in adding these?

It was actually my editor, Julia Elliott, who suggested the illustrations. I always thought I’d draw for my stories but keep the artwork to my social media. Julia had the great idea of integrating them throughout the pages to create a really beautiful and unique package for readers.

Alma’s childhood imaginary friend becomes real and eggs her on in her revenge plot. Is there anything you’ve imagined that you wish would similarly manifest in the real world?

Oh, so many things. The ability to come up with scathing comebacks in the middle of a stressful conversation, for starters. But I also once imagined becoming a published writer, and that’s about to be real, so I’ll take what
I can get!