Inspiration doesn’t always come from good

Meet Sahara Blaze. She's the reason I wrote this book.

I didn't plan to write a 250,000-word fantasy trilogy. I planned to write one scene.

A girl standing alone in the desert heat, strapping on boots, buckle after buckle, getting ready for a training session she's already too good for. She's nineteen. She's angry at everything. She's been training to kill for ten years and nobody will tell her why. And she has this look on her face — not confidence, not bravado. Something closer to a dare. Like she's begging the world to give her an excuse.

That was Sahara Blaze. And once she existed, she wouldn't let me stop.