Meet My Project

Welcome to my blog!

Here, I’ll be posting weekly updates about the process of writing my debut novel, The Child of the Sky, as well as reflections on the different books I’m reading and interviews I’m conducting as part of my project. I’ll keep each blog post short and sweet, so I hope you continue to stop by! 

Now, I think it makes the most sense for this first blog post to introduce my project. As one of Fordham University’s Duffy Fellows, Fordham’s Center for Religion and Culture has generously provided me with time and resources that enable me to take the first steps in achieving my dream of becoming a published author: writing a full-length novel. I am so thankful for the group of wonderful people supporting me, which include David Goodwin and David Gibson, my advisers, as well as my fellow creative writing workshop collaborators, whose critical eyes I am so thankful for. 

With that aside, let’s get into the meat of my project. As it is a fantasy story, let me begin as so many do… 

Once upon a time, I was sixteen, Trump had held the presidency for a little over six months, and a solar eclipse had just made the grass sparkle with glowing crescents. I couldn’t help but think, in the midst of the inane horror of Trump’s presidency and cosmic phenomena, how the ancients would have reacted to this combination of events. This thought, paired with my love for Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones, formed the nucleus of what would later grow into the epic fantasy that begins with my debut novel, The Child of the Sky. 

The Child of the Sky revolves around Tania, a young girl with a heavy burden. Her father’s only daughter, she will one day inherit the vast empire of Tellur—if it doesn’t fall apart first. Yet, that’s not all that weighs on her shoulders. Just before her father’s coronation, strange figures in yellow robes begin to call her a strange name: the satar. She’s unsure what it means, but she has a sick, sinking feeling that, whatever it is, it’s not good. Throughout the first book, she’ll discover the prophecy that the satar features in, as well as the deadly collision of faith and politics. 

If you didn’t pick up on it, there are a lot of religious themes. Trump’s ascension to the presidency came on a wave of Christian fundamentalism, a wave that has now overturned Roe v. Wade and ushered in a new era of Christian nationalism. At sixteen, this development stuck in my throat. I was trying to decide what I really believed, whether I wanted to continue in the faith practices of my family, or completely abandon it. It was hard, as my beliefs about God and Christianity spurn a lot of the doctrine that these Christian nationalists espouse. Yet, as I thought more and more about whether I wanted to consider myself “religious,” I found so many reasons that made me appreciate religion’s strength. For example, I love how religion creates a sense of community, how this community extends through time immemorial, and how it unites people around common causes. I’ve struggled, then, with how Christianity, my faith, disenfranchises, hurts, and even kills people. I was left with the questions: How can religion exacerbate violence? How can one identify with a religion, knowing it has caused so much harm? Are religion and faith synonymous? Why do I still call myself a Christian? 

These were the ideas rattling around my head when I began the years-long process of thinking, writing, revising, and rewriting this novel. When I finished this novel’s first, complete draft, I discovered I had made a time capsule of how I felt about these issues at seventeen. (In college, I decided I wanted to pause my work on this series until I had become a stronger writer.) Now, at twenty-two, I get to compare my perspectives on these same questions, four monumental years later. At least a few of these blog posts will be dedicated to me exploring that topic, but I promise I’ll try not to wax poetic about it. 

I’m really excited about this project, and am again so grateful for the support I’ve received as one of the Duffy Fellows. I hope that you’ll follow along on my journey, and I cannot wait to share the final novel with all of you!