HIVE (Madders of Time Book 1)
Winner of the 2026 IndieReader Discovery Awards in Science Fiction
What’s the book’s first line?
“The sodden earth makes a wretched sucking sound each time Diego’s shovel cuts into it.”
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
Step into a world where time is fragile, trust is a gamble, and the universe teeters on the edge.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
Writing Hive is my personal act of resistance. In a world where fear, division, and destruction threaten to shape our future, this book is my way of pushing back—of imagining something different. Like Isabel and Diego (or Meg and Charles Wallace), I refuse to accept that all is lost. Hive is a story about defying fate, fighting for love, and believing that even in the darkest times, we can still find a path into the sunlight.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
Read HIVE because it refuses to let the dark have the last word.
At the edge of extinction, when the sea is rising, the machines are at the door, and every easy answer has failed, one woman still believes the past can be bent toward the light. This is a story about holding one small candle in both hands, guarding it against wind, grief, and fear—and daring to believe it can become a sunrise.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
Isabel’s most distinctive trait is that her hope has teeth. She is not naïve, not soft, not waiting for rescue. She has seen what people do with power, money, and fear—and still chooses to build, protect, and believe in a future worth saving.
She reminds me of Ripley from Alien crossed with Ellie from Contact: Ripley’s grit, instinct, and refusal to fold under pressure, with Ellie’s restless mind, moral fire, and hunger to understand the impossible. Isabel is not a chosen one. She is a woman with scars, skill, and one stubborn light she refuses to let go out.
When did you first decide to become an author?
When I realized making things up was frowned on in school but encouraged in fiction.
Is this the first book that you’ve written?
No. At this point, writing books has become a character flaw.
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
When I’m not writing!? You mean I can stop writing? Send instructions!
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
Too much. But in my defense, the imaginary people started it.
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
The best part is no one tells me what to do. The hardest part is no one tells me what to do.
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
Write the next book. Annoying advice, but the annoying advice keeps winning.
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
I love being indie, but I would not slam the door on bookstores, foreign rights, and a team that knows what day it is.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
Fame would require pants. Fortune would require math. I write for the readers who carry a story after the page ends.
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
Mark Twain. He had the rare gift of sending truth into the room wearing a joke and a borrowed hat. I admire the nerve, the timing, and the way he could skewer hypocrisy without making it feel like homework. I aspire to that. Some days, I settle for arguing with a comma.
Which book do you wish you could have written?
The Harry Potter series. I mean, who wouldn’t want to write a story that made an entire generation check their mailbox for an owl?