An Interview with Brenna Kasey

I am Brenna Kasey. Orinthe the Soulseeker chose me to carry her memories into this world, and I must wake The Eôṅśa before it is too late. We are running out of time, and by we, I do mean you are included.

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What inspired you to start writing this book?

It actually started as a self-therapy experiment. I wrote myself into my characters and then worked through my own trauma as them. I’ve healed SO much of the pain I carry. And then I thought, you know what? What if I could help someone else, too? So, I decided to go indie (I must control all aspects of the story and cannot have a trad publisher interfering). The rest is history, I suppose.

Tell us the story of your book’s current title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

As Orinthe was telling me her story, it became clear that the titles of the books should follow the characters. Voidwalker is named after the Voidwalker and focuses mostly on Selara. We still get to see into the other characters’ emotions and decisions, but the book mostly centers around her. In the following books, the titles align with the main-ish characters.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

I took my first job (at age sixteen) at a Montessori preschool, and I was the assistant for the two-year-old room. The behavior specialist there noticed I was exceptionally well suited for the ‘problem’ children and sent me to a few classes in behavioral health. I later became her assistant. Since then, nearly my entire career has been in behavioral/mental health.

I’ve worked in crisis recovery units, addiction programs, residential treatment facilities, and group homes. I’ve worked mostly with clients who have been diagnosed with severe mental illness, but I also have spent time working with clients who have been diagnosed with intellectual/developmental disabilities. I’ve managed two group homes, one for each of those population groups.

My SMI home was working with women who had either schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders. My IDD home was co-ed, and my clients mostly had autism, and most of them were older and very ill.

One of the residential treatment facilities I worked at was for teenage boys with traumatic backgrounds. They were often violent, and most had committed some form of a sexual crime.

I’ve also spent time working with younger children as a BHT-ABA (behavioral health technician, applied behavioral analysis). I didn’t feel like I was particularly good at this job, but parents and school staff all adored me.

I have been studying mental health since before puberty. It’s been my passion for nearly my entire life. I can’t say I know everything about everything, but I am frequently commended for my knowledge and insight.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

When I was in third grade, we were assigned a little journal assignment. I wrote about swimming. The teacher told my grandparents (my legal guardians) that she rarely sees descriptiveness like she saw in my writing, and that she wouldn’t be surprised if I grew up to be some kind of writer.

I’ve always written. All the way up until my early twenties, when I had a series of strokes due to head trauma. I completely lost the ability to write. The doctors told me I’d never be able to type again, and I remember spending days relearning how to do it. But my descriptive skills were gone.

I spent years developing my writing again, because being an author was one of the first things I wanted to be when I was older. My stories were always my distraction from my reality. I carried my characters with me through everything. I never ‘wanted’ to write, I quite literally needed to.

As for influences …

Final Fantasy 10 is my favorite video game and favorite story ever told.

My first little handwritten fanfiction was about Dragon Ball Z.

I still love animals.

I still love videogames.

Christine Feehan was the first author that I genuinely loved, and the first book of hers I read was Dark Gold. (I was for sure not old enough to be reading it, and I have no idea where I got it.)

Then, I moved to J. R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series. V was my favorite. I was still much too young to be reading such things, lol.

Kresley Cole was my last author obsession. My first book was A Hunger Like No Other, but my favorite book is Lothaire.

My first series I wrote (in my teens) was about vampires and magic. I think those authors really inspired me to start thinking about writing fantasy. Then add in all my ‘dorkiness’ from anime and videogames … I suppose I was doomed from the start to write pretty outrageous and fantastical things.

Where is your favorite place to write?

In bed, and I’m not kidding. I do my best writing when I am stuck awake at night. Also, I just really like my bed.

What advice would you give your past self at the start of your writing journey?

It’s okay to be mad, and it’s okay to be sad. You don’t need to force happiness where it doesn’t belong. Some of the greatest motivators are negative. I used to always want happy characters and happy plots and happy endings. That isn’t realistic. Because of the life I’ve led and the things I’ve experienced, I know that life means more when you have to fight for it. You stop taking it for granted when it hurts to keep hold of your life. Stop trying to write what you do not know. Sometimes, people just know darkness better, and that’s okay.

What’s one thing you hope sticks with readers after they finish your book?

You matter. Your story matters. Everything about you matters. When the odds are stacked against you, when the world is screaming at you … don’t give up. You can shape who you are. You can be and do whatever you want. Dream big and never stop fighting. Do not give up on yourself. Reality is what we make it, so make yours meaningful.

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Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.