1 What inspired the idea of your story?

 I became a hockey fan in high school through my stepfather's influence. It was around the time that an NHL expansion team in Las Vegas was being considered, and I became very interested in the politics of a new team. I knew I wanted to write about a fictional expansion team in my novel, so I created the Wyoming Bison, purposefully in a location that a pro hockey team will likely never play in.  

 2 what is something you struggled constructing with your story? 

 I struggled writing Jack's point of view. His POV appears throughout the novel at key points that my other main character, Caitlyn, would not be able to narrate. In the early phases of writing, I got a lot of feedback from friends and fellow writers to make his voice as authentic as possible. 

3 what did you enjoy writing most of your story? 

 I enjoyed writing about the NHL Entry Draft, which is where the novel opens. I enjoy watching the draft each year, so it was fun to start the book there. I had the opportunity to go to the draft in Vancouver in 2019 and it was an amazing feeling to see a scene from my book come to life! 

4 what's the overall response of your story from your readers? 

I love hearing from readers! The overall response has been very positive. It makes me so happy to hear they enjoyed the book and that they were rooting for Caitlyn and Jack. What surprised me the most from readers is their mixed opinions on a secondary character, Ophelia, who garners a lot of comments.

5 is your story a stand alone novel or a piece of a series ?

Breaking the Ice is a standalone novel.

 6 what would you like your readers to take away from your story? 

 I want readers to take away that it is never too late to find a new purpose in life. Sometimes circumstances outside of our control affect the current path we're on, but usually the new path that opens up is even better if we choose to follow it and see where it leads. 

7 what advice would you provide to fellow writers, when it comes to focusing on their own story? 

For me, outlining is necessary when I'm writing a novel. I prefer to divide it into chapters and write bullet points for what I want to accomplish in each chapter before I start writing. The story often diverges from my outline as the writing progresses, but I find even a loose outline helpful to keep me on track.

8 does your main character share any similarities to yourself? 

Caitlyn and I share the same stubbornness and tendency towards overanalyzing. I'm a terrible skater so we definitely don't share that in common!

9 what is something about your story you believe would draw in new readers?

 Even though Jack is a hockey player, and the majority of the novel focuses on hockey, readers don't need to have played or be a hardcore hockey fan to enjoy the novel. Since Caitlyn has a background in figure skating and learns to play hockey throughout the book, I think readers will be drawn in by the ability to enjoy the novel without having a strong knowledge of hockey.

 10 do you have any future projects?

 I have a YA Christmas romance novel that is complete and is currently being edited. I've also started writing a new novel. I hope to post whichever story captures more of my attention on Wattpad at a later date!