Every writer draws from the world around them, but the deeper influences often come from the places where life, work and personal history intersect. For me, those places are music, ministry and memory. They form the three quiet pillars behind the stories I write, guiding how I understand characters, emotion and the spaces where faith meets human experience.
My journey began long before I ever considered myself a novelist. Music shaped my earliest years in Wales, where singing was part of daily life. Choir rehearsals taught me how to listen closely, how to feel emotion in a single phrase and how silence can be as meaningful as sound. Music encouraged me to pay attention to the subtleties of expression, the notes between the notes. Today, those skills help me build characters whose feelings are not always spoken aloud but are felt in the rhythm of their actions and the pauses between their words.
Ministry added a different kind of depth to my understanding of people. Serving within faith communities showed me the quiet strength, struggles and hopes that individuals carry into sacred spaces. I learned how faith can lift a person up, how it can challenge them and how it can sometimes create conflict within their own sense of identity. These experiences help me write characters who wrestle with purpose, belonging and truth. Reverend Andrew Cowley, the central figure in Sacred Shadows, is shaped by this understanding. His calling, his compassion and his private questions reflect the complexity I have seen in real spiritual journeys.
Memory ties everything together. It holds snapshots of my life across different countries, cultures and stages of faith. Some memories are warm and grounding. Others are sharp or unresolved. All of them offer insight into how people grow, adapt and hold on to meaning. When I write, I often find that certain moments from my past help me frame a scene or define a character’s emotional landscape. It is not about recreating my own life on the page, but about drawing from the honesty that memory carries.
When these three influences meet, my fiction becomes a place where emotional truth guides the story. Music gives it tone. Ministry gives it depth. Memory gives it heart. Together they help me write characters who feel real, who navigate inner tension and who search for clarity in the middle of uncertainty.
In Sacred Shadows, these influences appear quietly but consistently. Andrew’s internal conflict carries the phrasing of a slow, unresolved melody. His spiritual life reflects the compassion and complexity of ministry. His reflections echo the power of memory, reminding us that the past often shapes the choices we make. As the story continues in the upcoming sequel, Resilient Light, these themes grow even stronger, creating a richer understanding of how personal truth evolves over time.
Writing fiction has become a way for me to bring these parts of my life together. It allows me to explore faith, identity and emotional honesty through characters who are deeply human. For readers, my hope is that these stories offer both insight and connection. Whether you relate through your own spiritual journey, your own memories or simply through the power of a well told story, I invite you to join me as these influences continue to shape the world of my writing.
