Dead Egyptians took five years to write and edit. Fairly early on, I found a wonderful writers group called AllWriters in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and every week I received six edits from six editors on pages that I provided. The book would neither exist nor be published without that support system. The research was a longer timeline – before I put one word down on paper, I had been studying Egyptology for twenty-five years or so, since the age of seven.

There are two core conflicts in Dead Egyptians – the first conflict is Egypt’s conflict. They have been under foreign rule for about 2,000 years in 1902, but in exactly twenty years, they achieve independence. That is really just the setting. The core emotional conflict in Dead Egyptians is that my protagonist is trying to break the cycle of reincarnation, which is not easy. Over the course of this series, Albion will have to master seven spiritual truths, the trickiest of which is that he will have to give up the thing he loves most in the world (in this case, his lover). If you know Albion’s love life, you will understand how difficult an ask that really is lol.

In Egypt, death is never the end.

I imagine most writers are solitary creatures – we like our ‘me time’ and we like our quiet time. I’m picturing all of us as sweater wearing scholars that enjoy a good pipe. But the point is – you could have the greatest book in the history of the world, and if you don’t leave your corner of the world, who’s gonna read it? Writing a book inherently involves a team of people – early on, you just need editors. But as time goes along, you’ll need your editors connections – publicists, publishers, media connections, you name it. You have to set your pipe down and actually leave the house. But I don’t want to scare anyone off either – once you have a writers group, it all comes together.

I knew that Aleister Crowley would be a main character, and he was in Egypt in 1902 and 1904, so that was largely decided for me. I did think it was important not to ignore contemporary Egypt and just focus on Ancient Egypt. So many people write as though Egypt ended when the Romans invaded, but Egypt’s modern history is just as fascinating as its ancient history. You don’t really run out of material with Egypt.

I’m an explorer – in my study, I keep a map of the world on the wall and pin all of the places I visit. I like odd places that tourists don’t think to go to – I may never see Paris, but I can tell you all about derelict buildings and ruins. Urban exploration is magical to me – I love finding those places that, although manmade, have been taken over by vines and the ravages of time.

Write the book you want to read. Once you can express that, you’ve got yourself a book.