Premise

When her abusive parents threaten to tear apart Nora's newfound life, she must use her powers of retrocognition to unlock her family's secrets and find closure in the childhood she never had.

Teaser Scene

There was no mystery, no what-if, only the burdens we carried and the burdens we could choose to crush ourselves under. "Wouldn't you be happy giving it a rest? I'd be causing you more grief, and like she proved today, we're perfectly content."

Dad swore. "Jesus, Nora. You too? I thought you were different from her."

"Who? Mom?" I said sharply. "I keep telling you, all she does is lie—"

"Sometimes she lies, yes, but you can't assume that your own mother is a heartless monster! If you only knew. If only you knew."

I stared up at the moon high above the sleepy townscape. "What did she say?"

"The same thing she told you. 'Nora's built a new life, and she's afraid that her own parents will ruin it. Is the MacIntyre house just another obstacle? Another puzzle for you to solve?' Don't prove her right, Nora."

Interview Questions And Answers

1. How did you start writing on Wattpad?

After I got home internet, a friend told me she wrote on Wattpad and thought it'd be my jam, since I loved to read. I initially wrote edgy poems because I wanted to become famous. The reasoning changed after I learned to write from my own point of view and not completely fictional characters. Now I write for catharsis. Sometimes the process is fun, and sometimes it's the finish line that makes you remember why you started the grueling process. I'm grateful for home internet and a platform for writing. It's a very important outlet for me.

2. What was the inspiration for your book Keychains? If you could describe your story in only three words, what would they be?

Not sure where the inspiration started and ended. Part of it is my own experience with family problems. There is also a book I liked, titled The Unquiet Past by Kelly Armstrong. The protagonist's power is retrocognition, and the book anthology series mixes ordinary girls with supernatural abilities that complement the plot. I used the key as Nora's focus object to ground the reader with a rule while retaining the soft magic components. I am a big fan of soft magic systems. It is a set of rules I understand, rules which bend and adapt according to what the story calls for.

In three words: Atmospheric, elegant, & intense.

3. Which details or scenes in Keychains are most unique and interesting to you?

I think most of the passages I love speak for themselves. But there is a detail only vaguely mentioned in the novel that I ponder about. It takes some suspension of disbelief to believe Nora was able to survive without parental support, get postsecondary education, and become a marketing manager at age 26. I like to think Nora used her retrocognition to access her parents' banking information and steal their money before running away. Her parents were not the controlling type so with some cleverness, she was able to access their cards, too. Through scholarships, OSAP and some white privilege, Nora was able to weave through the system and find the loopholes.

At most, Nora would have gotten a bachelor's degree in business, working to reach the grade benchmarks for scholarships while also networking with people. These connections allowed herself to work up to a job that regular people would need higher education for. Her academics were average, but she was very good at persuasion and playing the social game. I would say she even slept with a few people to make sure she got what she wanted. Her retrocognition played a significant role not in establishing the connection but ensuring that connection stayed–since someone's keys is not exactly a common object you can get your hands on without being a little sneaky.

I'm realizing this detail that was very briefly glossed over in the novel is revealing a darker side of Nora. She doesn't talk nor think about this part of her life much. I hope this intrigues you enough to give Keychains a try.

4. If you were a character in your story, which one would you be and why?

Nora is a blatant self-insert character, so it'd only be natural that I choose her. I would very much like to try her retrocognition powers. Like her family, mine isn't the type to openly communicate things. Living in that sort of household really does have a ridiculous level of sneaking around and doing mundane things out of view. I would also want to see if I could thrive as a marketing manager. I am creative but any business-related material has the effect of throwing a wet towel over a flame.

5. Do you intend to write another book in the future? What advice would you give to other writers who wish to try writing as well?

I am writing Backstage, the sequel to Keychains, and have been for the past 3 years. It is a slow work in process. Each book in the trilogy (Timeless Trilogy is the working name) can stand on its own as well, since it has different protagonists and themes. I also very much want to write a spin off for the Hongkongese supporting character in Backstage. Both Backstage and the spinoff are a gift to myself, to see protagonists with Chinese/Vietnamese backgrounds and write my own experiences into them.

You need to know why you are writing. Do you want a story with a traditional arc? Do you want to write because it makes you feel better, regardless of if it is "good writing" or not? If you're writing and you realize your story doesn't follow a lot of the "rules" out there, are you okay with that? It is okay to be okay with that. It is also okay to improve, whatever that word might mean to you. Therefore, the advice that helped me overcome my fear, and the one I would give, is: Write whatever works for you. This does NOT mean "It's okay if my book is racist/offensive/hurts someone in a certain community due to my ignorance." It means, "If my story structure is messy and is not catching Wattpad readers' attention and I don't know how to fix it, it's okay as long as *I* love my story." Know your purpose. And that will help make your passion unshakable on the day where, and if, you decide to put your writing out there.