Broken Wings, Hospitals, & Frogs

How a Goodreads Review Planted the Seed to Write this book.

The seed for The Fire & the Frog got planted in my mind because of a Goodreads review by a reader named Eliana for The One Who Rocked Away.

Here’s the full review: “Read in 2020. I’m sad that Diana still doesn’t have a book, her story is relatable and I hoped to see it.”

This is the first and only review I’ve ever responded to, and this was my response: “Not gonna lie… I’ve entertained the idea; however, this is honestly the first time I’ve heard interest in her story. Unfortunately, I already have so many stories in the pipeline, I doubt I’ll be able to give her a book of her own. :'( But it honestly warmed my heart that someone would want to know her full story.”

Months after that, I started writing Diana’s love story in a hospital.

A Frog Prince Retelling

I honestly don’t remember why or how I decided that Diana’s story would be a contemporary Christian retelling of The Frog Prince. What I was sure I wanted was that one of the settings would be a rib joint called Rib It.

I also knew that I needed a male protagonist who had an unconventional back story. I knew I wanted to name the male protagonist Arnas. I also wanted him to be rooted in my fictional country, Ancoria, and I wanted him to be related to Valor Andino, a minor character mentioned in my novel, King of the Crown Imperials.

I think I wanted a tie-in of my Prodigal Ones collection of books to my fairy tale retellings, and that’s how Arnas and Diana’s love story became related to curses and frogs.

The writing itself, however, started with a song.

Broken Wings: A Hopeful Breakup Song

I was revising Prodigals Once at that time and mentioned in the novel was Broken Wings, a breakup song. I got inspired by that, so I wrote the lyrics of the song. Just because. I used AI to make the song come to life in Nolan Stone’s voice, and the song was stuck in my head as I was going to the hospital to watch over my sister, who had dengue at that time.

With that song stuck in my head during a long, sleepless night by a hospital bed, I took out the laptop and began writing the first two chapters of The Fire & the Frog.

Book Completed

I finished writing the first draft of the book on May 9, 2025. I was writing it on and off, with the idea expanding in my head over time. I was also seeking the Lord’s heart regarding the subject matter, because it became clear after the first few chapters that the book would involve witchcraft — portrayed in a negative light.

I’ll expand more on that issue in another post. Suffice it to say that I honestly didn’t expect the twists and turns this book went through, but I’m glad I wrote it.

Both Arnas and Diana are compelling to me as individual characters and as a couple, and I hope readers will feel the same way about them. These are two flawed people, with a broken history, a magnetic attraction towards each other, and a genuine desire to follow Christ no matter where He leads.

My prayer is that readers will discover in their story a God Who is mighty to save — even from ourselves.

The book will release on November 25, 2025. It’s available for preorder at a discount before launch.

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