When I sat down to write The Heart of the Blood Moon, I didn’t have a concrete plot, but I had the character names already in the back of my mind and I knew I wanted it to be a bit on the dark side.

And since I decided to make the rules up from scratch, I got to design the universe exactly how I wanted it.

Top Layer: The Mortal Realm
This is where the story kicks off and where Lenora is trying her absolute best to blend in and act natural. It’s full of regular people who are completely oblivious to who or what walks amongst them…

Middle Layer: The Ether
Think of the Northern Lights, but with a tragic twist. Those swirling neon lights? Yeah, those are actually lost souls drifting through the fog. This realm is incredibly close to my heart because it’s Lenora’s domain.

Bottom Layer: The Underworld
Any preconceptions of the Underworld you have… throw it in the bin! Mirroring the mortal realm, the underworld is a grey brick, gothic city with rivers of molten lava.

I’ve been having so much fun fleshing out the landmarks here while editing. On one side of the lava rivers, you have the creepy, malevolent Library of Lorn. Then to the east, sitting totally isolated on a dark ash canyon, is the Black Ossuary. And because it is a city, it’s not just empty gothic buildings, all kinds of beings actually live and work down here.

…And The Secret Layer: The Fourth Realm
Deep beneath the Underworld lies an isolated sub-realm that is completely cut off from everything else. And only two people have the keys to get inside.

A question for you: If you were forced to spend a day meandering the gothic city streets of the Underworld, what would you hope to find? An ancient magical trinket? A cosy pub run by a friendly spirit? Or would you just head straight for the door back to the Mortal Realm?