Tidbits

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• All of the Corbins' names (Caius, Lydia, Claudia, and Cassius—even Lucius, the horse) are taken from Roman history. 

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• "Cassius" was meant to be pronounced the American way of Cash-us vs the English way of Cass-e-us. His nickname, Cash, is the result (instead of Cass) and was a constant annoyance for him while he lived in England. 

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• The Corbins' poison garden was directly inspired by the poison garden at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, England. 

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• The sunken garden outside the library at Tennebrose was inspired by my alma mater's library. 

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• I'd already picked the characters' surnames when I learned the Hewitt's heraldic device was an owl, the natural enemy of ravens and crows, but it worked perfectly with the Romeo + Juliet theme so I leaned into it. 

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• Graeme's heterochromia (two different colored eyes) was just a trait I gave him. There is no deeper meaning. 

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• The woman Cassius saw hanging in his vision wasn't Black Mary—it was Graeme's mom. 

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• The words "gay" or "bisexual" don't appear at all in MALUM because they weren't relevant to the story. The only hint at the MCs' sexual labels comes during one of the sex scenes. But for the record, Cassius is bisexual and Graeme is gay, which is why MALUM is listed in both categories.  

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• To clear up any confusion, MALUM was never listed or promoted as a dark romance. It has always been, first and foremost, an enemies-to-lovers paranormal romance, neatly summed up as a "witchy Romeo + Juliet retelling". Depending on the market, I also listed it as "dark academia." Dark academia is a subculture/aesthetic that focuses on higher education, the arts/literature, and dark/negative themes such as depression, oppression, tragedy, death, and existentialism. Instead of having the MCs sit around reading the classics and debating who wrote Shakespeare, MALUM's dark academia-ness comes from the old/elite university setting and the tragic/depressing/murderous history of their families and their town, which is explored through reading and research. It's a subtler approach to dark academia than some books take, but, in my opinion, it makes the information more accessible to a wider range of readers. Dark academia is not the same thing as dark romance, even though they share similar themes/tropes. 

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• Last but not least... WTF are those pages in the beginning of MALUM? Click here to find out!

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