Morgan L. Busse is a writer by day and a mother by night. She is the author of multiple series including The Ravenwood Saga and Skyworld series. She is a three-time Christy Award finalist and won the INSPY, Selah, and Carol Award for best in Christian speculative fiction. During her spare time she enjoys playing games, taking long walks, and dreaming about her next novel.
FF: Can you provide a brief synopsis of Winter’s Dawn?
Winter’s Dawn is the last and final book in my Viking-inspired fantasy series, the Nordic Wars. So many of the characters from the first two books will be in this one including Brighid, the shield maiden fighting to save her people and Kaeden, a member of a supernatural race who serve God. In Winter’s Dawn, they are facing the final battle and hidden power behind the Nordic Wars as well as finally overcoming personal hurts and fears. I feel like this is the not only the best book of this series, but one of the best books I’ve written.
FF: What kind of research did you do when writing about this drawn-out war?
I’d never written an ongoing war that my characters were intricately a part of. In my other series, war was either contained in one book or part of the background. So when I wrote the Nordic Wars, I had to learn about war, battles, and everything in between. I wanted to make sure my story stayed centered around my characters and didn’t read like a war documentary. Interesting enough, I turned what I learned into a class and now teach others how to write a war into their fictional stories.
FF: What message do you want readers to take away after reading Winter’s Dawn?
Winter’s Dawn (and the entire Nordic Wars series) is for the reader who has felt like they don’t belong, been abandoned, and learned to survive in a cold world. It is also for those who have been hurt and not sure if they want to follow God anymore. A lot of my own experience growing up and in ministry has shaped this story. But I also want to show that there is healing, God doesn’t abandon us in our hurt, we were made for something, and strength comes in many different forms.
FF: Now that this trilogy has ended, what projects are you working on next?
I’ve taken a year off from writing to fully move into our new home and ministry, along with heal from the past few hard years. But I can tell I’m about ready to start writing again. I’ll be going back to steampunk (Victorian science fiction). It’s a story about a cursed family and sky pirates set in a world of high fashion and society. I’m excited!
FF: How has your faith or world view impacted the way you tell stories?
My faith informs my writing. Questions I’m asking, thoughts I’m pondering, things I’m going through usually seem to end up in my stories. Recently in my Viking-inspired fantasy series, The Nordic Wars, I was going through the hardest years of my life and faith. The pain and questions I had I wrote about through my characters. And as my characters found healing and hope, I also found the same things.
