User blog comment:Jdeschene/Common Themes/@comment-26425680-20180504153204

As a plot device, I tend to use the long-term effects of childhood abuse/trauma, which wasn't what I set out to do, but is obviously driven by the fact that I've spent the last twenty years working with abused and neglected children. I also have a tendency to write about powerful beings who manipulate the protagonists to reach their own end. And I usually try my best to blur the lines between "good" characters and the "bad" ones, mostly because I think that makes the stories more interesting.