Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Lily Andrews is talking with Maria Elena Alonso-Sierra, author of A Flower from Keanu: A Town of Hidden Glen Novella.

FQ: What drew you to write a protagonist whose healing feels so hard-won?

ALONSO-SIERRA: I wanted to create a character that felt real, that struggled with real emotions and trauma. Who juggled many things at a time, and who refused to drown in bitterness and regret.

FQ: What was the inspiration behind using the Nativitas germens flower as a major metaphor in the book?

ALONSO-SIERRA: I wanted to use imagery that linked the rarity of the flower to how rare Cassandra, as a woman, is. It also linked her future to the blossoming of the flower—rare, miraculous, and beautiful.

FQ: How important was it for you to show that Cassandra's journey wasn't just about finding new love, but about confronting and healing from specific, deep-seated wounds, especially one caused by her biological father?

ALONSO-SIERRA: Super important, because you can only truly heal if you confront your pain and surpass it.

FQ: What was your goal in making the primary conflict be against a biological father rather than a classic villain?

ALONSO-SIERRA: My goal was to make the conflict more personal and possibly devastating if Cassandra had been another type of person. Readers would be more invested, especially when, from the beginning, readers know her father had abandoned her mother, and her, practically from birth. And by pitting those two together, it showed how she would never give in to adversity or personal pain.

FQ: Was the arson on the protagonist's home something you intended to show as a necessary step in her journey toward a new future, like a clearing of the past to make way for the new?

ALONSO-SIERRA: I didn’t see it that way, but you can interpret it as such, too. The arson was simply an extension of what was happening in the town, which paralleled a bit what was happening to her. It also posed the question, before the final chapter, of whether her father was truly such a nasty man as to go to those lengths in order to get what he wanted.

FQ: How did your own experiences with different settings and communities influence the creation of Hidden Glen?

ALONSO-SIERRA: Throughout my life, I’ve lived in many, many small villages and have seen the workings of small towns, the changes from chaotic growth, and the political juggling that affects all members of the community.

FQ: How did you balance the expected emotional beats of a romance with the "welcome dash of danger and suspense" that adds tension to this story?

ALONSO-SIERRA: Carefully. I didn’t want melodrama, or constant tension between Cassandra and Keanu. The town could offer that without drowning the reader with too much danger and suspense. I picked and developed the ones that could be linked to her and affect her business, as well as her friends’, and Keanu.

FQ: Was your goal from the outset to write a story about healing and finding happiness after trauma, or did those themes emerge organically as you wrote Cassandra's character?

ALONSO-SIERRA: Yes. From the get go I wanted to write a story about healing, about friendship, family, and true love after trauma. When someone like Cassandra experiences what she did, it always seems as though there will never be a light at the end of the tunnel. You function, and you exist through routine. And giving her a few, hand-picked, albeit eclectic, friends, who have her back, plus Keanu’s family and his love, it was the perfect recipe for finding true and lasting happiness.

FQ: What was the most challenging part of writing this book?

ALONSO-SIERRA: Showing her pain. How traumatic memories can blindside you when you least expect it. And to show how she dealt with every blow without making her a victim.

FQ: What is the greatest takeaway you hope your book leaves with the readers?

ALONSO-SIERRA: To enjoy the novella for what it is—a beautiful, sweet romance where love is shown to flourish in the most unexpected way. And maybe to show that despite trauma, pain, and heart-break, there is always a brighter future if you stay the course.

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