Natural Disaster
Witches of Willowbrook Book 1
by Alena Orrison

When Jessica loses both parents in a car accident, she seeks to honor their legacy of service in Willowbrook. Her parents loved the town and its people, and despite her desire for solitude, Jessica becomes interested in the lives of those around her. Grief-struck and juggling the garden along with her own business has Jessica stressed. She soon discovers the unpredictable weather reflects her internal turmoil.

Fearful of her powers and worried about the town’s reaction, Jessica takes her brother’s advice to attend a grief counseling group and begin meditating. She thinks she can restrain her magic if she can control her emotions. A witch from Willowbrook’s coven contacts her and offers to teach Jessica how to use her magic. But learning does not come easy. Jessica’s power spirals. The more she tries to rein it in, the wilder it becomes.

Then Zane, an attractive reporter from the city, arrives to do an investigative story on Willowbrook’s odd weather patterns. Jessica realizes if her secret gets out, everyone she loves could be in danger of a witch hunt. Wanting a change of pace, Zane moves to Willowbrook. Jessica worries he’ll be caught in the devastation of her powers. Can she learn to control her magic before she creates a Natural Disaster? And can she keep Zane from revealing everything?

5 out of 5 fairies

A great contemporary fantasy, set in a small town, with an interesting magical twist. Jessica is an amazing FMC, and although the opening to the story is filled with grief, the story itself is heartwarming. Zane absolutely piqued my interest from the moment he showed up on the island and met Jessica, and I couldn’t wait to see where things would land with the two of them. The setting has all the small town vibes with a sprinkling of magic mixed in, and I loved the descriptions, especially of the garden! There’s plenty of tension as Jessica and crew try to navigate her newly discovered magic, while trying to gain control before anyone figures it all out. That said, I really hope we get to hear more stories of magical residents of Willowbrook in future books in the series, I really want to know more about this town and everyone living in it.

Lily:  Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview Alena I’ve enjoyed reading Natural Disaster. What inspired you to write this?

Alena:  Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed it. It all started from a conversation with my son, which I replicated in Natural Disaster between Jessica and Zane. My son’s exact words were, “I feel it is my civic duty to inform people of an impending natural disaster.” For whatever reason, my mind skipped over the incident leading up to that comment and went right to a story about a woman whose emotions control the weather. 

Lily:  That’s awesome! If you could spend one day in town with Jessica or Zane, who would you want to hang out with, and what’s one thing you’d have to do?

Alena:  Probably Zane because he’s more adventurous. We’d have to go to the top of the Empire State Building or Eiffel Tower.

Lily:  Either way, it would be a beautiful view. What would you do if you found out your emotions affected the weather like Jessica?

Alena: Run and hide! Then figure it out. I’m very vocal with my emotions, unlike Jessica, so everyone would discover it immediately. I would have to learn to control it, but I’m almost positive I wouldn’t be able to.  

Lily:  I don’t know if I’d be able to hide it either, honestly. Now we’d like to talk about you as a writer. Can you describe your ideal writing space?

Alena: To be perfectly honest, my ideal writing space is not my office. My office is perpetually messy. I love writing outside in nature. My front porch makes a great space in the summer as it gets morning sun but is covered in case of rain. We have acreage, so being on my porch is like being at a cabin in the woods. I also like writing at a busy coffee shop or even at the airport when I’m traveling because I can observe people.  

Lily:  Writing outside when the weather is nice enough sounds so peaceful, I love it. How do you keep track of inspiration when it strikes?

Alena: I have a file on my computer, which I can access from my phone as well, and I’ll make notes or write a scene and save it as a new document. I also have notebooks with snippets of overheard conversations, descriptions of people, and story ideas. For the notebooks, I have an index at the front so I can easily find the pages later. 

Lily:  That’s a great idea, and I love that you keep notes digitally and physically. Do you have a favorite drink or snack while writing?

Alena:  Popcorn and sparkling water. My husband actually got me some kettle corn to snack on during the last week because he knew I would be up late working. 

Lily:  Sounds like the perfect combination to keep your creative juices flowing. Let’s finish up with some fun questions and get inside your mind. What’s the best/worst dad joke you know?

Alena:  Oh, wow. Well, every time we drove by a cemetery, my dad would say, “That’s a really popular place. People are just dying to get in there.” Every. Time.

Lily:  LOL that’s a good one. What fictional character would you want to spend a day with, and what book/movie/tv show are they from? What would you do?

Alena:  This is hard question! I’ll spend a day with Irene from The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman. I’d beg her to take me into the Invisible Library and through to other worlds. I’d love a quick visit to as many as we can get to in a day.

Lily:  I’m going to have to check that out, it sounds like a lot of fun! Would you rather always say everything on your mind or never speak again?

Alena:  I usually say whatever is on my mind, and it has gotten me into trouble more than once. I suppose if I got to choose, I wouldn’t speak. I would hear and learn so much more. Plus, I could still write.

Lily:  I’m with you – especially with phones and sign language, there are many ways to communicate even without speaking. What problem or situation did TV/movies make you think would be common, but when you grew up you found out it wasn’t?

Alena:  Oh, so many things! Quicksand, neighbors walking in the front door without knocking, people breaking out in song and dance, catching on fire and having to remember the stop-drop-roll, my car stalling on tracks in front of an oncoming train… I can’t tell if I was traumatized by television as a kid or if these are just what was considered dangerous.

Lily:  Stop-drop-roll is definitely one I thought I would’ve needed by now. How do you feel about putting pineapple on pizza? What toppings do you prefer on pizza?

Alena: It depends on the pizza. Bacon, chicken, or ham and pineapple? Sure. But pineapple on a supreme? No, thanks. My favorite pizza involves chicken and lots of vegetables like green peppers, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, olives, and zucchini.

Lily:  That sounds delicious, and now I want pizza. Maybe a pepperoni and pineapple one… What mythical creature do you wish was real?

Alena: Dragons. I will never not say dragons.  

Lily:  Dragons would definitely make everything more interesting. Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t included?

Alena: Just a thank you for taking the time to read and review my debut novel. I appreciate it so much! 

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