Hello. Thank you so much for bringing the blog tour for IKONA to Novel Kicks. What’s a detail, theme, or clue in your book that most readers might miss on the first read—but you secretly hope someone notices?

I hope someone notices that whilst the present-day chapters and future chapters are chronologically ordered forward in time, the chapters set in the past (early 20th century Siberia) move backwards in time, so that the earliest chapter timeline-wise for the past chapters reaches a climax at the latest period time-wise for the other chapters. Truthfully, there are many other details that might be missed but which astute readers will catch: recurring motifs, the recursive nature of the story, how Gutov’s chapter 26 is also IKONA’s chapter 26, for example.

When did this story or idea “click” into place for you—was there a single moment you knew you had to write it?

This story first came to me in 2012. I planned the structure and journeys for years before I sat down to write it. I knew from the moment I got the first few pages and the title that it would be my most mature work. It is my fourth novel, but my first published novel. It was a persistent inner voice which never left me no matter how many twists and turns my life took in the interim. I wrote it in 2022.

Which character or real-life person surprised you the most while writing this book, and why?

Finley Minor’s journey evolved in a way I didn’t expect. No spoilers so I will just say that his arc deeply moved me, and I was unprepared for my own emotional reaction.

If your book had a soundtrack, what three songs would be on it and what scenes or moments would they pair with?

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