Today I have the pleasure of welcoming Aisha Tritle to Chat About Books 🙂

For those who don’t know already, could you tell us about yourself and your book(s) please?

Hi! My name is Aisha Tritle. I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, but currently live in Los Angeles. I do a lot of things but writing novels and plays is my true passion! My day job is in marketing for tech startups, and I act as well. I’ve been writing for almost as long I could read.

My novel, “Occidis,” is a Young Adult Adventure. It’s about a girl, Sophia, who was recruited at the age of ten to train as an assassin by a Danish tech billionaire, Norbert Alexander. The story starts when Sophia’s seventeen and suffering from panic attacks. She’s kidnapped when on a job and told to take down the program she’s been in for nearly half her life; and she overcomes her confidence issues to do that.

In addition to writing books, I also write plays. My one-act comedy, “The Misfortune of Lionel Schlüsselberg,” was published by Lazy Bee Scripts and performed by the Northumbria Drama Society. I also have another one-act comedy, “Christopher Goes Through a Breakup,” that I’ve signed with Off the Wall Plays for – hopefully that will come out soon. I have two dark comedies out on submission currently: “Death by Kombucha: The Story of a Hipster Murder” and “Sugar Babies Anonymous.”

Where did/do you get your ideas from?

Everything gives me ideas! For Occidis, Norbert was partially inspired by someone my dad used to work with. He was very powerful and I always wondered what would happen if he decided to use that power for evil.

My imagination has always been very active, and I grew up with a lot of homeschooled genius children. Also, I was obsessed with spies! I seriously wanted to be a spy well into my teens. So, I always daydreamed about what would happen if prodigious children were recruited as spies. The premise of Occidis is essentially that, but altered a bit.

How do you pick your characters names?

I love picking names. Most of the time I’ll have names stuck in my head that I think are particularly pretty or strong, but sometimes I do something as simple as scrolling through baby names online. If I base a character off a real person, I normally ask them to pick the name of the character.

Can you share your writing process with us, in a nutshell?

I try to write every day. On the weekdays, I’ll spend an hour or two typing away in the late afternoon or early evening. On weekends, I usually spend mornings and afternoons writing.

I like to outline everything first – personally, it makes everything quicker and easier. Plus, when you have an outline to look over, you can check and make sure all the details in your story line up. I learned the hard way about outlining. Occidis was written completely from the hip, and I definitely wish I’d outlined the story first.

The consumption of coffee is also a very important part of my writing process. I’ve recently taken to cold brew.

Who are your top 5 favourite authors?

Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jane Austen, Emily Brontë, and Anthony Horowitz.

If you could meet any author, who would it be and what would you ask them?

Agatha Christie! I’ve always found her fascinating. I would ask her what she would consider the single most important thing for a writer to know.

Were you a big reader as a child?

Yes! I was homeschooled, and would try to get all my schoolwork done so I could just go read. My mother and I went to a lot of used book sales when I was growing up, and we ended up acquiring bookshelves upon bookshelves of classic literature that I hungrily devoured.

When did you start to write?

Shortly after I began reading. I still have a notebook which I filled with stories when I was about six years old.

If you could re-write the ending to any book what would it be and what would you change?

Oh heavens, this is a hard question. I really can’t think of any book endings that I’d like to rewrite. It’s hard for me to think about changing someone else’s story.

Is there a book you wish you had written?

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. To be capable of writing such a masterpiece would be an amazing thing.

If you wrote an autobiography, what would your title be?

Haha! “Aisha Tritle: Author and Cookie Fiend.” I’m not sure. I’m really bad at coming up with titles! It’s actually the only part of writing books that I really dread.

If you could invite any fictional character for coffee who would it be and where would you take them?

I would invite Mr. Darcy to the cafe down the street for some cold brew or tea.

What are you working on right now?

I’m about to move into the editing phase of a vampire novella. It’s called “Vamp” and is the first in the Quimby Bay series. That will be coming out in either May or June. I’m also halfway through writing the sequel to Occidis!

Tell us about your last release?

My last release was Occidis. I was so excited! It’s my first proper novel that’s been sent out into the world.

Do you have a new release due?

I don’t know exact release dates yet, but Vamp will be coming out in May or June. “Christopher Goes Through a Breakup” should be out soon from Off the Wall Plays. The sequel to Occidis will be coming out later this year.

What do you generally do to celebrate on publication day?

I drink Guinness, eat a big burger, and dance.

How can readers keep in touch with you?

I’m very active on social media. I’m on Instagram as @aisharebekah, and on Twitter as @AishaTritle. I also have recently become extremely active on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17207184.Aisha_Tritle

Is there anything else you would like us to know?

Please do follow me on Goodreads! I love interacting with readers. If you enjoy Occidis, I would greatly appreciate a rating or review on Amazon or Goodreads. Thank you!

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, Aisha 🙂

At the age of ten, Sophia was offered a choice: join Program Occidis and train to become an assassin, or let her mother die.

Seven years later, Sophia’s life serves one purpose: to do the bidding of the narcissistic Danish billionaire who controls her, Norbert Alexander. But her panic attacks keep getting in the way of her job, and when she witnesses the death of another Member, Sophia knows her time of sanity is running out.

When the handsome new member of Occidis, Ilya, kidnaps her while on a job and tells her she’s been chosen to take down the man she’s served for almost half of her life, Sophia reluctantly accepts. Things start to unravel, however, and Sophia finds herself fighting to balance her attraction and distrust when the details of Ilya’s mysterious history come to light.

With her life threatened at every turn, Sophia goes on a transatlantic mission to destroy the man responsible for the deaths of so many.

Enjoy!