With most of my writing projects, I cannot distinctly point to one moment where an idea burst to life.

Legend of My People is not like most of my projects.

I was watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and during one scene that’s about three seconds long, the enemy treasure hunters gun down the native Inca army who fight to defend their treasure.

In those three seconds, I felt such a deep anger and unfairness to the whole situation, that of course I decided to write a book about it. The treasure belongs to the natives who buried it away long ago, not the invasive foreigners who have no right to claim it.

Legend of My People was inspired by a simple scene, and it flips the traditional treasure hunt story. Instead of writing from the perspective of the treasure hunter, I’m writing this book from the point of view of a native, a descendant of those who hid a valuable treasure of her heritage. When a foreigner recruits her to his team of hunters because of her ability to decipher ancient runes written in her native language, she must find the legendary Myriad Trove before he can claim it for himself, and the looming destruction of her realm hangs in the balance.