Hi Cala and Riley! Let us start by having a glimpse of your personal life, tell us one fact about both of your lives that is hidden from public knowledge?

Cala- This is a tough one for me since I'm an open book. Oh, I know. I watch Jeopardy every day like an old lady. I have since I was a kid.

Riley- This is tough for me because I’m insanely private! Lol. I’ve lived in six states, some of them twice.

Do people in real life know that you are an author? Do they read your books?

Cala- I tell everyone. My husband even brags about it. My mom and aunt have both read my books. They both pester me on getting more.

Riley- Outside of my husband and maybe four other people, no. Mr. Riley has read parts of stories helping me if I need help editing. The four other people (Cala being one of them) have read at least one of the books so far.

I just love the way you both coordinate and write such amazing books!! What was the first thing that gave you the inspiration to start writing your own books?

Cala- Funny story. Riley and I started on a blog (that we still run) together and didn't really talk much. Then one day I was telling her about this dream I had and how I wanted to write it into a book, but I was scared to. She encouraged me to do it. Within a week (and many back and fourths between us) we had our first book written. So I guess the simple answer was it was all a dream.

Riley- Oddly enough, writing wasn’t even on my radar then. I was content blogging and had just moved so my hands were full. Honestly, I don’t think I would have started if Cala hadn’t kept on me about it.

Which was the first book you ever wrote? How did it feel when it got published?

Cala- Our very first book is an unpublished book tentatively titled Running Scared. It took us a week to write and is a paranormal romance. We wrote it a year before we published our first book. Our first published book Mafia King also only took us a week to write. It was inspired by a documentary about John Gotti's son. We soft published it and we were both nervous. A little unknown secret is Riley gets a little anxious around release time while I'm a little more laid back. It's the perfect balance for us. Anyway, then people started reading and loving it, so we kept on.

Riley- Yeah, I was more than a little anxious when we published the first. I’m a massive perfectionist so the whole actually publishing thing makes me nauseous. But I’ve gotten better about it with each book.

So tell me, how does this dynamic between you both work? Like both of you write the equal amount of scenes and then discuss the changes or something else?

Cala- We are a true partnership. We even joke that we are work wives. Everything in our relationship is a give and take. We don't separate it 50/50. Sometimes I do more and others she does more. If she has an idea and is feeling it, she runs with it while I’m usually working on a completely different book that I'm feeling. When we get stuck or lose the inspo, it's the next person's turn. We do that back and forth until we have a finished book ready for the betas and editor.

Riley- We feed off each other. We can stop in the middle of a sentence and the other will pick up and somehow know what the other was going to say. A great example of this is, I write short scenes. I’m not good at writing all the in between stuff, but Cala can come in and extend the scene for me. She can leave me a vague comment on the side about what she thinks could go there, and I can make it happen. There is no part of a story that hasn’t been touched by the both of us.

Your ‘Brighton academy’ series are my absolute favorite!! What gave you the idea to start that series?

Cala-This one was all me. Sorry Riley! One night I just had this story that kept playing over and over in my head of this girl being an outcast at her new school. After the second day of it playing in my head, I sat down and started writing it. Then we did our back and forth until we had Sage.

Riley- She’s right. Cala messaged me one morning and was like dude, I have this idea. I told her to start writing. She did, and I fell into step.

I know it won't be fair to ask, but is there any particular character of yours that you love the most?

Cala-my favorite changes depending on my mood, much like my favorite anything. With that being said out of all of our characters, I would have to say Sage is my favorite. She is such a great character that embraces her flaws along with everyone else's. Her Sage Wisdom is usually on point. Plus, she doesn't put up with the BS. How could you not love her?

Riley- All I will say is no one (outside of Cala) has met my favorite character yet.

Do you ever put yourself or the people you know into your books?

Cala- Absolutely. I tell people all the time that they shouldn't share their stories with me because they will make their way into a book. Sometimes it's a saying. Others it's a situation. Heck, sometimes it's a personality trait. I draw a lot of inspiration from real life.

Riley- Without a doubt. I think all of our heroines will have pieces of us. It’s hard not putting a little bit of yourself into your characters when you spend so much time with them.

Is there any particular time at which you write, or do you write whenever the inspiration strikes?

Cala- I am the queen of car writing. I write the best in the car, particularly at night. If I'm at home, I write best at night.

Riley- It depends on the day and what I’m writing. Also depends on how nice my kids are being that day. But I’m probably the most productive at night, too.

Is there any particular author from whom you take inspiration from the most?

Cala- Inspiration? Not really. I love reading and falling into other author's books, but I tend to actively avoid using them for inspiration. I want my ideas to be my own.

Riley- NOOOO! That’s a line I have no desire to cross. Also, Cala and I don’t plot. We go in with a vague outline/idea, but we let the characters lead us. We don’t force stories and I feel like if we tried to draw inspiration from someone else, it wouldn’t be ours.

What do you have in plan next?

Cala- We have several works in progress we are working on. Hopefully, we can get them out quickly. I will let you know that I am currently working on a book featuring our beloved character Xavier.

Riley- We have for sure one more story coming out this year (September) that was really fun to write. It’s different than anything we’ve written before. We plan on spending the rest of the year getting ready for 2021 releases. As for what I’m working on now, all I will say is I’m in love. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

Before we wrap this up, let’s have a random quick question round:

Favourite Genre?

Cala-Enemies to lovers

Riley- Today it’s friends to lovers.

Worst gift ever received?

Cala- clothes. No offense to others, but I prefer to pick out my own clothes.

Riley- I’m very, VERY allergic to aloe vera. I have been gifted so many things with aloe over the years, it’s not even funny. Even by people who know I’m allergic. Aloe is in more than you would think. Those are the worst gifts because one second you're like, okay, does this person just not care or pay attention? Or are they trying to kill me?

One superpower you both wish you had?

Cala- Time travel.

Riley- Mystokinesis. I could do so many things like astral projection, divination, spell casting, teleportation, etc. Think Thor, Loki, and others.

Most scary moment of your life?

Cala- When I was almost kidnapped put my front yard when I was a kid.

Riley- I have two kids and both times I was pregnant I had an SVT attack. Basically, my heart rate jumped up over 200 bpm and I had to have medical help to get it to go back down. The first time they gave me a shot that basically rebooted my heart to kick back into a normal rhythm. The second time I had an old school ER doctor who did this throat message thing (sounds weird, I know) and it naturally went back to normal. It was so far from pleasant both times and why my husband and I decided no more babies early on.

Your most cherished possession?

Cala- I have two. A photo of my dad and the fish figure he gave me before he passed away.

Riley- I honestly don’t know what to say because I’m a very sentimental person. Maybe the hand-written love letters from my husband from when he was deployed? This is hard, I honestly don’t know.

Ever googled yourself?

Cala-Yes, I have.

Riley- Who hasn’t?

Top 2 items on your bucket list?

Cala- Go to Australia and go Skydiving.

Riley- Travel abroad and I want a house in the woods with a stream nearby.