In September 2015, I visited Prague and immediately fell in love with the place. The funny thing is – it was never on my travel list. I only booked my impromptu trip to the Czech Republic after being invited by a couple of friends.

So, I went there with zero expectations and returned home with a story.

How did it all start?

Well, I remember standing in an open space (Wenceslas Square, perhaps?), wondering where to go. Like Deborah, I had no map and no WiFi. To be honest, I was a little scared – it was my first time alone in a non-English-speaking country.

But the moment I stepped into those colourful, cobbled streets, I started getting these vague ideas for a story.

A mystery. Something dark and romantic. Characters with magical abilities, but with a plot grounded in the real world.

And then one evening, I was making my way back to my friends’ place in Liberec. It was dark, and I couldn’t remember the address or the route, and my phone battery had died. I found myself walking along quiet roads lined with houses that looked like little castles, with turrets and lush gardens and wrought-iron gates, and the character of Irena was born:

The rich and enigmatic writer who befriends my protagonist and draws her into her dangerous world.

From then on, the story practically wrote itself in my head. It was one steady stream of scenes and conversations. Characters and conflicts. Lies and surprises. Admittedly, most of it didn’t make it into the final version of the story.

(I did make it to my friends’ house eventually, by the way).

When I returned home from the trip, I wrote everything down in a little notebook. I played the story in my head every night so I wouldn’t forget it.

And while I never did forget it, I did abandon it. Life became more interesting than my story. I travelled to more places, moved to Scotland, got accepted onto a master’s programme, graduated in anthropology, and eloped to Cuba.

So, what happened then?

Then the pandemic struck, work dried up, and I needed an escape from reality. So one day, I sat at my laptop and wrote the first chapter of my story.

Even though I had the entire plot memorised in my head, I started to deviate from the original plan until I was looking at an almost completely different story.

I wrote every day, all day. By the time I found a full-time job, my story was almost ready (or so I thought).

For the next three years, it was one rewrite after another. I deleted the first 20,000 words, added new scenes, dialed up the spice, dialed down the spice, corrected several blunders – and it just went on and on. In the meantime, I revisited Prague with my husband, moved back to Malta, and built a house.

When things finally quieted down, I started looking into publishing my book. After weighing all my options, I decided to self-publish.

I worked with a professional editor, who made me feel a lot more confident about my work. A few more editing rounds followed, and finally my story was primed for publication.

But the hardest part was not over – I now needed to go full-on marketing mode. I had to come out of my cosy writer shell and let the world know that I was publishing a book.

So, I set up a website and boosted my social presence. I sent copies to ARC readers, braced myself for disappointing feedback, and nearly cried with joy when they told me that they loved the book.

When We Danced With Fire was released on November 7, 2025. Ten years after that first trip to Prague, my story was finally out in the world.

What’s next?

My second book is in the works, so if you loved the first one, watch this space! Or rather, follow me on TikTok or Instagram for updates.