Trina Spillman Writes Political Romance
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m a novelist, former political consultant, and lifelong storyteller who found her way back to writing after surviving a stroke. Before that turning point, I worked on both Republican and Democratic campaigns, ran a nonprofit organization for sixteen years, and was honored with several awards for community service and civic leadership, including the Sagamore of the Wabash and the Indiana Governor’s Award for Community Development. After my stroke, writing became my lifeline. It helped me retrain my brain, reclaim my voice, and reconnect with the part of myself that had always made sense of the world through story. While I sometimes rely on readers and editors to help catch small details, I remain deeply grateful for that collaboration. Writing is no longer just my profession, it’s how I continue to heal, grow, and engage with the world.
What event or experience in your life affected you as a writer?
Surviving a stroke fundamentally changed how I write and why I write. Recovery required patience, persistence, and trust in the creative process. Writing became both therapy and training, helping me rebuild neural pathways and confidence at the same time. That experience gave me a deeper respect for clarity, emotional truth, and resilience on the page. It also taught me humility and gratitude for editors, beta readers, and collaborators. Storytelling is no longer something I do alone; it’s something I do in conversation with others, and that has strengthened my work immeasurably.
Why did you become a romance writer?
At its core, romance is about hope and connection in the face of chaos. After spending years immersed in real-world politics, I came to understand just how fragile human connection can be, and how desperately people need stories that remind them that love is still possible. Romance allows me to explore vulnerability, trust, and emotional survival in ways that feel both intimate and universal. Even when I’m writing political thrillers or fantasy, love remains the emotional anchor. It’s the throughline that makes the stakes matter.
What inspired the idea for this book?
This book grew out of my background in politics and my fascination with how power operates behind closed doors. Having worked on both sides of the aisle, I’ve seen how ideals, ambition, and compromise collide, and how easily truth can become collateral damage. At the same time, my love of storytelling pushed me to explore these themes through character rather than ideology. I wanted to tell a story where personal loyalty, moral courage, and emotional truth matter as much as political maneuvering. It’s a reflection of the world as it is, and as it could be.
Can you tell us about any other upcoming books, series, or writing plans?
I am currently working on a sequel to this novel that deepens both the political and emotional stakes, as well as a prequel to The Fablecastle Chronicles titled The Witches of Fablecastle. In the sequel, titled A Dark Dawn, Ian begins investigating legitimate pathways for removing money from politics, an effort that draws him into the orbit of a clandestine group known as the Star Chamber.
Comprised of powerful elites who once benefited from the very systems they helped create, the group begins to fracture when its members suffer catastrophic personal losses caused by corporate negligence and decades of deregulation. What emerges is not a story about villains hiding in the shadows, but one of reckoning. These are individuals forced to confront the consequences of the machinery they enabled, including poisoned water, fatal medical devices, environmental collapse, and the quiet human cost of profit-first decision-making. As the Star Chamber turns on its own, Ian must navigate a moral gray zone where justice, vengeance, and reform collide.
Alongside my contemporary political thrillers, I continue to write fantasy and magical realism, which is where my heart ultimately resides. After spending years immersed in real-world politics, I find that fantasy offers a powerful lens for examining societal failures without being bound by partisan language. Magic allows truth to surface differently and sometimes more honestly. Alternating between contemporary fiction and fantasy gives me the freedom to explore the same urgent questions from multiple angles, including who holds power, who pays the price, and what it truly takes to change a broken system.
A catastrophic explosion rocks a New Orleans convention hall, leaving chaos in its wake. Attorney Ian McCullough rushes to find his partner, a presidential nominee caught in the blast, and instead uncovers evidence pointing to a conspiracy at the nation’s highest level. Each step closer to the truth puts Ian in greater danger, as powerful forces move to silence him. At the center of the plot is the ruthless vice president, whose false-flag operation could plunge the country into panic and secure his rise to power. With enemies closing in and only a few unlikely allies to trust, Ian must risk everything to expose the truth before democracy itself becomes collateral damage.
Meet Trina Spellman
Trina Spillman, who also writes under the pen name Selene Greenleaf, crafts both practical witchcraft guides and immersive works of fiction that span romance, magical realism, and contemporary thrillers. Splitting her creative life between Colorado’s mountain landscapes and a growing library of story ideas, she blends current events, folklore, plant magic, and real-world rituals to invite readers into transformative experiences. Under Selene Greenleaf, she’s the author of Witchcraft Essentials: A Modern-Day Guide to Spells, Herbs, and Crystals; Cupid’s Craft: Love Spells for Valentine’s Day; and her forthcoming Plant Magic Encyclopedia: Rituals & Remedies, resources designed to help modern practitioners weave intention and botanical wisdom into everyday life. Writing as Trina Spillman, she’s best known for her engaging Setting the Record Straight series and award-winning novel, The Fablecastle Chronicles. Whether she’s exploring the ethics of power in a thriller or sharing herbal recipes for daily rituals, Trina/Selene’s work reflects her unwavering belief in the healing and transformative power of words.
Congrats on turning your life experience into amazing growth! Best of luck to you with the new book!
Thank you for an engaging interview, Zara and Trina. So sorry about your stroke, Trina, but you have shown how something bad can be used as an agent for good. ‘A New Dawn’ sounds as though it has all the ingredients for a compelling read with content to challenge readers and make them think. Meryl