A.D. Vancise Explores Trauma, Resilience, and Mystery in Award-Winning Novels
Unveiling Powerful Stories Of Loss, Hope, And Unseen Truths Through Fiction
A.D. Vancise shares how personal loss and a haunting family photo inspired her gripping novels, blending trauma, resilience, and mystery with cinematic detail to engage and challenge readers.
A.D. Vancise is redefining modern suspense fiction with stories that delve into grief, trauma, and the endurance of the human spirit. Her novels not only grip readers with mystery and emotion but also reflect deep personal truths and compelling social realities. A native of a small Canadian town, Vancise blends her rural upbringing with vivid, cinematic storytelling—an influence she credits to her background in visual arts.
A.D. Vancise masterfully combines emotional depth and suspense, creating unforgettable stories that illuminate the strength of the human spirit.
Vancise’s debut novel, Cry of an Osprey, struck a powerful chord with readers, reaching Amazon bestseller status and earning the Beverly Hills Book Award. Her follow-up, Hidden in the Shadows, cemented her place as a rising voice in literary suspense, winning the Literary Titan Gold Award and widespread praise for its bold narrative and emotional depth.
In a recent interview with Reader’s House Magazine, Vancise opened up about her writing process, inspirations, and the personal loss that informs much of her work. The genesis of Hidden in the Shadows came from a haunting photograph discovered in her grandfather’s collection—a photo that, years later, she realized was connected to a police case involving child trafficking. This discovery sparked the storyline and set her on a path of research that shaped the dark and gripping narrative.
“Turns out, this was his first case as a police officer,” she revealed. “The deeper I dug, the more I couldn’t look away.”
Vancise describes writing Cry of an Osprey as a cathartic journey. Rooted in her own experiences of grief, the book explores themes of love and loss with authenticity and emotional intelligence. “Grief is more like you learn how to carry it,” she shared, noting that writing helped ease the emotional weight.
“Grief is more like you learn how to carry it.” – A.D. Vancise
A hallmark of Vancise’s work is her ability to balance heavy topics with page-turning engagement. Using dual points of view, carefully paced chapters, and even touches of humor, she ensures that readers stay invested without becoming overwhelmed. “I want them to feel deeply, but I also want them to keep turning the pages,” she explained.
Her character Evie Day, featured in Hidden in the Shadows, embodies Vancise’s own tenacity and belief in human goodness. Readers can expect more from Evie in the upcoming sequel, Behind the Shadows, which follows a harrowing plot involving child abduction and betrayal. And for fans eager to dive deeper, Vancise is also working on Memoirs from a Killer, a chilling prequel narrated by a character from her earlier novel—and inspired, intriguingly, through collaboration with a California medium.
“History is written by the victors,” Vancise teases in a haunting excerpt. “But the real story is buried in the dead.”
As both a writer and visual artist, Vancise brings a cinematic quality to her prose. Scenes unfold with vivid detail, evoking the depth and nuance of film while retaining the intimacy of literature. She credits her quiet rural upbringing—with its wheat fields, forests, and long hours without internet—for sparking the imagination that now fuels her storytelling.
For aspiring writers, Vancise offers a blend of encouragement and realism: “Write because you love to write. Your story matters. Be open to criticism—it’s the catalyst for better writing.”
With a growing body of work and an unwavering commitment to uncovering truth through fiction, A.D. Vancise continues to inspire and challenge readers—inviting them into stories that are as poignant as they are powerful.
Originally published in Reader’s House Magazine.
