My debut novel, DREAM HUNTRESS, releases on June 23 with Entangled Publishing—and wow—what a journey! I’m feeling a bit nostalgic, because as I prepare to do interviews and blog tours, I’ve been asked over and over what or who inspired me to write this book. After thinking about that question for a long time, I’ve realized there wasn’t a single incident or person that Jordan is created from, rather it was a culmination of events and interests that formed her.
I’ve always loved reading romantic suspense novels, especially if they involve a great police detective story. I often think I should have been a cop or a profiler because I find crime fascinating. Have you ever sat down and just chatted with a police officer? I recently had the pleasure of doing just that, and I could have listened for hours to all the crazy situations this detective had encountered. He looked at me at one point and said, “Seriously, I can’t make this stuff up.” I’m forever grateful to the men and women who are brave enough to strap on a gun every day to go to work. And I love talking with them because their stories make great fiction.
I also had an interesting experience after my father passed away and I think it contributed to the creation of Jordan. I am an only child and my parents were divorced, so I felt very alone in that grief filled process of tying up loose ends for someone I loved. Before losing my dad, I had never given much thought to whether or not a loved one could “hang around” after they passed. But as I was going through his things, talking to him as if he were there, a strange occurrence made me certain he was there with me. I won’t go into specifics, but it was eerie and my hair stood on end. I have never forgotten how certain I was that he was communicating with me.
After that, I enjoyed reading about and watching shows that dealt with psychic mediums. No surprise that Medium was one of my favorite TV shows. But it always ticked me off, that no matter how many cases Allison solved with her psychic abilities, the police department always doubted her visions. I looked at my husband one night and said, “Allison should just tell all those people to jump in a lake and get a badge of her own.”
I suppose my mind subconsciously toyed with that idea for the next few weeks. Shortly after, the character idea for Jordan Delany—cop and medium—came to me in a gush of writing. But I knew instantly that my Jordan Delany would never be like any of the composed, self-assured mediums on TV. Following a tragedy in her past, she would be a darker, more wounded character that has never been at peace with herself or her gift. I spent the next few years getting her story down on paper. I hope I’ve done her justice, but there are still days she rolls her eyes at me and says, “Seriously? That’s the best you can do?”
She’s been a different kind of heroine from the get-go. A little rough around the edges and her vocabulary might be sort of… ahem… colorful. But her badge means everything, and she has a fierce compassion for the dead who appear in her dreams and need help to find justice.
My hope for the reader is that you will enjoy reading about her life (and the dead she communicates with) as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.
Keep Dreaming-
Michelle
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