1–What is the title of your latest release? THE MISSING WITNESS 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? LAPD Detective Kara Quinn, currently on loan to the FBI, returns to Los Angeles to testify against the human trafficker who took a hit out on her last year. But when the suspect is killed and a government whistleblower disappears, Kara realizes there’s a deadly conspiracy reaching into the highest branches of city government, and possibly the FBI. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The Missing Witness is the fifth book in the Quinn & Costa series. I always knew that one of the books would bring Kara back to LA. In book one (The Third to Die), Kara is on administrative leave because of an officer involved shooting. When she’s set to return, she learns her partner was killed and her identity leaked by the press – effectively putting a price on her head. So she was loaned to the FBI’s Mobile Response Team. Now, she has to return to LA to testify. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? The Quinn & Costa series has an ensemble cast. While Kara…

How much research goes into one of your books? A: It really depends on the book. If I’m not familiar with the area, I’ll do a lot of location research, but I try to write books in places where I’ve been or where I know someone. For crime details, I have a lot of people I can call upon for help, or I can post a question in the Crime Scene Writers group. I’ve also done a lot of research over the years that’s become my own knowledge base — I’ve gone through the FBI Citizen’s Academy, gone on ride-alongs with local police, toured the morgue and viewed an autopsy, visited Quantico, and participated in training drills with SWAT teams. All that informs my books. For THE SORORITY MURDER, which came out at the end of 2021, I reached out to the head of the Criminal Justice department at Northern Arizona University as well as someone from the campus police department because I had very specific questions. But most of the forensic and psychology details I researched in books I own. For THE WRONG VICTIM, I reached out to a former ATF agent for information about bombs to make sure…

It’s a new year and I don’t know about you but I’ve had to increase my book budget to handle all the cool releases coming out this year. Even with grad school I have a goal to read at least three books a month that are non-school related. For me, with my day job as a TV and Film critic, books are my last escape. And I noticed last year that I was lucky if I read a book a month. That’s crazy. We have some great releases from some of my pals this month so let’s get going… Writing THE PERFECT DISH was an exercise in rebellion for author Kristen Painter, who is one of my favorite people in the world. “At the time, the older heroine, younger man scenario just wasn’t being done,” Painter says. “In fact, I was told not to write it that way because it wasn’t marketable, but I’m stubborn and telling me not to do something rarely works. I also felt like a heroine of forty-four wasn’t in any way old – I know a lot of women who are forty and older that are amazing in every way. Why don’t those women deserve…

It’s June and the Texas heat has settled in for the summer. If I’m not out the door by 6:45am, we skip the trip to the dog park because it’s just too hot. So, fun means indoor and air-conditioned activities. Movies, television, shopping, and going to the gym are all on the list. Of course, my favorite activity is curling-up in bed with a good book. Now that I have a new mattress (what took me so long?), napping and reading are my two favorite ways to relax. This month, there are some great choices in romantic suspense to keep you entertained while you stay cool. FADE TO MIDNIGHT McCloud Shannon McKenna Kensington; $20.95 I can’t wait to read McKenna’s latest addition to the McCloud series which answers the question—What happened to Kevin? Davy, Connor, and Sean mourned the loss of their brother, Kevin, in Edge of Midnight, Out of Control, and Standing in the Shadows. When the McCloud brothers discover Kev is alive, they won’t rest until they find him. Beaten and tortured almost to death, Kev Larsen was found eighteen years earlier in a warehouse alley. He survived his brutal ordeal, but his memories before that night were…

That’s the single most common question I receive when I speak to reading groups. The thing is, it’s not an easy question to answer. There’s not one repository of ideas, nor can I point to one source of inspiration. My stories come from multiple sources–snippets of ideas, views, sounds, articles–that simmer in the slow cooker of my muse. Then wham! I have the story beginning and I start writing.Take my current trilogy. “An earthquake at San Quentin Prison precipitates the escape of several death row inmates.” Sounds easy, right? Well . . . it took me weeks to come up with the premise. The only thing I knew when I started KILLING FEAR (Feb 08) was that Detective Will Hooper, the partner of my heroine in SPEAK NO EVIL (Feb 07) was the hero. An article I read mentioned some California legislators talking about selling San Quentin–437 acres of prime real estate on the San Francisco Bay. I remembered that in SPEAK NO EVIL, I’d had Will testify at an appeal hearing against Theodore Glenn, a killer on death row who Will had put away seven years before for murdering four strippers. I re-read the scene where Will tells Carina…