Jennifer Vido: What inspired your new release, HER, TOO? Bonnie Kistler: I usually can’t reconstruct where my ideas come from, but in the case of Her, Too, it was literally “ripped from the headlines.” Like much of the world, I was riveted by the trials of those prominent entertainment figures (you know who they are) who were accused and ultimately convicted of sex crimes. What struck me in each of those cases was that the defendant was represented by a woman attorney. There was an obvious strategy in his choice. A woman could very aggressively cross-examine the female victim without offending the jurors to the same extent that a male lawyer would have. A female attorney could also soften her client’s image in subtle ways, like leaning close to speak to him, touching his shoulder, etc. Non-verbal cues that send a subliminal message to the jury that he can’t be the monster the prosecutor is claiming. But what fascinated me wasn’t the defendant’s choice of counsel. Rather, it was the lawyer’s choice to take his case. It made me wonder if she felt any inner conflict and how she might have rationalized her decision. I wondered if she was the…

Jennifer Vido: What inspired your gripping new release, THE CAGE?  Bonnie Kistler: The opening scene in the elevator came from my years of practicing law in big firms in high-rise buildings. I spent countless hours riding up and down in these “cages,” and the situation often struck me as fraught with peril. Imagine getting trapped in a disabled elevator. Then imagine getting trapped with someone who might wish you harm. That’s where we find Shay Lambert and Lucy Carter-Jones when The Cage begins. The larger themes of the novel were inspired by the fall-out from the Great Recession of 2008. I knew so many bright young professionals who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Once you lose your place on the ladder of success, it’s hard to ever get back on the right rung. That’s Shay’s back story. The third big “light bulb” moment came when a big news story broke: a prominent man was arrested for frequenting a massage parlor/brothel in Florida. The women involved appeared to have been trafficked, and that got me thinking about the exploitation of workers at all levels of the labor spectrum. What’s the office culture like at the fashion conglomerate…