1–What is the title of your latest release? MURDER AT HAVEN’S ROCK 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A town is being built in the Yukon wilderness for people who need to disappear, but even before it’s finished, two members of the construction crew do disappear…into the forest without a trace. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? It’s a spinoff of a book set in the Yukon—new town but same concept. I stuck with the Yukon for all the reasons I first chose it (natural beauty & isolation) 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Casey would not be the most personable companion on first meeting, but if I had time to get past that, I would definitely like to hang out with her. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Driven, idealistic, compassionate. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? Placer mining. The Yukon was the site of the Klondike gold rush, but I hadn’t touched on placer mining in previous books. It’s a central part of this one—modern, small scale gold mining in rivers etc. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you…

I know that sounds a bit like “What I Did On My Summer Vacation,” but bear with me. I have always loved crime stories – real or imagined. I don’t think I’m alone, either. Some of the most successful series on television now are crime oriented. My favorites are the original CSI, Criminal Minds and the gloriously creepy Dexter. I watch Forensic Files, all the true crime shows, eat up the drama and fear and terrible truths that exist in our world. So what is the fascination? Why am I drawn to murder and mayhem? In a word – heroes. But let me come back to that. I’ve tried to pinpoint the reason I decided to write crime fiction, and honestly can’t put my finger on a single impetus. Was it because of my childhood friend who was being abused and committed suicide when we were f ourteen? Was it the disappearance of a friend from college – Dail Dinwidde – who went missing in 1992, quite literally without a trace? Was it an influence from the books I gobbled up – Patterson, at the beginning, Tami Hoag, Patricia Cornwell? Or did I always have a mysterious bent? I’ve always…