In A Deadly Game, a mother finds herself helping search for her son’s missing friend while also fighting to clear her son’s name. Where did the idea for this novel come from?

After watching the show, Your Honor, starring Brian Cranston on Showtime, I asked myself the question, “How far would I be willing to go to protect my son?” My son was a senior in high school at the time, and I thought with him going off to college, so many things can go wrong. After all, the front cerebral cortex isn’t fully developed until they’re twenty-five. Mix in alcohol, peer pressure, and college shenanigans, and who knows what can go wrong?

What are some things that you find interesting about the human condition that you think make for great fiction?

I think we are vulnerable at our very core, and although we have rules to follow, deep down, at times, we wish we could act against our morals in order to achieve a particular outcome. It’s almost like the angel and devil on our shoulders. We know what we should do, but we know what we want to do, and sometimes, they are not the same. And as a parent loving their child unconditionally, this fine line becomes even blurrier.

What were some of the emotional and moral guidelines you followed when developing your characters?

I wanted the characters to struggle with what they wanted to do and with what they knew they should do, putting them in moral quandaries. For the characters I want the reader to have empathy with, I played on this a little bit more. For the antagonists, I didn’t adhere to moral guidelines as much. This way, the reader won’t have as much empathy and sympathy for them.

What story are you currently in the middle of writing?

Ironically, I’ve switched gears and am working on the first book in a series about a teacher turned professional bridesmaid (yes, that’s a thing––a very lucrative thing if you do a good job!). While running from her problems at home, she gets her first break at a wedding in Vegas, but when she wakes up in an unfamiliar place, unable to recall what happened to her, one thing after another falls apart with the wedding plans spiraling out of control. Now, it’s up to Avery to fix everything, while keeping it from the bride and determining who is sabotoging the plans. It’s a comedy mixed with some suspense and mystery. The working title is (Un)lucky in Las Vegas––An Avery Montgomery, Bridesmaid for Hire Novel.

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