Breakwater Bay follows a journalist who is headed to Madagascar for a diving vacation where he instead winds up sucked into a shady rescue mission in lawless Somalia. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

A video popped up on YouTube about a pushboat pushing 6 barges up the Congo River with 300 Congolese living in a shantytown aboard the barges. It captured my interest and I found myself researching The Congo for a possible story. It just took off from there.

How did you balance the action scenes with the story elements and still keep a fast pace in the story?

This book was a different style for me. It was more about the journey and the characters encountered on that journey. It was an odyssey in The Congo and beyond. I tend to write fast-paced stories, so it was easy for me to balance the elements.

Did you find anything in your research of this story that surprised you?

Yes. The pushboats and barges on the Congo River were intriguing as well as the use of child slave labor in the illegal diamond mines. I also wanted the book to create awareness of this sad/abusive situation.

Can you tell us more about what’s in store for Emerson Moore and the direction of the next book?

I’m developing a book that’s centered on the Lake Erie islands. It’s in the early stages. I will be releasing Not Alone At Home, a humourous Thanksgiving tale, this fall. It’s a sequel to the successful Alone At Home. I’m currently writing a romantic mystery set in Southport, NC. It will be released next spring.

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