Hermosa is a darkly tender thrill ride through L.A., where a real estate developer and a neuroscience resident are thrown together by a violent crime and discover danger, connection, and unexpected redemption. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Some years ago, I was driving through the San Fernando Valley in the exact place where the book starts and the story came to me. I had never written before and didn’t know that I was going to start one day. The story was just THERE. It took me a while to figure out how to communicate it.

The villains in Hermosa are unsettling. How did you approach writing such morally twisted characters without glamorizing them?

I’ve met some terrible people in my life. Almost all people are good people, trying to get through their own lives, dealing with their own issues. But there are some that do not have empathy for others. They were born without it and don’t fully understand it. What kind of terrible could they be?

The humor in the dialogue feels so natural. Did any of that come from personal experience or real-life conversations?

My sense of humor is the only part of me in the book. I try to keep conversations fun and hope to bring that out in others, which I’m hoping comes through in my work.

What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?

There is a follow-up to Hermosa currently in the works, expected to arrive in January.

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