Choice of Evils centers around a former district attorney now working to defend a millionaire accused of killing his best friend on a rock-climbing excursion. Where did the idea for this novel come from?

Colorado really does have a “Choice of Evils” statute in its criminal code. It’s the actual name of the statutory defense. The phrase is in the jury instruction, too. It provided the inspiration for my legal thriller.

The “choice of evils” defense applies when the tragedy the defendant prevented by his act would have been worse than the crime he committed. A textbook example is a runaway train heading for a trestle. Five people, unable to escape, are on the trestle. They are going to die. The defendant flips a switch and causes the train to take a different trestle, where only one person is killed. One died, rather than five. It was a choice of evils, and if the facts are proven, it is a defense to the homicide of the one person.

Most states give the defense the boring name “justification. You’ve gotta admire the creativity of the Colorado legislature.

In most jurisdictions, it cannot apply to murder; in Colorado, it can.

The title of the statute gave me the idea for the book. The title came first, then I needed a plot! But how can “choice of evils” apply to murder? What could be worse than murder? I sought out examples in the Model Penal Code. Sure enough, one provided my overall story. Two men are rock climbing. The survivor claims they slipped, and he had to cut the rope to save himself; otherwise, two would have died, rather than one.

Throw in a couple of complications: (1) the man who fell to his death was having an affair with the wife of the man who cut the rope, and (2) they were business partners with a key man life insurance policy that paid two million dollars to the survivor should one die.

The prosecutor filed the charge. Wyatt Blake, former prosecutor, now criminal defense lawyer, defends it as his first murder case from the dark side, pitted against the current district attorney, who had beaten Wyatt in the election.

So, with Choice of Evils, the title came first.

Where do you find the inspiration for your characters’ traits and dialogue?

I was a prosecutor for over 30 years, so Wyatt Blake has a lot of me in him. His voice is pretty easy for me to use, as is the humor. When writing dialogue, I often cut and shorten it during the editing process.

Ryker Brando, the autistic criminal defendant, was fun to create. I have a cousin who is autistic. Several of his mannerisms were fodder for this character. I pored over books on the topic of how autism can apply to criminal defendants and used that material.

I read a couple of books about how a person can make money by setting up an Only Fans account when creating my fictional Intimate Fans account used by Chloe Brando. I, ahem, subscribed to one Only Fans account as part of the research. It was educational and informative! Alas, I no longer need it so I unsubscribed.

The courtroom scenes are informed by the 178 jury trials (111 homicide cases) I have tried in real life as a prosecutor and criminal defense lawyer.

What is the most challenging part of writing a thriller?

The most challenging parts of writing a thriller are the same things a novelist faces when writing any book: you need to put suspense on every page, to keep the reader interested and turning pages. Furthermore, you need to make the reader care about your main character, so he or she is invested in the outcome. Care must be taken not to make your protagonist too perfect, or your villain too purely evil.

Can we get a glimpse inside the next book in this trilogy? Where will it take readers?

Make My Day picks up the week after Choice of Evils ends. Wyatt Blake gets his second murder case, this time featuring another Colorado defense–the “make my day law.” Under this statute, you can shoot a person who breaks into your home without waiting for them to attack you. Wyatt’s client is a former state senator, who has shot a man he claims he mistook for a burglar. The man happened to be a movie star who date-raped his daughter. Meanwhile, Wyatt’s love life has become complicated. Harper Easton’s former fiance is back in the picture, and another potential love interest is throwing herself at Wyatt. As always, ethical issues abound!

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