To Slaughter a Camel follows a nurse practitioner whose loyalty is tested when she is suddenly pulled into the shadow world of US Intelligence. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I’ll try to give you the short version.

Erika, my protagonist, was featured in my first novel, Topeka ma’shuge, a dark coming of age story. She survived her journey to adulthood, the novel concludes open-ended, but by that time I think I was a little in love with her; she hung around in the back of my mind, always asking me, “What about the rest of my life?”

I’ve known many military personnel in my life, and a handful from the clandestine services. I was aware of the role of being a medical provider embedded with clandestine operators, and the risks they faced, lacking the necessary warrior training to deal with the casualties when a mission goes terribly wrong.

Erika is isolated and looking for a sense of family; her decision to join the CIA is impulsive after the death of her best friend, but she already has unwittingly qualified for the position. It was only natural at that point, as in may thrillers and mysteries, to plop her in a catastrophe she wasn’t prepared for.

What were some challenges you felt were important to defining your characters in this story?

Wellesley is a bit of a cliché, the paternal supervisor with best intentions for his staff. Or is he? He is a bit insular, with a past we suspect. Why is he single? Who is the young woman in the frame by his desk? He understands the real horrors that can occur in his trade, but he tries to protect his young recruit.  Was this the best decision? He isn’t sure and asks himself this as she walks away. Adding depth, ambivalence, vices and virtues to a character make them far more credible, but it does require work to do so.

Defining Erika was far easier, her character developing in the first novel. I knew her like a sister. Even when a crisis appeared that I’d only just created, I already knew how she would react. Until she was raped. As a former ER doc I understood a little bit of this, but some extensive research into the psychology of being a survivor of such an event was required. And her ability to kill, instinctively, prudently, slowly grows as the story progresses. Pacing that progress was a challenge. Pacing her evolution from a transparent medical provider devoted to the truth, to understanding how essential lies and deception are to survival in the clandestine theatre, was also a challenge.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

“There are people in the world who will kill you for a pack of cigarettes,”  Wellesley tells Erika; the warning intended for the reader as well. Don’t be paranoid, but be aware, be ready.

Perseverance in the face of adversity.

The value of patience, occasionally compassion, when one’s instincts tell you to act boldly.

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

A love story set in the first few months after 9-11. Jack Welsley, GS-13 at Langley, is 42, recently divorced, depressed, facing alcoholism, when he falls in love with the 23 year-old daughter of his best friend. She is a medic, has finished a year of Linguistics, and is slated to deploy in Afghanistan as a first Lieutenant. I hope to have a rough draft by the end of 2026, but the research is going to be exhausting, to review every day in the first year of that war, and get all of the technicalities and logistics believably correct.

Erika will reappear in the next work after that, another espionage thriller.

Author Links: GoodReads