Drop follows a ruthless Fort Worth cop turned supernatural enforcer as he battles sorcerers, monsters, and shifting alliances in a hidden war that threatens to spill into the everyday world. What were some sources that informed this novel’s development?

My imagination. I also talked to several police officers to get information about police procedures. One of my degrees is a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice with a minor in police procedures. I live in Fort Worth, which gave me insight into the city, streets, and neighborhoods.

The combat scenes in Drop are described almost move by move; did your interest or experience in martial arts influence how you choreographed Jax’s fights?

I have always been a fan of martial arts and sword and sorcery. I have also taken Kung Fu lessons as a teenager.

Jax’s magical gauntlets allow him to summon different weapons depending on the situation. Where did that idea come from, and how do you decide which weapon he uses in a particular battle?

The idea of using different weapons kind of grew organically in the story. The original idea and his staple weapons are Dai Katana’s or Japanese short swords. A scene came about, and I remember watching the movie Ninja Assassin and loving the weapon scenes. The choice was made.

Drop features several competing factions and characters whose loyalties continually shift. How do you keep track of those alliances while plotting the larger supernatural conflict?

When I bring in a character, I have some idea of what their purpose is. So it is a matter of the character finding their way through the story to their conclusion. There are some characters I do not plan on dying, but it just happens that way. I also tried to play on their motives, like greed and power. At a certain point, a person reaches a plateau in their life and will either be happy there or want to move past their “master” kind of like Sith.

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