On the Bayou follows a disgraced DEA agent who joins a SWAT mission in the Louisiana bayou that ends in a disaster, and with her team in hostile territory with the cartel after them. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I had just finished my first book that was very male-centric story. And I wanted my second novel to have a very strong female protagonist. I wanted to follow a woman through the story and have her be the eyes for the audience. I wanted them on her side.

ON THE BAYOU was initially a screenplay. It was my nod to Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians. And I had a cast of characters that were all around my lead. And I wondered how they would interact with each other.

As a script, ON THE BAYOU didn’t get anywhere. My agent and manager dismissed it, and it went back into the writer’s trunk. But as I looked at those pages as kind of a skeleton treatment, I discovered there was a lot more depth to this story than I thought. I enjoyed watching the screenplay expand into this book. And I loved going on this adventure with Jennifer.

I love creating interesting characters. And I’m a firm believer that if you can create realistic and believable characters, then your audience will follow you wherever you want to go. In this case, it was southern Louisiana.

I was a kid growing up in Germany. But I was totally drawn to Walter Hill movies from the 1970’s and 1980’s. Specifically Hard Times, Southern Comfort and Johnny Handsome. I can hear Ry Cooder’s slide guitar in my mind anytime I imagine those stories. And they all took place in southern Louisiana. It was light years away from my existence in Heidelberg.

Years later, I was working for IBM in Austin, Texas. And my girlfriend and I were invited to a wedding in New Orleans. We decided to drive. As I took the I-10 highway across the state, it was like entering a world that could only exist there. From the food to the music, to the accents. It all felt so far away from anything I had ever experienced.

I remember trying to convince my girlfriend that we should take our time and explore, but she shot that down. So, the next time I was able to take that trip, I went on my own. And got off the highway and took my time driving though these little towns. I wasn’t a big fan of New Orleans. But everywhere else, from Lafayette (the gateway to Cajun country) to Houma to Morgan City. I immersed myself in the location and came away with the basic idea for a story.

As a writer, I’m fascinated with places that are very unique and only exist in a particular part of the world. Southern Louisiana is one of those places.

Jennifer begins the story carrying a great deal of anger, grief, and uncertainty. How did you approach her character development?

I wanted to be honest to her character. Her whole world collapses at the start of the novel and she’s adrift and on her own. Emotionally she’s shredded. I wanted the reader to feel all those emotions along with her. So, it was a difficult road to travel, but Jenn is a good companion. I miss her. 

Even with a mountain of obstacles, she’s strong and resilient. She’s her own person and never at the mercy of anyone else through the story. 

As we’re introduced to other characters, we’re seeing them through her eyes. A woman who’s lost so much, her shields are up all around her. 

Trust and who can be trusted (especially as the stakes increase) is a big theme throughout the story. 

Corruption and survival are recurring themes throughout the story. Why were those ideas important to explore?

I love characters and creating realistic people to populate my work. And I see people as shades of gray. Good/bad or white hat/black hat. Nobody is one or the other. It doesn’t exist. This book involved a large cast all across the spectrum, and I wanted to look at each individual as honestly as I could and see the world through their eyes. Sometimes that was harder to do than I imagined.  

There was also an intense mystery element to this book, and I think trust is the overriding theme. Who do you trust? Who is on your side. What’s motivating the protagonists and the antagonists? The sands were always shifting under Jennifer Nash, and I liked discovering how she dealt with that. I felt allegiances were always shifting in this book.

I honestly wasn’t sure who would make it out alive. There’s a Jerry Reed song, Amos Moses, that always haunted me as a kid. The melody is so bouncy and upbeat. But the lyrics are dark and paint a nightmare. Funny enough that song is a big part of this story. And the idea that you could disappear in the swamps and never come out again. I used this book to exorcize that thought from my mind.

And compound that with, who can you trust and betrayal and loyalty to friends and family and your badge and job. This book is built on a lot of layers.  

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

I’m wrapping up an audio series called PARASITE ZERO. Part One is available on Audible now and the rest of the story will come out later this year.

I make ‘movies for your mind’ with my production company, Audible Parade. I work with a full cast of voice actors in a recording studio and add music and sound FX and background to create a full audio immersive experience.

I have another manuscript, a thriller that takes place in Las Vegas, that I’ll send to my editors at the beginning of 2027. I hope it’s picked up by my publisher.

And I have this science fiction / Frankenstein story that I’ll work on for our next audio production. I’m excited to bring that one to life.    

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