Matson’s Case No.2 follows a detective leading the investigation of five complex murder cases who discovers a government coverup operation in the process. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story? 

Reading about Operation Paper Clip and how the United States government brought many German scientists, Nazi intelligence officers, and members of death camp personnel here. This open door policy also was extended to members of Unit 731, the Imperial Japanese Army’s biological weapons unit. I used my character, Robert Matson, to peel back the layers of this onion. In the process, Matson reveals how the Agriculture Lab off the coast of Lyme, Connecticut, became the epicenter for Lyme’s disease and other infectious diseases that have been diagnosed in this area. Members of the U. S. Senate were informed about the tick colony at this facility and how the insects had escaped, but they took no action. Lab leaks do not happen only in China. 

With so many emotionally impactful scenes in your book, what was your hardest scene to write and why? 

The death of Bumpy Johnson was hard to write, because I wanted to open with an event that was significant for Matson because Bumpy, although a criminal, had been helpful in starting Matson’s career on the police force. I wanted to make sure that the scene was very accurate in terms of location, who was there, and what Matson’s emotions as he saw his friend die in front of him. It also reminded me of witnessing my first death and how I felt seeing a patient alive only a few hours earlier and then at autopsy.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers? 

Write about things that move you. Don’t think about financial gain, because if that is your primary focus, you will never write anything worthwhile. Tap your emotions. Write sincerely about your at experiences: the loss of a loved one, the birth of a child, the anger at being betrayed, the fear when facing danger. Be a good observer of life. Describe people, places, and objects. Put the reader in those places. Think about what would make you turn the page.

What types of questions do you ask yourself when planning a new book? 

What is your interest in the particular story you want to tell? Who are your characters? Who are they before they show up in your story? Each character has a life. He or she breathes, eats, loves, and hates. How do you write these things so that your reader will find your story worthwhile to read? While I do not outline a story in advance of writing it, many writers prefer to do that. Whatever works best for you. I also have no idea how many pages I will need to write to tell my story. I let my characters dictate what happened, where they’re going, and what happens next and in the long run. Do not keep writing after you finish telling your story just to add more pages. It’s not the length of a book that counts; it’s the quality of the writing on whatever pages it takes to tell the story.

What are you in the middle of writing now? 

I am writing a series about a family during the Spanish Reconquista from about 1230 to 1492. This three-part historical novel deals with the politics, intrigue, war, family life, and heartaches of noblemen and women trying to survive.

Author Links: GoodReads