We are very excited to welcome Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldondo to the blog today. Both are bestselling authors and they’ve just collaborated on fast paced mystery FATAL INTRUSION. Let’s begin with telling our readers where you’re from, where you live?
JEFF: I grew up outside of Chicago and worked there for a few years after college before moving to New York City, where I was an attorney. I left practicing law 40 years ago and have been a full-time novelist and short story writer since then. I now live in the Mid-Atlantic (the region, not the ocean).
ISABELLA: I was born and raised inside the Beltway in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. After more than two decades in law enforcement, I hung up my gun and badge and moved to the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona, where writing is now my full-time job.
How long have you been writing?
JEFF: I began writing fiction when I was 12 and knew I wanted that to be my career, but I knew too that there were no prodigy writers (unlike painters and musicians), so I worked other jobs (editor and attorney) until I began to publish novels and short stories in my thirties.
ISABELLA: I wrote several short stories that were published before tackling a full-length novel. This turned out to be very helpful in finding the style that suited me best. My first short story was published in 2011 and my first novel was published in 2017.
What does your typical writing day look like?
JEFF: I need to keep my dogs in the style to which they’ve become accustomed, so I work a typical professional’s day: 8-10 hours, 5-6 days a week.
ISABELLA: A series of interruptions punctuated by a bit of writing.
Tell us about your latest release? Where the idea came from? Perhaps some fun moments, or not so fun moments?
JEFF: Fatal Intrusion, a fast-paced thriller, is the first book I’ve written with anyone else. I’m on record as saying, “I don’t play well with others.” But I was proved wrong when Isabella and I started our collaboration. I should point out that this a genuinely co-authored book; that is a 50-50 effort from beginning to end. It was not only thoroughly enjoyable to work with Isabella, but I found the collaborative process—of throwing around ideas, then rejecting, accepting and refining them—creatively exhilarating. The concept was originally Isabella’s, and I won’t share any more except to add that it’s delightfully twisted!
ISABELLA: Jeff and I spent a great deal of time cooking up the idea together. We both agreed that it was a lot of fun, because normally writers spend their time alone staring at a computer screen. This was the first collaborative effort on a full-length novel for both of us, and we found ourselves enjoying the experience greatly. It helps, of course, that we were friends before we started writing together!
Could you share one detail from your current release with readers that they might not find in the book?
JEFF: Our male protagonist, Jacoby “Jake” Heron, is an “Intrusionist,” lecturing his students and the world about the dangers of corporate and governmental overreach (personal too: domestic abuse, he teaches, is a form of intrusion). A fun fact that he includes in his course is that in Colonial days in America, the citizenry was often infuriated and dismayed by “hacking”—yes, just like now. And by whom? The town postmaster, who would read letters and gossip around town about the content!
ISABELLA: We decided to make the female federal agent, Carmen Sanchez, work for the Department of Homeland Security. It was something fresh and different but did require some research. For example, we learned that DHS is the largest federal law enforcement agency with around 80,000 employees. Under that umbrella, Homeland Security Investigations has over 10,000 employees throughout the United States and around the world.
Who has been the most difficult character for you to write? Why?
JEFF: I must say that I’m emotionally detached from my books and my characters. I feel my job is to be an airline pilot, who unemotionally looks at a thunderstorm and shrugs because she’s seen them hundreds of times before, and just navigates through or around it. I’m lucky in that I’m empathetic, so I can “become” my characters briefly and then jump back into my own shoes without problem. Being the bad guys and gals doesn’t bother me.
ISABELLA: Considering all my protagonists, the most difficult to write was Nina Guerrera. She is incredibly strong and resilient but came from such a traumatic past that it was at times tough to write. To update a famous quote from Red Smith, “You simply sit down at the computer, open your veins, and bleed.”
If you could be one of your characters for a day, which character would it be?
JEFF: Colter Shaw from that series of books (and staring the CBS drama Tracker), because he does all the fun stuff—motocross racing, rock climbing, shooting it out with bad guys and having a beer after work with one of the tough women characters I’ve created for him to interact with. That’s the opposite of me (except for the beer).
ISABELLA: I’d love to spend a day as Daniela “Dani” Vega, who was one of the first women to join the US Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment before becoming an FBI agent. If being in Special Forces wasn’t enough, she was also a military codebreaker. How cool is that?
If you could spend the day with your character, what would you do? What would that day look like?
JEFF: See my above comments about Colter Shaw. I’d travel around the country, get involved in adventures and then … remember that beer?
ISABELLA: If I could spend a day with any of my characters, it would be Phoenix Homicide Detective Veranda Cruz. Her family owns the best Mexican restaurant in the city, and they hold large family gatherings on the family property where they all have Casitas and eat the most delicious food! Readers tell me they fantasize about being at one of those fiestas and I feel the same way.
What’s your take on research and how do you do it?
JEFF: I was a journalist and an attorney and both of those professions are research heavy. In addition, I know that my readers like factoids, so I populate my books with them. But a caveat: I tell students in my writing courses when it comes to research remember two immutable rules: 1, Get the facts absolutely right (Google and Wikipedia are not enough). And 2, Use only so much detail as furthers the story and fleshes out the characters. Never let research digress or slow the story down. You book must be a high-speed roller coaster.
ISABELLA: I have a background in law enforcement, but that does not excuse me from research. Especially when it comes to forensics, policy, and procedure, things are always changing. It’s important to stay up to date with all the latest information. To do this, I rely on searches through sources, organizational manuals, and my brothers and sisters in blue to keep things accurate. It’s quite time-consuming, but well worth the effort.
Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write?
JEFF: Of course, I’m going to mention Isabella (we got together to collaborate after I read her wonderful The Cipher). As for others, there are scores, but I’m reluctant to mention some but not others, though I will say on my bookshelf in front of me are works of fiction ranging from Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Marquez to Walt Kelly’s collected comics, Pogo: I Have Met the Enemy and He is Us.
ISABELLA: I have always loved Jeff’s books and short stories, which have been an inspiration. Besides that, I read more mystery and thriller authors than I can count!
Do you have a secret talent readers would be surprised by?
JEFF: I was a singer songwriter and recently wrote an album of Country cross-over songs to accompany my novel XO. Check it out on YouTube (search “Deaver, XO and Your Shadow”). And, no, I don’t sing, you’ll be pleased to know!
ISABELLA: While on the department, I earned marksman, sharpshooter, and expert shooter pins to wear on my uniform.
Your favorite go to drink or food when the world goes crazy!
JEFF: Crown Royal Canadian whisky, bread and cheese. Also, when the world’s sane. Also, whatever state the world’s in.
ISABELLA: As an Arizona resident, I am contractually obligated to say: margaritas, chips, and salsa.
What is your writing kryptonite?
JEFF: A plot point that I know will stick in the craw of readers and make them think: Gimme a break; this isn’t credible. So I pace until I solve the problem. Yesterday I walked 4.5 miles in my house, in circles, until I got the solution.
ISABELLA: Distractions! I devoted an entire blog post to the feeling of getting into a flow state, only to be interrupted by mundane aspects of daily life. It can take me 20 minutes to get back into the groove—and remember what on earth I was about to type.
What is the one question you never get asked at interviews, but wish you did? Ask and answer it.
JEFF: Well, I have to be honest, after 40 years of doing this full time and a thousand interviews, I’ve probably been asked everything. Except—you guessed it—”What is the one question you never get asked in interviews, but wish you did?” The answer is, “Well, have to be honest, after 40 years….” You get the idea.
ISABELLA: Oddly enough, no one ever asks if I find writing to be fun. The answer is yes. Is it also sometimes frustrating? Yes. Can it be exhausting? Yes. Would I trade it for anything else? No. No I would not.
Thank you both so much. (Yes, I am a fan girl – did ya hear that squeal?) What a great interview. Readers here’s a quick look at FATAL INTRUSION which releases today!
As a wave of murders grips Southern California, an unlikely pair must untangle the mysterious patterns of an elusive killer. A propulsive new series by New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Isabella Maldonado.
Carmen Sanchez is a tough Homeland Security agent who plays by the rules. But when her sister is attacked, revealing a connection to a series of murders across Southern California, she realizes a conventional investigation will not be enough to stop the ruthless perpetrator.
With nowhere else to turn, Sanchez enlists the aid of Professor Jake Heron, a brilliant and quirky private security expert who, unlike Sanchez, believes rules are merely suggestions. The two have a troubled past, but he owes her a favor and she’s cashing in. They team up to catch the assailant, who, mystifyingly, has no discernible motive and fits no classic criminal profile. All they have to go on is a distinctive tattoo and a singular obsession that gives this chillingly efficient tactician his nickname: Spider.
Over the next seventy-two hours, Sanchez and Heron find themselves in the midst of a lethal chess match with the killer as they race to stop the carnage. As the victims mount, so do the risks. Because this spider’s web of intrigue is more sinister—and goes far deeper—than anyone could possibly anticipate.
