What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write this book?
I was listening to a congressional hearing, and I still don’t know why I had even tuned in. I guess I heard the word “deepfake” and stopped to see what the conversation was all about. Turns out, Congress was begging for new laws around deepfake videos and AI. Witness after witness kept laying out worst-case scenarios, which just kept giving me more and more novel ideas, and they warned of what could happen if these tech tools go unchecked without real guardrails.
One witness called the technology dangerous, and another called it the wild, wild West. When I heard them say it was “dangerous,” my ears perked up. I went to get some popcorn and plopped back down on the couch to hear more. Then, after listening for a while, I grabbed my laptop and refused to step away until I had a short theme and a logline for a potential novel I could fictionalize and write someday soon. That novel became Race of Deception.
What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?
I love reading books where the world has fallen. I don’t want to write those books, but I can’t get enough of them. Books like Dread Nation by Justina Ireland, Run by Blake Crouch, Birdbox by Josh Malerman and Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler.
What books are on your TBR pile right now?
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due and Malorie by Josh Malerman.
What scene in your book was your favorite to write?
The end scene where Mya and her father Robert have a heart to heart in the mist of complete chaos going on around them. And what Robert said he learned throughout all the mess that was caused and how it changed him going forward.
Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)
No, but I thought about trying to burn some type of aroma therapy candle while I write. I just never got around to it. Still might try though.
Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?
“If you think you can or can’t, either way you’re right.”
– Henry Ford
If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?
On how he’s able to take serious and heavy topics such as racism, child abuse, mental health, and others, treat them all with care, and still create an intriguing suspense thriller out of those heavier topics.