I was interviewed recently, and one of the questions was where I got my ideas for my “The Secret Lives of Jessie Monroe” spy novel series from. I hadn’t pondered it before, but realized they were all based on current events with a twist of “what could go wrong?”

At the time that I was writing the first book in the series, “Alias Juno Wolf,” Amazon had announced plans to create a network of delivery drones to customers’ doorsteps. I thought, “What could go wrong?” Our heroine Jessie Monroe, CIA agent, undercover as Juno Wolfe, discovers a plot that she and her programmer friend, Truman, must unravel before the countdown ends and the wayward drones cause mass destruction. I leveraged my background in software security writing the story.

“Who is Juno Wolfe?” was written in 2017 when our newly-elected President displayed a proclivity towards Putin and penchant for appointing family members and donors to high level positions. I thought, “What could go wrong?” It was from that basis I created the character of “President Randolph White,” who has appointed his incompetent nephew as the head of the CIA, and created a dystopian view of today’s America, of what could go wrong. Like Dagny Taggert in “Atlas Shrugged,” Jessie fights against incompetence and goes to a hidden computer site in Monument Valley, Arizona. There she finds an even more devious Russian plot is underway. Growing up in Utah, Monument Valley and the Navajo have always held some allure for me and I incorporated some Navajo mystic.

“Finding Jessie Monroe” was born during the Black Lives Matter unrest in the summer of 2020. I thought, “What would happen if an outside influence leveraged the unrest to create more division in America, even start a civil war?” On that backdrop, our heroine goes under cover again. Time is running out for Jada as she pulls at the threads of a conspiracy that points to a shadowy Russian-backed plot, sucking in the Black Lives Matter leaders, and creating the ingredients for civil war. Jessie Monroe is back under cover once again, this time as Jada Foxx, a newspaper reporter whose prying questions pass for mere reporting. Can Jessie find redemption, recover the parts of herself lost to time and tragedy, and save America too?

At the time that I was writing the first book in the series, “Alias Juno Wolf,” Amazon had announced plans to create a network of delivery drones to customer’s doorstep. I thought, “What could go wrong?” Our heroine Jessie Monroe, CIA agent undercover as Juno Wolfe, discovers a plot that she and her programmer friend, Truman, must unravel before the countdown ends and the wayward drones cause mass destruction. I leveraged my background in software security writing the story.

“Who is Juno Wolfe?”, was written in 2017 when our newly-elected President displayed a proclivity towards Putin and penchant for appointing family members and donors to high level positions. I thought, “What could go wrong?” It was from that basis I created the character of “President Randolph White,” who has appointed his incompetent nephew as the head of the CIA, and create a dystopian view of today’s America, of what could go wrong. Like Dagny Taggert in “Atlas Shrugged,” Jessie fights against incompetence and goes to a hidden computer site in Monument Valley, Arizona. There she finds an even more devious Russian plot is underway. That allowed me to incorporate some Navajo mystic. Growing up in Utah, Monument Valley and the Navajos have always held some allure for me.

“Finding Jessie Monroe” was born during the Black Lives Matter unrest in the summer of 2020. I thought, “Would an happen if an outside influence leveraged the unrest to create even more division in America, even start a civil war?” On that backdrop, our heroine goes under cover again. “Time is running out for Jada as she pulls at the threads of a conspiracy that points to a shadowy Russian-backed plot, sucking in the Black Lives Matter leaders, and creating the ingredients for civil war. Jessie Monroe is back under cover once again, this time as Jada Foxx, a newspaper reporter whose prying questions pass for mere reporting. Can Jessie find redemption, recover the parts of herself lost to time and tragedy, and save America too?”