by Joshua Corin, author of While Galileo Preys, the first book in the Esme Stuart series

It was a moment of desire and hope.

I was in my cubicle, staring at my work phone. I knew the call from my agent would be coming. He seemed to think that MIRA was interested in publishing my new series but the offer had yet to be made. He assured me that if the offer was going to be made, it was going to be made that afternoon. These were my office hours so occasionally a student would come by to ask a question about an assignment or to argue a grade but most of that afternoon was spent staring at my work phone, begging and wishing and praying for it to ring, and for the news to be good.

And then the call came.

It was a moment of desire and hope.

My agent informed me that MIRA was indeed interested in publishing my new series and were in fact making an offer. I screamed. I danced. I uttered a litany of joyful obscenities. I was happy for myself, of course, but I was also happy for my protagonist, Esme Stuart, a woman struggling with that most wonderful and difficult of burdens—a sense of duty. She quit the FBI to become a wife and a mother, to live out the American dream in white-picket-fence Long Island, but when a madman crisscrosses the country on a murderous rampage, her sense of duty tugs at her. Can she join in the manhunt without destabilizing the idyllic life she has worked so hard to create? Can she balance work and family? And what happens when these two worlds collide, and the madman comes to Long Island seeking revenge?

It is a story I believe in and a topic that both women and men can relate to, and the fact that MIRA, on that afternoon, agreed to share Esme’s story with the world, left me giddy. And so, after I proceeded to call every person I ever met, I walked over to my department office to share my good news with my colleagues.

It was a moment of desire and hope.

One of my colleagues congratulated me on the accomplishment and, of course, asked me who was publishing my novels. When this colleague confessed to having not heard of MIRA, I explained to her that it was the division of Harlequin that specialized in thrillers. My colleague listened, nodded, and then replied, “Oh, Harlequin? I didn’t think your book was a romance novel.”

No, it’s not. It’s a thriller. Although Harlequin made a name for itself publishing romances, that genre most famous for its literary promises of desire and hope, for over fifteen years now it has been branching out, and successfully, I might add, into other areas. I am proud to be a Harlequin writer. MIRA publishes some of the best thrillers in the market today and I am honored that the first novel in Esme’s story, While Galileo Preys, is now among them. I hope that you get a chance to pick it up, and, if you do, I hope that you enjoy it.

One warning, though: although the context of the story is dark and the pace is nonstop, as befits a thriller, While Galileo Preys is ultimately a novel infused with, yes, desire and hope. If that’s not your cup of tea, you might want to contact my colleague. I’m sure she could recommend an alternative.

Editor’s note: To celebrate Joshua’s MIRA debut, we’re giving away a print copy of While Galileo Preys to a blog reader! We’ll pick a winner on Monday, September 6^th. To enter, please leave a comment on today’s post—have you ever come across a fellow reader who’s been surprised by your “reading choice”? The contest will run until 11:59 pm EST Sunday, September 5^th and is only open to US and Canadian residents (with our apologies to our overseas readers!) For full entry details, please click here.

by Leslie Wainger, Editor-at-Large, Harlequin Single Titles

OK, I’ll get the “conflict of interest” stuff out of the way first. I’m Maggie Shayne’s editor and have been for years (we were both seven when we started, just in case you’re now picturing some gray-haired grandmother holding a pencil in her trembling hand), so of course I love her Secrets of Shadow Falls trilogy.  As to why I love it and want you to read – and love – it, too…

Leslie Wainger’s Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Be Reading Maggie Shayne’s “Secrets of Shadow Falls”

#1) Characters, characters, characters. You’ll feel as if everyone you meet in this small Vermont town is a real person – and just like real people, they’re not always who and what they seem to be. Yes, there are heroes and heroines here worthy of the name, but there are also great secondary characters and genuinely scary villains – and you won’t always know who’s who. And that brings me to…

#2) What good is a romantic suspense trilogy without some real suspense? You’ll find that here in spades. Not only am I generally good at figuring things out when I read, I read synopses of these books early on in the process. Even so, enough time had passed and Maggie is so good at what she does that when I was reading the full manuscripts I kept getting blindsided by what was going on and where the threat was coming from.

#3) Romantic suspense also needs…well…romance. I’m like every reader out there: I want to believe this couple belong together and that neither one of them could possibly be happy with anyone else. I want to feel the sexual tension and yes, I admit it, enjoy a little vicarious sex, too. Luckily for me (and you *g*), Maggie knows how to deliver.

#4) I get really tired of reading trilogies and even longer miniseries that feel as if they were created on the fly, with the author having no real idea where she was going or how to get there. It makes me nuts when it’s obvious that the author decided late in the game how to tie all the stories together, because the connections are all after-the-fact revelations that were never in the early books, so I can’t look back and think, How did I miss that? No fear of that happening here. Maggie was in control of the big picture from page one.

#5) Do you hate the sagging middle as much as I do? No, I don’t mean my stomach after I’ve had a few too many donuts and desserts. I’m talking about that point toward the middle of the book where the story runs out of stream and pokes along with nothing much going on ‘til it gets closer to the end, when suddenly the author introduces a little action again. No sagging here, none at all. Maggie knows what twists and turns are, and just how to pace her books for maximum effect.

#6) This woman knows how to write. She makes every character’s voice unique and can set a scene so you feel as if you’re really there. She can create steamy or scary and make you feel just the way she wants you to feel. This may be the editor in me talking, but that’s a real talent – and one not every author shares.

#7) No shrinking violets need apply. It amazes me that even now, in 2010, an awful lot of heroines are still so, well, weak, for lack of a better word. I’m not saying every heroine needs to be Xena, Warrior Princess, but I don’t want any whiny nitwits, either. Maggie’s heroines are smart and strong and resourceful. They’re good matches for her heroes. They don’t just sit around oohing and ahhing and waiting to be saved. They step up and take care of themselves, their kids and the men in their lives. Of course, when it comes to those men, it’s time for…

#8) Heroes. Real heroes. They’re Alpha heroes because they’re strong and capable and not about to take crap from anybody. But they’re not one-note male chauvinist idiots. A Maggie Shayne hero values a strong woman, likes a relationship that’s a bit of a challenge, and knows how to feel real emotions, not just lust, lust and more lust. (Not that there isn’t some lust mixed in there, too – see #3 for a reminder. *g*)

#9) Maggie never forgets that she’s writing to make her readers happy, not just to amuse herself. In the years since her first romantic suspense trilogy for MIRA – Thicker Than Water, Colder Than Ice and Darker Than Midnight – requests for a continuation of the story have poured in. Everyone wanted to know what happened to Dawn Jones, daughter of charismatic but terrifying Mordecai Young. Maggie gave Dawn a few years to grow up, then wove her story into that complicated (but clearly drawn and never confusing) bigger picture I referenced in #4. In short, she’s given readers everything they’ve asked for and so much more. (And don’t worry if you haven’t read those early books. This new trilogy stands entirely on its own.)

#10) Remember what your mom used to say when she told you to do something you didn’t want to do? You asked why you had to do it, and she said, “Because I said so, that’s why.” And that’s my last reason why you need to read Secrets of Shadow Falls. I’ve been in this business a long time. I’ve worked with a lot of authors, including a lot of bestsellers whose names – and even though I’m not going to specify, you can trust me on this – you’d recognize. So when I say this trilogy is something special, you can trust me on that, too. The best of the best take all the individual aspects of a good book, put them together and come up with something that’s even more than the sum of its parts. And Maggie is very definitely ranked right up there with the best of the best. This trilogy is the proof.

Bonus #11) Maggie writes a kickass vampire novel, too, so keep an eye out for her upcoming “Wings in the Night” reissues: Twilight Hunger (October), Edge of Twilight (November) and Blue Twilight (December). And then, in 2011, don’t miss her incredible “Wings” continuation: Twilight Prophecy (May) and Twilight Fulfilled (October), which together form a duo we’re calling “Children of Twilight.” Even if you’re not usually a fan of vampire books, you’ll want to spread your wings *g* and try these.

by Mel Odom writing as Jordan Gray

My wife Sherry will tell you that my greatest weakness (and most irritating trait) is curiosity.  I have to know things.  I go up to perfect strangers involved in any kind of project and ask, “What’re you doing?”

Of course, I’m encouraged by my success rate in getting those questions answered.  Complete strangers, I have found, love becoming teachers and lecturers – as long as you don’t try to figure out what they’re doing and steal their thunder.

Naturally, one of my favorite reading pursuits is the mystery.  As a kid, I grew up reading the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, then moved on to Robert B. Parker’s Spenser novels and John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee tales.

My wife and I share a love of mysteries.  When we were younger and didn’t  know each other, we both loved McMillan & Wife.  Now we both enjoy a lot of BBC series, Castle, The Closer, and other mystery shows.  We always try to figure out whodunit first, and we congratulate ourselves on being clever.

A few years ago, we were in Minnesota at my mother-in-law’s for Christmas.  Sherry got totally involved in a PC game (games of all kinds are big in Minnesota and with my in-laws) and I couldn’t help being curious.  She’d been consumed for hours.

I studied the screen showing a picture of a mausoleum in the middle of a swamp.  “What’re you doing?”

“Tracking a murderer.  Help me find a skull.  I’ve found all but one of them.”

So I sat down and started helping her find hidden objects, and got totally hooked.  The game, of course, was Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst, one of Big Fish Games’s  most successful entries in casual gaming.

I certainly had no clue that I’d be invited one day to write mysteries based on the game.  I loved the game environment and all the history that was hinted at within it,  and I’d imagined what Blackpool must be like beyond Ravenhearst.  But I resigned myself to the fact that I’d never know.

Now I know that Michael and Molly Graham live in Blackpool, and they’re as enamored of mysteries as Sherry and I are.  I hope you’ll enjoy the four connected mysteries set in the Ravenhurst environment: Stolen (August 2010), Vanished (November 2010), Submerged (February 2011) and Unearthed (May 2011). Each one builds on a long-ago mystery that haunts the town, and while each contains its own mystery, it also reveals more of the intriguing and somewhat nefarious history of Blackpool!

The first three covers in the Blackpool Mystery series

While writing the books in the series, I imagined what it would be like if we got the chance to be amateur investigators. And in plotting them,  I sat down with Sherry and we imagined all the secrets Blackpool could hold.  I hope that you enjoy the mysteries as much as we did.  But I’m still curious about Glower Lighthouse.  Surely there’s a story…

by B.J. Daniels, author of A Forever Love, debuting today on eHarlequin and Twelve-Gauge Guardian

There are certain characters that just take on a life of their own. Pepper Winchester is one of them. The irascible matriarch of the Winchester Ranch family in my six-book series Whitehorse, Montana: Winchester Ranch, has had quite the life.

Which is why when eHarlequin asked me if I was interested in writing about her life prior to Winchester Ranch, I jumped at the chance.

Pepper’s story, A Forever Love, will be the August Daily Read on eHarlequin. The story is about Pepper’s first love when, as a sixteen-year-old girl, she met the man she would fall desperately in love with. That love would last a lifetime.

I’d always known that Pepper had grown up in a very different environment than that of a ranch in a remote part of Montana. But I hadn’t realized what her life was like until I hit the road with her and her father and the carnival they both worked and traveled with back in the 1950s.

Nor had I known that some of those people in her life would play a part much later in Pepper’s story.

Pepper is one of those characters that a writer doesn’t see coming – but falls in love with as the character continues to surprise her. So it was interesting to see how it all began before the first book in the Harlequin Intrigue series, Gun-Shy Bride (April 2010) introduced Pepper Winchester.

Her story, and that of her family, continued with Hitched! (May 2010) and Twelve-Gauge Guardian (June 2010).

The Winchester family’s stories continue with Boots and Bullets in October (on sale September 1 on eHarlequin.com), High Caliber Christmas in November, and Winchester Christmas Wedding in December as Whitehorse, Montana: Winchester Ranch Reloaded.

Thanks to fans of the Winchester series, the first three books have all made the USAToday bestseller list.

It is with great pleasure that I get to tell Pepper’s story in A Forever Love. I hope you enjoy it.

by Kelli Martin, Senior Editor, Kimani Romance/Harlequin

Okay, I’ll admit it: my arm didn’t need to be twisted when I helped create the covers for our Kimani Hotties books. Those men look delicious! The Kimani Marketing Manager and I had so much fun picking out the models. It was hot in this office space!

Covers can be a pretty hot-button topic. We start by getting descriptions of the characters, settings and key scenes from the author. Then the Marketing Manager and I collaborate on what look and tone we believe each book should convey to you, the readers. Next, Marketing communicates all that to our talented art designers. Sometimes we nail the cover on the first go-round. Love, love, love when that happens. And other times we work with the designer revising and tweaking round after round to get it just right. And Kimani readers and authors have told us that when it comes to our sexy Hotties, the covers are right on point.

Each month, we’ll have one Kimani Hottie, in which the hero is devastatingly appealing, ambitious and determined—and of course, gorgeous. This month, Gwyneth Bolton’s book Make It Last Forever is the Kimani Hottie.

Remember the Keith Sweat song “Make It Last Forever” from the 80s? Well, that’s where we got the title from. Gwen’s entertaining book has “destiny” and fated-love-that-stands-the-test-of-time as its main theme, so we thought a title with “Forever” in it would be perfect.

I remember Gwen revised the proposal a few times before we settled on the version you’ll read in the published book. Here’s the inside scoop: at first, the souls-meeting-before angle was very heavy and had a strong time travel/fantasy/past life scope to it. Gwen, hard-working talent that she is, revised the story so that it emphasized the soulmate/déjà vu parts in a more romance-y way. It’s such an emotional, provocative story. And you’ll see that Gwen hit all the right notes.

Her characters Karen and Darius tap into that idealistic wondering and longing that I think we all have deep down: the idea of soulmates. The idea that your soul calls out to your one true love’s soul, over time, throughout the centuries, regardless of space or even of our physical bodies.

Isn’t that the most romantic thing we’ve ever, ever heard.

Do you believe in soulmates? Why or why not? Taking it a step further, have you ever met someone or loved someone that you feel like you’ve known before, perhaps in another life or time?

by Sarah Pelz, Nonfiction Editor

I’m an animal lover, so when the agent pitched me The Dog Who Healed a Family, a collection of true animal stories, it sounded right up my alley. But I wasn’t expecting what happened when I dipped into it.  I couldn’t have been five minutes into the manuscript when the tears started flowing.  OK, full disclosure: flowing may be the wrong word. Streaming would be more like it. Gushing? I had to close my office door! A couple stories (and a box of tissues) later, I just knew we had to publish this book.

Jo Coudert has written animal stories for a range of publications, and this collection is the best of her best.  The strength of her storytelling comes in the sheer honesty of it. Her clear description and insights let the story itself—and the extraordinary humans and animals in them—shine through. The stories are at times uplifting, endearing, hilarious and, above all, touching. Among my personal favorites: in “The Puppy Express,” volunteers band together across 1,500 miles to bring a beloved family dog back home when her family falls on hard times. (I admit, I’m tearing up again now as I think about it.) “The Deer Who Asked for Help” portrays a rare—and quite moving—connection with the animal kingdom, when a wild deer reaches out to a woman to help save her doe. And “The Dog Who Healed a Family”… well, maybe I’ll just let you read that one for yourself to see!

For animal lovers, this collection confirms what we’ve always known: sometimes it takes an animal to show us the meaning of true love. I encourage you to pick this one up and give it a read, or give a copy to the animal lover in your life.  I hope it moves you in the way it moved me. (Just be sure you’re not wearing any mascara when you read it.) And please let us know what you think!

by Marie Ferrarella, author of Cavanaugh Reunion (Silhouette Romantic Suspense, September 2010), her 200th release!

There are times I still have trouble believing it, believing that I am in effect “living the dream.” Despite the fact that for a number of years I wanted to be an actress when I grew up, there was a part of me that always wanted to be a writer. It came into focus because back when I was a little girl, aside from Barbara Stanwyck, there were no strong women to be had, certainly not on television, my entertainment of choice.

So, if I wanted to be an actress on TV, I needed to write parts for myself. I wrote myself into a number of TV series, expanding the stories until, somewhere along the line, I shed the initial storyline renamed the characters and made the stories my own (as with Bonanza where I was the sister they never talked about because I was away in boarding school but came bouncing back into their lives, the center of each story from thereon in.)

Eventually, I stopped thinking about acting and started focusing on getting something published. That little odyssey (from its inception to the date of my very first sale) took a mere twenty-two years. My first rejection slip came, at the tender age of eleven, from Children’s Digest. They chose not to publish my Christmas story which must have read far too much like The Little Match Girl to them. There was a reason for that. I’d read that story and then “adapted” it to fit my style, leaving far too many similarities in it for it to be remotely mistaken as origin work. Who knew you couldn’t do that? I didn’t. But I learned.

The rush I got from hearing my agent tell me that the editor at Berkeley Jove liked my work and was making an offer on it was unbelievable. From then on, I was hooked. The really neat thing? Even now, as I am being given the details of my umpteenth contract—for book number 229—that same wonderful rush returns. Selling books is something I will never get used to, never take for granted. Number 229 means the same to me as number 1.

By the way, the Harlequin Blog will hold a tiny contest for me. The winner, chosen by random, will get a much-faded (but authentic) first copy of my very first Silhouette book: Tried and True, a Desire published under the first name I used when I first came to join the Silhouette family: Marie Nicole. Ten books later, I took off my Clark Kent glasses and revealed my secret identity and, coincidentally, my real name which was to be my new name. I’ve been Marie Ferrarella ever since. And very happy, I might add, because the dream continues, thanks to my editor, Patience Smith, and to you. I’d be lost without either one of you.

As ever, thank you for reading and continuing to make me very, very happy.

Editor’s Note: Marie’s right! We’re giving away one copy of Tried and True to a very lucky winner! To enter, leave a comment on this blog post. Submit your comments by 11:59pm EST Sunday, August 8th. Only open to residents of the U.S. and Canada. For full contest details, click here.

by Tara Taylor Quinn, author of The Chapman Files from Harlequin Superromance and MIRA Books

People always ask me where I get my ideas for stories.  The second-most asked question is “Where do you get your characters?’” Generally, the questions instill a measure of discomfort within me.  Because the truth is hard to explain.  Or maybe I just don’t have enough faith that the answer will be accepted.  Or believed.  And, after all, not many of us want people to think we’re weird.

My answer to both questions is usually some sort of vague “Oh, they’re just there.”

Not much of an answer, I know.  And yet, it’s the truth.  I don’t have a trunk in my attic filled with ideas or potential characters or even costumes for them to wear.  I don’t have a diary or a journal where I make lists.  I don’t go anywhere or look anyplace for the stories that fill my books or for the people who live between their covers.  They’re just there. Really.

I believe that story ideas and the people who embody them are given to me by a source that is greater than I am as an individual–given to me as a part of my storytelling abilities.  I don’t want to sound mystical here, but I feel I’m merely a conduit, a partner in a collective job. I never worry about acquiring ideas or characters; I just have to listen and put on paper the things I hear.  And describe what I see with my mind’s eye.

And yet, through the years and over the course of fifty books, I’ve heard again and again from people who know me that they recognize things in my books—things about me—ranging from minor details to major convictions. I guess this is true of many writers; it’s as though parts of the writer seep into every story she writes.  Writing is a public act, in that it’s a form of communication. It’s also—or can be—intensely private. And I have to admit this makes me somewhat uncomfortable, since I’m revealing more than I consciously intend.

Now there’s Kelly Chapman, who’s an example of exactly what I’m talking about.  She’s an expert witness/psychologist who appeared to me so strongly, she’s starting out with four consecutive books this fall.  We’re calling them The Chapman Files.  Each book is one of Kelly’s files. 

The First Wife is a Superromance coming to you in September.  In The First Wife, Kelly has to interview the wife of a man on trial for murder. The victim is…his wife. Turns out the man was a bigamist.

It’s followed by The Second Lie (MIRA Books, October 10), The Third Secret (Mira Books, November 10), and The Fourth Victim (MIRA Books, December 10). 

Anyway, Kelly’s an in-line skater.  When something’s bothering her, when she has a decision to make, when she has questions, she skates.  Skating takes her out of the everyday world, quiets the noise in her mind, so she can get in sync with the deepest parts of herself.  So she can hear the still, small voice that speaks her truths.  She finds clarity when she skates.

I skate, too.  I skate because I’m addicted to the feeling of strength I experience flying over cement with the wind cooling my face.  My skates become a part of me.  I’m comfortable with them. Feel invincible in them.  And it’s often when I’m skating that I begin to hear my stories clearly.  When I see the people who’ll inhabit them.  Whole scenes fall into place.  Life’s truths–a necessary part of storytelling if you’re going to bring your readers satisfying conclusions–become clear.

So, in the process of becoming herself, Kelly “borrowed” an element of my life.  But she made a mistake because she skated alone.  On the path I frequent.  It’s a converted railroad track out in the country, surrounded by cornfields and little else.  Women shouldn’t be out there by themselves, not in today’s world.  Kelly thought she was invincible on skates, too, I guess.  And something bad happened.

I’ve been avoiding that stretch of path ever since.  I’ve skated it in the past.  I’ll skate it again.  But it’s a struggle now.  I keep feeling a presence at my back.  I can’t relax.  But, like Kelly, I’m not giving up.  Or is it that, like me, she doesn’t give up?

Either way, Kelly’s hard at work. She’s taught me a lot about life.  About how to cope.  And how to find joy.  And, yes, how to face fear.

If you pick up any of The Chapman Files, Kelly and I would love to hear from you! Tell us what you think about the cases she gets involved in—and the advice she give. You can reach us at staff@tarataylorquinn.com.

by Wendy Warren, author of The Cowboy’s Convenient Bride and the FREE online read, Daniel’s Gift.

I have a friend who gets hives at the thought of living in a small town. Not I. Even though I’ve lived in cities most of my life, in my mind I live in an endless episode of The Andy Griffith Show. LOL!

For a very sweet while, I did live in a kind of latter-day Mayberry. A small town in Oregon still so innocent that the mayor’s giant squash was the lead story on the local news one night.

Twice a day in the summer, horses clopped down our block pulling a carriage, and in December the locals, dressed in elaborate Victorian costumes, handed out hot cider and chestnuts on the street corner.

I could look out the window of our “downtown” cottage and see a dozen deer strolling through the front yard. Heaven.

Marrying my true love dictated a return to larger towns and cities, a trade-off I happily accept, but I’ll never forget the gift of that town.

Home Sweet Honeyford is the series I’ve wanted to write for a long time.

I based it, of course, on that great little town, as it was when I lived there eighteen years ago—tons of character, a bit quirky, rich with caring. I’ve populated Honeyford with locals and transplants from the city, people who have lots of differences, but one thing in common: They’re looking for someone to witness their lives. To say, “You count, and, by the way, I love you.”

It doesn’t matter where we live, most of us want that. But getting there…whew. Not always easy, is it? Which is why I love writing about the journey. And why I’m glad that my next three romances are set in Honeyford, because in that kind of community, there’s always somewhere soft to land. Someone to whom you can turn when the path toward true love becomes too hard to walk alone.

Do you live in a sweet, supportive community? What I’m discovering is that we can create that comfort wherever we are. Today I’ve found my Mayberry in the middle of a busy city. I’d love to hear about where you live and how you create community in your life.

My husband, daughter and I recently visited the little town that left such a big impression on me. It’s different now. Upscale shops have moved in. New homes abound. The old building where we ate popcorn and watched live melodrama is long gone, replaced by a gorgeous retirement home. Hmm…maybe someday….

In the meantime, I love going to work in Honeyford when I sit down at the computer.  I hope you’ll like “living” there awhile, too, getting to know Claire and Fletcher, Rosemary and Dean, and Gabby and Cal as they find each other and a place to call home. And here’s a sneak peek of Daniel’s Gift, Elliana and Daniel’s story, available now on eHarlequin.com:

Elliana Goldman has always longed for a big family of her own. Though a man to love was always part of the dream, at the age of thirty five, with no prospects of romance looming, Elliana is ready to create life, not wait for it to happen. She’s not against using an anonymous donor, but she’d rather hand-pick her baby’s father. And something tells her former classmate—and one time crush–Daniel Bowman is the right man for the job.

Daniel has a reputation in Honeyford for being unwilling to commit to anything more than breakfast, but the truth is a little more complicated than that. He’s not a man who takes family lightly, so he’s floored when Elliana asks him to father a child, no strings attached. And he’s even more surprised when his growing attraction to her has him tempted to agree to make a baby—the old fashioned way!

Welcome to Home Sweet Honeyford!

by Rick Mofina, author of The Panic Zone, a brand new release in the Jack Gannon series

Some years ago, I found myself in Kingston, Jamaica sitting in the back of a pick-up truck next to a police sergeant.

He was wearing dark glasses, khaki pants and a T-shirt as he slid a clip of bullets into his 9 mm semi-automatic pistol. Beside him, another Jamaican cop in blue fatigues did the same with his M-16 rifle.

The sound of locking and loading echoed across the downtown police compound as some twenty members of the Jamaican Constabulary Force’s elite task force on violent crime prepared for drug raids in Kingston’s toughest slums. As an observer on the patrol, I was permitted to ride in the rear of a small truck, positioned as the sixth vehicle in a seven-car squad.

While waiting for the convoy to roll, the squad’s supervisor approached me to advise that the drug dealers usually shoot at the lead cars.

“If you hear gunfire, get down.”

It seems like a lifetime ago but the memory takes me back to the mid 1990s. I was on assignment for my newspaper to research the life of a disgraced ex-Jamaican cop who came to Canada and murdered a Canadian police officer during a routine traffic stop.

Here I was, dispatched to the Caribbean and one of the most beautiful countries on earth, to dig into a killer’s criminal past. My assignment took me into Jamaica’s netherworld where some of the things I saw haunt me to this day. Like so many experiences I had as a reporter, they became part of the fabric of my crime fiction.

During my time in Jamaica, I often did not know who the good cops were and who were corrupt. I did not know which officers were friends of my subject nor in whose hands I had placed myself.

I was on edge, even with the heavily-armed task force.

As we weaved through the ghettos with their pungent rubbish fires and throbbing reggae music, the menace I felt increased.

A hush fell over the convoy as we crawled into Grants Pen, one of the capital’s worst slums. The task force had killed 22 suspects across Jamaica in the previous 18 months and gunfights were common here.

We were being watched. The officers caressed their triggers as we inched by columns of smoke. Children laughed by a water pipe.

We stopped and detectives did some door-to-door work before other officers took down a marijuana garden while the owner shouted her protests and music hammered the air.

That’s when two stone-faced white men with dark glasses materialized from the lead cars, came over to me and asked me who I was.

I told them I was a reporter, asked who they were and for an interview.

“Put your notebook away,” one of them snapped. “We’re not here.”

No one would divulge to me who they were until later one Jamaican detective told me the two white men were from the CIA and they were working on something.

That incident stayed with me.

This was no movie. No TV show. This was real and it got me thinking about the ghost work that is actually carried out in some corners of the world.

Creatively, a seed had been planted.

Over the years, I would come back to the incident and several others I had experienced as a journalist, drawing on them for Jack Gannon, the hero of my newest series.

Readers met Gannon when the first book in the series, Vengeance Road, was released in 2009. The International Thriller Writers named Vengeance Road a finalist for a 2010 Thriller Award in the category of Best Paperback Original.

Gannon, who had a blue-collar upbringing in Buffalo, N.Y., was striving to escape his troubled newspaper, The Buffalo Sentinel, to work for the World Press Alliance, a global wire service based in Manhattan.

For the next book, The Panic Zone, he needed a new assignment.

I wanted him to go global.

I reached into my travels as a journalist and employed my imagination until a story emerged for the next book.

Picture this: A windswept reach of Wyoming and a young mother, Emma Lane, thrown clear of a devastating car crash that killed her husband. Dazed, she sees a figure pull her infant son from the flames. Or does she? Police believe it’s a case of trauma playing cruel tricks on her mind, until the night Emma, in her anguish, hears a voice through the phone, “Your baby is alive.”

A world away a bomb explodes in a Rio de Janeiro café, killing ten people including two journalists with the World Press Alliance. Jack Gannon’s first international assignment is to find out whether his colleagues were innocent victims or targets who got too close to a story.

The story leads Gannon around the world, including one exotic location where he encounters a shadowy U.S. intelligence agent who points him to the truth about the resurrection of long-buried secret scientific research; research that is now about to be used as a deadly weapon.

With millions of lives at stake, Gannon and others work frantically against time. And as Emma searches for her child and Gannon hunts for the truth, an unstoppable force hurls them all into The Panic Zone.