As I considered a writing future without Thorn, I got excited about the idea of creating a new series hero/heroine from the ground up. I’d never intended Thorn to be a long term character, so this was a new test. What would my ideal series character look like? Creating an individual who might have an on-going quest and one who is equipped with the resources to handle that quest was a good deal more challenging than I first imagined.

Also, after so many novels set in Florida, I wanted a character who would allow me to flex new descriptive muscles. I wanted someone who was at home in many places around the world. She should be able to speak other languages, have friends or acquaintances in wide range of international locations. She should have sidekicks who were both colorful and added to her capabilities to investigate subjects and help her tap into a vast array of resources. I didn’t want her to be a trained spy or a cop. I wanted her to be a civilian who was thrust into this quest but was sufficiently equipped, physically and emotionally, to deal with bad guys of many types. I wanted her to have a profession that was creative, but also served as an entre into lots of different milieus.

When I was developing plot and subject matter ideas for When They Come For You I was looking for a storyline that might keep my protagonist busy for multiple novels, and something with a new subject for each new book. In some of the Thorn novels I’d dug up information on a particular global food corporation and I decided to return to that corporation to fuel the action in the new novel. The first book focuses on cacao bean production and the chocolate industry while the second book probes the business of olive oil. My protagonist, Harper McDaniel, has a passionate reason to declare war against this food corporation, and the twists and turns of the plot grow out of actual criminal behavior that various food/agri businesses engage in.

I took longer than usual to write this novel, but the more time I spent with Harper McDaniel and her sidekicks, the more I became convinced that she was indeed a worthy successor to Thorn.