It’s finally here! Living Victim, the first Cage Foster/Delta Detectives Novella, is available NOW! Click on the picture to go to the book’s buy page. Now, onto the post!

So if you haven’t guessed by my various social media feeds, I have an interest in all things law enforcement. It takes a special kind of person to be a police officer, and while there are always going to be people who take advantage of the situation, there are FAR MORE good guys who put their lives on the line day in and day out. I can’t imagine being brave enough to walk away from my family knowing I might not come back (and this goes for firefighters, the military, etc).

Until last fall, most of my knowledge of law enforcement came from true crime and a lot of online research. One of the main reasons I’d chosen NOT to take the character of Cage Foster any further was because I believed I just didn’t know enough or have enough connections to make his police work authentic. That all changed in September when I attended the Writer’s Police Academy. I met real cops, firemen, deputies, secret service agents, undercover cops – the list goes on. I learned more than I ever dreamed about procedure, but also about their mindset and character, which is much more interesting to me. I also learned a lot about being a medical examiner, which is going to come in handy very soon, but more on that later.

I was lucky enough to go on a ride-along with a Sheriff’s Deputy, and that night was a game changer for me. I learned that southern hospitality is very real, and I got to witness firsthand how police deal with death. Our main call was a suicide, and the boy was found by his parents. When we arrived (lights blaring), my deputy and his sergeant rushed into the house, only to return a few minutes later. Their hunched shoulders and holstered guns made it clear the self-inflicted gunshot wound did its job.

I spent several hours watching officers work the scene, but the part that sticks out in my mind is the deputy who brought out the deceased boy’s pet cats. They were in separate carriers, and he put them all in a circle facing each other so they wouldn’t be as upset. And then he offered me half his snack and a water. Watching the process was sobering, and I stayed in the cruiser out of respect for the family, but I learned so much by just observing. Speaking with the deputy afterwards gave me precious insight on how these officers deal with things the rest of us can only imagine. And every bit of that was fodder for my character.

Suddenly I realized I could do this if I wanted to. I’m not interested in writing a nitty gritty police procedural, but I wanted to bring Cage back to life. I wanted to show his struggles as a Criminal Investigator while juggling family and personal life. I wanted to explore him constantly walking the thin blue line, because those are the things about law enforcement that really interest me.

So Cage is back, and I have to say, I am so damned happy about it. I worried that after writing so much darkness with Lucy Kendall I’d struggle to find Cage’s voice, but he was there instantly, with so many stories to tell I realized I had a series on my hands. The Delta Detective Novellas show Cage as cop and a human being, struggling to do the right thing when his professional and personal lives entwine. They also introduce some new characters, and you’ll be seeing a lot more of those characters in the fall!

First up is Living Victim, followed by Dead Wrong. Three more novellas will be released in February and March, and if you sign up for my newsletter, you’ll get an exclusive serial novella featuring Summer Jordan. Inspired by the medical examiner I met at WPA and my experiences with the Deputy State ME of Mississippi, Summer is an exciting new character who will be getting her own series in the fall. Signing up for the newsletter means you get to read her novella for FREE.

In the meantime, check out this EXCLUSIVE TEASER of Cage in Living Victim:

Cage threaded his way through thick underbrush, careful to avoid the thorn bushes. A throng of willow trees bordered the property. He smiled, thinking of the giant willow in his parents’ yard. He and his sister Lana used to play house beneath it, using the thin, whip-like branches as doors and walls. But these willows were so overgrown they looked like a mutated wall of green, branches of one tree entwined with the overgrown branches of the next. They provided a macabre sort of border, as if protecting Mark’s hoarding from the county outliers.

Red flashed between the tangled masses of green. A tent, Cage realized. Set up in the middle of the wild forest. His hand drifted to his gun. The daughter said a barbed wire fence bordered the property. Unless the foliage had taken it over as well, Cage saw no sign of it. The tent was on the property.

He edged closer. The adrenaline started in his fingertips, a tingling that shot up his arms and into his chest. The air thickened, the breeze slowed, as if the trees themselves knew Cage was trying to keep quiet. He touched his shoulder mic.

“McKay, request backup. Found a tent in the woods just northeast of the house.”

He approached slowly, the dry grass crunching beneath his feet. A bramble tugged at his uniform. He jerked his arm away just in time to keep from snagging his skin and leaving unnecessary blood evidence. The tent was fairly small, maybe eight by eight. More five-gallon buckets like the one in the house were placed haphazardly around the campsite. The shifting wind brought the smell of feces and urine mixed with a much headier scent Cage couldn’t place.

A small fire pit was dug into the ground, with a rudimentary grill and a few iron skillets off to the side. Next to the tent sat a black, plastic toolbox with wheels. While the outside of the tent was marred with dirt and streaked with a dark, dried liquid, the toolbox was pristine, as if it had been recently wiped down.

Ice dripped down Cage’s spine as fresh sweat broke out across his forehead, dampening the roots of his recently trimmed hair. He wiped his sweaty palms against his pant leg.

Withdrawing his gun, he edged closer to the site. “This is Investigator Cage Foster with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office. Like to have a word with you.”

Living Victim (Delta Detectives #1)

Let me just get this out of the way: I’m a J.T. fan girl. I LOVE Taylor Jackson and Sam Owens, and I’m very excited about the new series with Catherine Coulter. J.T. was kind enough to answer some questions about her newest novel, The Lost Key, as well as dish out some writing advice and her research secrets.

I hope you enjoy her interview, and please take a moment to chat with her in the comments!

Take it away, J.T.!

You and Catherine Coulter have a brand new Nicholas Drummond book out, The Lost Key. Nick’s an interesting character, having migrated from Scotland Yard to the FBI. Tell me about creating him. How much research went into that? I know you’ve worked with the FBI before, but what about Scotland Yard? How did you research that?

Oddly enough, I have a New Scotland Yard detective in my Taylor Jackson series. His name is Memphis Highsmythe, the Viscount Dulsie, and he gets involved in a international serial killer case with Taylor and Baldwin. He’s in both THE COLD ROOM and WHERE ALL THE DEAD LIE. So when Catherine told me she wanted to have a New Scotland Yard Brit join the FBI, I was thrilled, because I already had a basis for the character, and had done a lot of research already. Of course there was more – the two men are very different, from backgrounds to lifestyle, but I had a cheat sheet, if you will.

Both books in the Nicholas Drummond Series (The Final Cut and The Lost Key) have historical elements in them. Do you and Catherine share a love of history? What made you decide to tie Nick’s cases into a historical element?

It wasn’t something we set out to do, nor will every book have a historical component. But for the first two, that’s the way the story shaped up. Stealing the Koh-i-Noor diamond meant there had to be a history of the story, why it was so valuable, and of course, the curse. For THE LOST KEY, saving The Highest Order’s secrets were paramount, and we drifted right into Madame Curie and World War I. Catherine has a master’s degree in 19^th Century European History, so this is all second nature to her. But I’m new to writing historical stories, so it was a big challenge, with tons of research.

You’ve also co-written books with thriller authors Erica Spindler and Alex Kava. Every writer has her own routine. How do you managed to coexist, and how do you decide who does what when you co-write? Tell us about your process!

With Erica and Alex it’s a bit easier because we write connected novellas – we have a theme, and then go off on our own to create them. With Catherine, it has to be in her voice and style, so that’s more labor intensive. But brilliant minds, you know? You get a few good brains together and they combust with ideas.

As part of your research, you’ve worked with the Nashville Police Department as well as the FBI. How does a writer establish those connections? Is this something that happened after you reached a certain status in the writing community, or were you fortunate to have connections, or was it just persistence and timing?

I’m a firm believer in asking for help when I need it. Way back when, I simply called Metro and told them what I was about, and asked for help. They were incredible. The FBI took longer, I had to be vetted, as did setting up the autopsies. But when I started I had no connections at all. I’ve never been in law enforcement. I started from scratch and built a cadre of exceptional resources who I can turn to for information. They want you to get it right. I’ve never had anyone say no to helping, and that makes the books so much stronger.

We writers are an emotional bunch, and no matter how successful we are, we still experience those days of feeling subpar and questioning our talent and/or latest project. How do you get through those days?

I’m having one today, truth be told. I’ve just returned from a trip, and it takes me a day or two to get straight. So while I’m dinking around with the manuscript a bit, I decided to focus on catching up on my non-fiction. It can be frustrating when your every cell screams at you to get writing, and you just can’t make anything magical happen. I’ve learned to recognize those moments, hours, even days, and just turn to my ever-present to do list for the next thing that can be struck off. At least I’m accomplishing something. And I’ve learned two things – when you’re really stuck, edit, or write a blog about it. That usually shakes things free.

Now that The Lost Key is out, what’s next for you? Can we expect a new Taylor Jackson novel in 2015?

There will be a new Samantha Owens novel out May 26, 2015, called WHAT LIES BEHIND, which deals with an Ebola-esque terror attack on the U.S. Timely, right? Nothing like writing a book that turns into headlines. And there may be some news on the Taylor front here soon. Stay tuned to the blog (http://jtellison.com/tao-of-jt) I know, I’m a tease….

And finally, I’m a psychological thriller junkie, so I’m dying to know your top five psychological thriller novels. Who are your must reads?

That’s actually hard to pinpoint. There are specific books I particularly like in the genre: John Connolly’s EVERY DEAD THING, Erica Spindler’s COPYCAT, REBECCA, by Daphne du Maurier, KISS THE GIRLS by James Patterson, Patricia Cornwell’s early work, anything by Lisa Gardner and this great new book coming out soon called BLACKBIRD, by Averil Dean. But I read all over the place, and haven’t been hitting the psych thrillers much lately. They scare me!

JT, thanks so much for stopping by! Congrats on the success of the Nicholas Drummond series. Readers, make sure you hope over to JT’s website to find out where you can grab your copy!

Thanks for having me, Stacy! I really appreciate your time.