My latest novel, Stuffed Souls, stretched my imagination in so many ways. I like to keep my books as plausible as possible but my imagination had taken me down a road of Voodoo and intubated bodies—subjects I knew very little about. The Voodoo side of this struggle my mom helped me solve. “Just make up your own rules. It doesn’t have to be real Voodoo as long as the book is consistent.” Her advice set my mind at ease since I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of an in-depth study of the religion. I found the few things I’d gleaned from scrolling through internet scary enough.

The second issue of medical terminology and intubated bodies fell to my sister, Allison. I leaned heavily on her nursing background to help me navigate plausible ways to keep bodies alive. Sometimes she gave me way more information than I could ever possibly need, but her willingness to bat ideas around with me helped me overcome many plot obstacles that cropped up.

This book is such an interesting take on the bully issues in society, but I couldn’t have written it without their help. My mom is gone now, having passed away, but Allie is still here. Thank you for coming along on this twisted suspense novel with me.