Where did Lucy come from?

I was privileged to be interviewed by the Mystery Tribune recently. They were interested in learning how I created the character of Lucy Guardino, my FBI protagonist from SNAKE SKIN and BLOOD STAINED.

Here’s an excerpt, click HERE to read the complete interview and learn how I researched my FBI characters.

What was your inspiration for the character of Lucy Guardino?

CJ: I was tired of reading thrillers featuring female FBI agents who were driven by angst, fleeing demons, fighting addiction, stalked by serial killers, or with dark, forbidden secrets, etc–all things that would never allow them to do their job effectively in the real world.

As a woman who has always worked in a male dominated field (Emergency Medicine), I wanted to create a main character I could relate to. Someone facing the same kind of struggles balancing work and family and who was “real.”

So, I thought, why not go as real as it gets? How about a Pittsburgh soccer mom, who has a loving and supportive family? No angst, no dark past, no addictions or demons…Just the very real need to do her job the best she can while also giving her family as much love and attention as possible.

Of course, I can’t go too easy on her, so I give her the worst possible job, tracking pedophiles and sex offenders. The fact that she happens to be good at it only makes her life more complicated because she fights a constant battle of protecting her family from her work.

She seems to have a reckless attraction to confronting her fears, right?

CJ: Wow, great question! I never thought of it that way, but yes, she is most definitely someone who always confronts her fears, refuses to let them just lie there sabotaging her life.

Part of that comes from me–my entire life has been about facing down fears, both physical ones like flying in helicopters to go get patients or facing off with drunk gang-bangers in the ER, but also emotional fears like finding the courage to make a leap of faith and leave medicine to write full time.

The rest comes from my deep-seated belief that heroes really are born everyday…and re-born with every obstacle and fear that we face. That’s what all of my Thrillers with Heart are about: finding the courage to change the world, one person at a time.

Of course, I haven’t been as successful as Lucy in conquering my fears. Every book still leaves me quivering in panic that I’ll disappoint my readers. Yet, I keep on writing them, even when they take me into deep, dark places like BLOOD STAINED did. That book was as painful for me to write as it was for Lucy to live through.