Who else is a huge fan of suspenseful fiction? Well, it honestly doesn’t get more gripping than Lisa Harris‘ latest release The Traitor’s Pawn. There’s the trading of government secrets, kidnapping and of course, a little bit of romance!

Author Lisa Harris sat down to answer a few questions about the inspiration behind The Traitor’s Pawn as well as what she is working on next. Read on for more!

Want to order your copy of The Traitor’s Pawn? Click here! 

Q: What inspired the idea for your new book, The Traitor’s Pawn?

A: It actually started with a simply hunting scene gone very wrong that I couldn’t get out of my mind, where a woman survives and is a witness of an assassination of a senator. Eventually, I decided that I wanted to make the story more personal to the heroine, so things quickly evolved from there to a story where she is the one in the crosshairs and is being used as a pawn in a much bigger game.

Q: Two of the main characters in The Traitor’s Pawn, Jack and Aubrey, have history together. Without giving away spoilers, can you tell us a little more about their relationship?

A: Because my books usually take place over a very short time span, I love it when my hero and heroine have a complicated history. Something that kept them apart in the past but then, in the end, brings them together. Jack and Aubrey do have a long history, and this unexpected encounter between the two of them in the beginning of the story ends up reminding them both that the feelings they once had toward each other never completely went away.

Q: Did anything surprise you as you were writing the novel?

A: One of the fun things about writing is when I’m headed a certain direction and then a twist in my “author plan” takes me off guard. I always have an end goal for my stories, but there are definitely times where getting there surprises me. In this story, I was surprised when a couple of the good guys turned out to be not so innocent.

Q: Did you face any challenges in creating this story? What was the hardest scene to write?

A: Action scenes are always a challenge for me. For example, in the beginning of the story when Bree is trying to escape her kidnapper, I had to write a fight scene between two experienced fighters, I typically watch YouTube videos for ideas, then I will always block out the scene before writing it down.

Q: Do you see parts of yourself in any of your characters?

A: While I never plan to put any of myself into my characters, I know that I write from who I am. Because of this, the way I look at life, as well as my experiences, does have an impact on my characters. On the other hand, most of my characters – like Jack and Aubrey – who are in law enforcement, are very different from me. They run on adrenaline and don’t hesitate to risk their lives for justice. I would simply run the other way. One of the reasons I write stories like this is because I admire those who daily put their lives on the line to protect our country, and I’m grateful to them.

Q: What do you hope readers will gain from Traitor’s Pawn?

A: Besides a page-turning story that keeps them up all night (sorry!), I hope it reminds them that God redeems even the worst of situations. And that while he knows that life is often filled with injustice and suffering, God is about the long game. He’s more interested in who you become, even if the actual process is difficult. Not that God doesn’t care about the little things, but he’s more interested in our persevering and reaching the finish line.

Q: What new projects are you working on?

A: I’m currently working on a brand new series about a pair of US Marshals that will come out in the fall of 2020, and I am super excited about!

Order your copy of The Traitor’s Pawn by Lisa Harris by clicking here! 

The post Q&A with Lisa Harris Author of The Traitor’s Pawn appeared first on Christianbook.com Blog.

Christy Award winning suspense author, Lisa Harris has returned with her latest release, A Secret to Die For. This book introduces readers to Grace Calloway, a psychologist whose patient has been murdered. Grace soon realizes she holds a secret worth killing for – but what is it? Step in Detective Nate Quinn, a man with a mission to find out just what this secret is.

A Secret to Die For is now available for purchase, click here for more. 

Q: What was your inspiration for A Secret to Die For? 

A: As with a lot of my stories, my inspiration started off with a random idea for a heroine, who quickly became Grace Callahan. She was a psychologist, but more than that, she had her own personal giants that she was facing in her life. After I began to flesh out her character, I brought in the hero who was also dealing with loss, and the ideas for the plot line started to come together – both for them personally and for the greater danger they were facing.

Q: What type of research was required for writing your new book?

A: I ended up having to do a lot of research, particularly on the nation’s power grid, survivalists and preppers, and hackers. Next to romantic suspense, my favorite genre is apocalyptic-type stories where someone has to save the world. So while there is no monstrous tidal waves, falling meteors, and definitely no zombies, the research was a lot of fun. In fact, I tend to get a bit too caught up in my own research sometimes.

Q: Detective Nate Quinn struggles with PTSD. How did his disorder come in to play in A Secret to Die For? 

A: At the beginning of the story, Nate has just gone back to work after an explosion took the lives of his partner and several co-workers. And while he wants to be back on the job – even needs to be back – he’s not a hundred percent sure he’s ready. He encounters a number of triggers and begins to realize how his life has changed. He also has to deal with the guilt of being a survivor, which is something very real for those who have gone through trauma and lost people they care about. Grace becomes the perfect person to help him heal, which I love watching play out in the book.

Q: Was there any part of this book that really surprised you once you began writing it?

A: As with a lot of the stories I write, I’m usually not sure who the villain is until the end of the book, and that was definitely true for this story. On the positive side, I’ve decided that if I’m not sure until the end who did it, then hopefully the reader won’t figure it out either!

Q: You have written more than thirty books, including Vendetta, Missing, Pursued, and Vanishing Point. Have you always written in the suspense genre of do you also write other genres? 

A: I started out writing romance novels, but they always had a string of mystery in them. I just couldn’t get away from that thread in my stories. So it’s safe to say that I really love writing suspense and can’t imagine writing anything else!

Q: What do you hope readers gain from reading your book?

A: While I definitely want my readers to be entertained – and maybe a bit (okay, a lot) scared – while reading my books, I also want them to discover how God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things for him. People like you and me have the chance to allow God to use us in spite of all our fears and insecurities. I see the spiritual thread in my stories as a part of my characters’ reactions to life. How they react and deal with things on a spiritual level is crucial. Just like in my own life, I don’t want my faith to be simply tacked on but an intricate part of who I am.

Q: What’s next on your writing to-do list?

A: Next up is another stand-alone novel that I’m super excited about as it takes my hero on a treacherous path I’ve never taken them on before. (Sorry, no spoilers!)

A Secret to Die for is now available for purchase, click here for more.

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