What’s the first part of the book you read? Is it the back cover? The first chapter? Maybe it’s the back of the book so you can learn why the author chose to write a book that involved whatever issue they did?
If I’m really intrigued by the history or a plot twist, I’ve been known to flip to the back…not to learn how a story ends (that steals all the fun for me!) but to see how much of a story is based in truth…or what event inspired the story.
In my novel, Flight Risk, 
the question I wanted to explore is “How do you find truth in a fake news world?” That question then created who the hero would be. Jett is a reporter who is adamantly committed to the truth (for reasons you’ll have to read to know), but his world is rocked when one of his stories may have triggered a whole sequence of events.
I also got inspiration from a plane crash on the 14th Street Bridge into the District that occured in 1982. Because we lived so close to the 14th Street Bridge, I would often think of that crash when zipping around Northern Viriginia and the District. It turns out it could have been prevented by deicing, but I twist it up with questions about technology that may (or may not) have been on the plane. I also layer in fears that it could be another 9/11 event…something I lived through very intimately as I worked at a court next to the White House at the time.
Flight Risk is entirely fiction, but it springs from a real event with the emotion of another event layered on top. Add in a heroine who was begging for her own story (Ms. Savannah Daniels) and it was a story I desperately wnated to write, but also a lot harder than I anticipated. I thought I understood who Savannah was, until it was time to write her story. Then I realized just how much I didn’t know her. I’m really proud of how this book has turned out and can’t wait for you to read it.
Do you like knowing the why behind stories?
Thanks for spending the last weeks looking back at the stories behind the Hidden Justice novels. Tomorrow is the last day to enter the giveaway I’m hosting for the books in the series. Be sure to use the form below to enter.
Bestselling author Cara Putman returns with a romantic legal thriller that will challenge the assumptions of truth tellers everywhere.
Savannah Daniels has worked hard to build her law practice, to surround herself with good friends, and to be the loyal aunt her troubled niece can always count on. But since her ex-husband’s betrayal, she has trouble trusting anyone.
Jett Glover’s father committed suicide over a false newspaper report that ruined his reputation. Now a fierce champion of truth, Jett is writing the story of his journalism career—an international sex-trafficking exposé that will bring down a celebrity baseball player and the men closest to him, including Savannah’s ex-husband.
When Jett’s story breaks, tragedy ensues. Then a commercial airline crashes, and one of Savannah’s clients is implicated in the crash. Men connected to the scandal, including her ex, begin to die amid mysterious circumstances, and Savannah’s niece becomes an unwitting target.
Against their better instincts, Jett and Savannah join ranks to sort the facts from fiction. But can Savannah trust the reporter who threw her life into chaos? And can Jett face the possibility that he’s made the biggest mistake of his life?