Most of the time I come up with the ideas for my books by myself. I hear or see something that intrigues me and I think “What if?” 

In the case of Without Mercy I actually heard a radio ad about a school for troubled teens while I was in the car at a red light. The ad captured my attention and immediately got me thinking about the plot for the book. What if a school meant to turn troubled teens around, was actually something far more sinister? I was so into my thoughts about the book, that, I didn’t notice when the light turned green. The guy behind me did. He laid on the horn. I hit the gas and I turned around at the first place I could, then drove home, my errand forgotten as I raced home to call my editor and run my new idea by him. 

In the case of Cold Blooded, the idea had simmered for years. I’d always been fascinated with saints and how they died, so I created a book with a serial killer who found victims to mimic the saints’ bizarre deaths. 

However the idea for the first Montana “To Die” book wasn’t mine. At least the characters weren’t originally my own. The idea was floated to me by my editor. 

“I’d like to see a book with two female cops,” he told me.

I thought, Oh no! My first mental image was of the TV cop show, Cagney and Lacey from the eighties. It seemed so out of date, but, the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. Two strong, opposite characters emerged. Twice married and now divorced Detective Regan Pescoli was a hot-head who broke or bent the rules. The life with teenagers and an ex-husband who was a pain, was kind of a wreck. I teamed Pescoli with Detective Selena Alvarez, cool-and clear-headed a scientist who never married and held a deep, life-changing secret. So the characters came to life, at least in my head. 

I also came up for an idea for a serial killer story that would run through two stories, Left To Die and Chosen To Die, but didn’t think beyond that story-line. I wasn’t thinking “series” at that point. 

What I found during the writing of those two books was that I couldn’t let the characters go and I loved the little Montana town and sheriff’s department. So, fast forward a few years and now, seven books later, I still have at least one more book to write in the series. Maybe more.

Time will tell.

The books in the Montana “To Die” series by Lisa Jackson are, in order: [bookLLeft To Die], Chosen To Die, Born To Die, Afraid To Die, Ready To Die, Deserves To Die, and Expecting To Die. You can read more about each title at www.lisajackson.com.