Cheat the Grave

I hate to say the idea for this series came to me in a dream – it sounds too precious and capricious, like writing is something that comes to you rather than something you have to work for – but that's exactly how this idea germinated. I woke up laughing, having just imagined a caricature-ishly beautiful woman fending off a leather-clad homicidal maniac with an overpriced stiletto. If you've read SCENT you'll know the scene I mean. The juxtaposition between silly and scary was enough to get me interested and asking questions. What was the situation here? Why would this guy be attacking her? And how do I make someone this ridiculously beautiful sympathetic?

The series is set in Las Vegas because it's the best possible place in the world for strange characters, and because I know it well. I also wanted to blend fact with fiction, sharing real places with my readers – like the Neon Boneyard, and the old-school ultra lounge at the Peppermill. It's a way for the Vegas girl in me to pay homage to the town I grew up in.

The fantasy aspect, in the form of superhero mythology, was a complete surprise. I don't know what it is about entering your thirties that engenders feeling more settled and centered and powerful than ever before, but this is how I was feeling when I created my protagonist, Joanna Archer, and she absolutely mirrors these things (though, admittedly, in the extreme). However, Jo doesn't just become the woman she's meant to be, she becomes the superwoman she's meant to be. The core question that intrigued me here was this: What makes a person truly super human? The answer I came up with? Living up to your potential, even if – or, in Jo's case, especially if – it means saving the world in the process.