 | 8 Oct 09 |
My first Lucy Kincaid book will be released in October of 2010 and I turned in the proposal three weeks ago. Lucy Kincaid is a character from my NO EVIL series. In FEAR NO EVIL, she was kidnapped before her high school graduation by a man she met on the Internet. She’d met him through a group she believed was only Georgetown students and prospective students as she prepared for college, thinking he was a freshman. He gave her a false name and false picture. She gave him a real name and real picture. Hence, he had no problem snatching her in the parking lot of Starbucks because he knew exactly what she looked like–and she had no idea who he was.
Lucy is one of my all-time favorite characters, and as soon as I finished writing FEAR NO EVIL I knew that I would someday write her story. Not only did I want to write her story, but I had many story ideas for her. When I came up for contract this Spring, I wrote a proposal for a Rogan-Caruso trilogy. Rogan-Caruso Protective Services was introduced in PLAYING DEAD as the employer of my heroine. I thought my publisher wanted another trilogy. They didn’t. I was kind of stunned–but they asked what else I had. The only other thing I wanted to write–in fact, the series that I preferred to write, but didn’t think they’d go for it–was Lucy Kincaid. They wanted it.
I was thrilled. I’m aging Lucy for the series–if I followed real time, she’d be twenty-one. In Book One, tentative titled NO WAY OUT, she’ll be twenty-four. Still younger than most heroines, but since this is a series, this gives me room to grow her. She’ll age in real-time, or close to it, after that and if the series is successful, I’ll probably limit it anyway. I love series, but like television, I think some should have ended at a peak before they crashed and burned. X-Files anyone?
But for Lucy, I have several story ideas. Patrick Kincaid, her brother who was injured and in a coma at the end of FEAR NO EVIL, woke up after twenty-two months in SUDDEN DEATH. I probably shouldn’t have used real time for his coma–twenty-two months is an unusually long time to recover from a coma!–but Jack needed the time for his internal journey. Anyway, I adore Patrick. And my mom threatened to disown me if I killed him, so he’s alive and breathing. I have story ideas for him, too–yes, IDEAS. I would love to alternate books between Lucy and Patrick, ala how Tess Gerritsen handles Maura Isles and Jane Rizzoli. They are both in every book, but usually one is more important to the story than the other. I love that, and that’s how I picture Lucy and Patrick.
In NO WAY OUT, Lucy is waiting to hear if she was accepted into the FBI Academy. She’s living in Georgetown with her older brother, Dillon, who is quietly over-protective, and Dillon’s girlfriend (possibly wife–I haven’t quite thought all this through yet!) Kate Donovan. She’s working somewhere–not sure where yet, either at a police department or lab–while she waits. The wait can last twelve months to two years. It’s long and stressful. Once you’re accepted, you’re given a report-to date for Quantico. It can be months away–but you’re still a hired employee. At that point, you work at headquarters but aren’t yet an agent.
When I was in Washington last week with the FBI Citizens Academy, our last tour was of NCMEC–the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, co-founded by John Walsh. Though I was familiar with the organization, I didn’t know exactly what they did. Five stories in a building in beautiful downtown Alexandria, Virginia dedicated to solving hundreds of thousands of cases of child exploitation. Honestly, I left depressed. Every day their staff goes in and tracks missing kids. They view child pornography hoping to identify the child or the location. Hoping to pick up clues as to who the predator is. They have a forensic anthropologist on staff who helps identify skeletons. They have computer experts who age photos to show us what a kidnapped or endangered child might look like today. They have many success stories, but far more tragedies.
They also collect a mass of data on missing children and predators. They work with all states and many international agencies to help track sex offenders who are supposed to register. They can go into public databases, they maintain their own database, and they can cross-reference information. There are many law enforcement on staff from many federal agencies including the FBI and ICE who are assigned to NCMEC. They are the case managers–they have the experience as well as arrest powers.
I couldn’t possibly detail everything NCMEC does to help protect children, from proactive measures like parent education to investigating crimes, but it is a difficult job for anyone there. In addition to law enforcement, they have case analysts and many others who work tirelessly. Some analysts spend most of their time analyzing photos for example–photos or videos that are of child pornography. They do it to find a clue–like the success story where they enhanced a photo well enough to detect a diploma on the wall. They couldn’t read the name because it wasn’t complete, but they were able to figure out what college it came from and eventually, though an extensive process, learned that the photo was taken in the office of an elementary school principal. He was arrested.
I went on the trip to Washington with my FBI group primarily to tour Quantico for my Lucy books–and that was terrific. NCMEC was added long after I signed up. It affected me far more than any other portion of the trip. But I don’t believe in ignorance. Too many of us don’t want to look at the truth and ignoring it won’t make it go away. While finding out more about NCMEC was difficult, not only am I immensely proud of them, I’m also better informed. If everyone understood the real dangers out there–and some of the activities that lead to the dangers both for victims and predators–maybe we could slow, or decrease, the number of child sexual predators.
I began to think . . . what if someone with a long and decorated career just . . . snapped? Wanted to take matters into his own hands?
While I know the set-up of NO WAY OUT–and have since the spring of 2008 when I took the FBI Citizens Academy classes and one thing that some said sparked the whole idea–I didn’t understand motivations. Suddenly, everything was clear, like putting on new glasses.
Comment–say hi, talk about what you like and dislike about series characters or stories, ask questions about my trip, anything!–and three people will win a copy of FEAR NO EVIL where Lucy was first introduced. FEAR NO EVIL won the Daphne du Maurier award for Best Mainstream Mystery/Suspense.
© 2009, Allison Brennan. All rights reserved.
Allison Brennan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award winning author of seventeen romantic thrillers and several short stories. She lives near Sacramento, California with her husband and five children. Recently, RT Book Reviews called Allison "A master of suspense." And Lee Child said of her Kincaid series launch, "A world-class nail-biter ... Brennan is in the groove with this one." For fun Allison enjoys wine tasting, swimming, kids sports, playing video games, and "of course" reading. Her most recent release is IF I SHOULD DIE, book three in the Lucy Kincaid series. Watch for SILENCED coming on 4.24.12.
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Sounds like you had an amazing experience at the FBI Citizens Academy even with the NCMEC tour which I’m sure was pretty eye opening. I am looking forward to the stories of Lucy and Patrick.
Keep up the good writing!
by Shanae October 8th, 2009 at 7:56 amAll I can say is this series sounds like a winner. Lucy is a fascinating, complex character – definitely worthy of a series. And it sounds as if you’re planning on “growing” all the characters as you go. I love that.
I get bored with series when the characters seem stagnant and never learn/grow with circumstances. These series often feel episodic, like bad TV shows, were you know everything resets at the end of each episode, so you don’t miss anything important when you skip a couple.
by Colleen Thompson October 8th, 2009 at 8:01 amGreat way to analyze series, Colleen! “Episodic” is a terrific word, and there are some series that do get into that rut, where the characters don’t necessarily learn from the past and grow. Thanks! (And I’m so glad you like Lucy!)
by Allison Brennan October 8th, 2009 at 10:54 amI always look forward to any new book from Allison Brennan, they are always thought-provoking and very good reads. I can hardly wait for the next one to arrive. Keep up the great work and thanks for a great read every time
by Deb Contryman October 8th, 2009 at 8:35 amI love series, and am with your mom on Patrick. I was definitely worried about how long you kept him ‘under.’
I’ll definitely be watching for release day.
by Terry Odell October 8th, 2009 at 8:42 amThanks Terry
. . . I adore Patrick, too. But I also liked Jim Gage . . . anyway, Patrick is going to have a couple books. I have two story ideas for him right now. They sort of go together, and there is a love interest as well . . .
by Allison Brennan October 8th, 2009 at 10:55 amOh, Hi, Allison. Funny I stumbled upon this post. (Not like I am your friend on Facebook and follow you on Twitter, right?).
You know what I’m going to say, don’t you? C’mon, I know you can get it. Yup… you’re in the right track.
Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please (x 100000000) find a way to get Carina in the books (or at least one book). I’m still traumatized by your note on your site. She *has* to be in them, like in that story related to Lucy’s nephew. She’s my all time favorite by far heroine from you.
The Kincaids are THE BEST. I LOVE Patrick (I’d totally be his heroine even though he’s too old for me). He’s my favorite guy. I have this whole image of him in my head and it’s CUTE!
Obviously, I can’t wait for the Lucy Series. Like, REALLY can’t wait.
I know, I’m a freak! But, admit it, you like me!
by Barbie October 8th, 2009 at 9:26 amYes, I adore you Barbie! I’m glad you’re looking forward to the series. If I write the book about what happened to Justin Stanton, Nelia Kincaid’s son who was the same age as Lucy, Carina will likely be in the book. I just haven’t found the story yet. It may come. I knew what happened to him and why when I first wrote Carina’s book, and I don’t see how my vision of it fits with cold cases, but I learned a lot about cold cases at NCMEC last week so this may come up. I wish I knew more! But it won’t be in the next couple of years. I’m contracted for two Lucy books, and I know the first story and I have a teeny idea for the second.
by Allison Brennan October 8th, 2009 at 10:58 amHi Allison,
by Emmanuelle October 8th, 2009 at 9:28 amWhat I love best in a book is the characters, main or secondary. It’s probably why I love series. So I can stay in touch with characters I’ve loved in previous books.
Very glad to hear your writting a new series !
Thanks Emmanuelle! That’s why I love series, too. I religiously follow Tess Gerritsen and JD Robb.
by Allison Brennan October 8th, 2009 at 10:59 amHi Allison
by RKCharron October 8th, 2009 at 9:32 amThanks for this great post.
Lucy sounds intriguing, as does the series.
I’m glad you’re able to write the trilogy you wanted to write.
All the best,
RKCharron
xoxo
Thanks RK! I think that’s what made me happiest–being able to write what I really want to write.
by Allison Brennan October 8th, 2009 at 11:00 amI can’t wait to read “No Way Out.” Lucy’s gone through so much that it’ll take more than one book to tell her story.
by Jane October 8th, 2009 at 10:49 amThanks Jane! That’s exactly what I thought–Lucy needs more than one book. And she and Patrick have issues to resolve, not just the obvious guilt on both sides. Lucy is truly complex, and I can’t wait to get back into her head. I have to work hard to make sure she doesn’t come across as too tough or hardened, but I’ll have my Save the Cat moment early in the first book
by Allison Brennan October 8th, 2009 at 11:02 amI love the understanding motivations lightbulb moment. I’m working on fully getting that with my characters right now. Can’t wait to read Lucy’s stories!
by Sabrina October 8th, 2009 at 11:21 amThanks Sabrina! You know what I mean!
by Allison Brennan October 8th, 2009 at 11:45 amCant wait for Lucy – she was my favorite Kincaid sib. with Patrick a close second. Not that I didn’t love all the other Kincaid stories but I have been waiting for her story since Fear No Evil.
As an asside one of my abandoned books revolves around a FBI agent assigned to the NCEMC. I got stuck and couldn’t get unstuck – maybe I will go back and take a look at it some time soon (I kind of forgot about it, but I love that story) and I know so much more about writing and the writing process (thanks to all you ladies!) that I may be able to find and fix my problem!
by Tiffany October 8th, 2009 at 11:59 amLaunching a new series always rocks! And Lucy is such an amazing character though I have to admit…Patrick is the one I want to know more about. Sorry.
However…I am VERY curious about that Save the Cat moment. Oops…what’s that ol’ saying about curiosity and cats?
by Silver James October 8th, 2009 at 12:29 pmJohn Walsh is my hero. He could have wallowed in his grief and no one would have blamed him, but he took his outrage (at the time missing cars were better searched for than missing children) and put it to an amazing use. I’m sure it was depressing to be there but think of all the good they do accomplish.
by Jill James October 8th, 2009 at 12:46 pmOoh, Allison, it’s going to be hard to wait for these books!
I’ve so enjoyed reading your books–I’m on the third one now–and getting to know the Kincaid clan, et al. I’m reading Sudden Death right now, so now learning about Jack. The books are well-crafted, and keep the reader on the edge of his or her seat. My husband will love sharing these with me.
But hon, you have one seriously dark side! Whoa.
by Karen in Ohio October 8th, 2009 at 12:54 pmI’m excited to read more of your Allison. You inspire me to write like you. I would love to win a book from you.
by Kristen Howe October 8th, 2009 at 2:32 pmI like books with strong, compelling characters. I enjoy characters in series books because it feels like I’m visiting with old friends. Thanks for the interesting post today!
by GSM October 8th, 2009 at 6:21 pmat the fbi class tonight, the ssa who heads up the child exploitation squad extolled ncmec tonight. he also went over a bunch of closed cases. in detail. my hat is off to those guys.
by Karin Tabke October 8th, 2009 at 11:08 pmI can’t wait to read your blog about your classes! I’m jealous–I’d do it all over again
Maybe next year you can come to Quantico with me 
by Allison Brennan October 8th, 2009 at 11:46 pmWow, Allison, I want to go on field trips with you!
by Debra Webb October 9th, 2009 at 10:18 amGlad to hear that Patrick came out of his coma!
Cool a Lucy trilogy and I can’t wait to read!
I love reading your books and please keep up the good work!
I like characters that you care for and well developed.
by Terri W. October 12th, 2009 at 1:17 pm