Q. Why did you write The Camelot Conspiracy about President John F. Kennedy? Diane studied the JFK assassination in college, reading the Warren Commission report and always believing there were unanswered questions and flawed conclusions about Lee Harvey Oswald being the lone shooter. David worked as an investigative aid at the Chicago FBI office while in college. On the night of November 22, 1963, he received a telephone call from FBI Dallas with an urgent request to identify the purchaser of the murder weapon at Kleins’ Sporting Goods in Chicago. Thus, began his interest in the unsolved mystery. Because Americans remain fascinated with what happened to John F. Kennedy, we both felt it was time to revisit the facts.
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Q. Are your novels in the Justice Series sequels or can they be read in any order? Each of the three books, Facing Justice, Confirming Justice, and The Camelot Conspiracy are stand alone books so readers can enjoy them in any order. However, to know everything in the characters’ lives as events unfold, we recommend starting with Facing Justice, then Confirming Justice and finish with The Camelot Conspiracy.
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Q. Do you have prior knowledge of any impending conflicts or access to other secrets? In our novel Facing Justice, Emile Jubayl was suspected of raising support for Hezbollah and traveled to his birth place in Bint Jubayl, Lebanon. Soon after, Israel was fighting Hezbollah in Bint Jubayl.
Don't forget, we do write fiction. In doing so, we travel much for research, watch and listen, and have knowledge and intuition about how things work. Let's just say, we hope we are at the top of our game.
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Q. You both have had careers in the Justice system. Are the stories in your novels, autobiographical? Many things in our books have happened to either of us, while some have happened to our associates or others. Remember, facts, names, and situations have been fictionalized to protect everyone’s privacy. Suffice it to say, our careers provide us with much fodder for fiction.
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Q. My friend said she saw you both speak and found it interesting. Do you do other speaking engagements or address book clubs?
As we divide our time between writing and promoting our writing, we do try to make time for such events. We’ve had the privilege to do so over the past months and will consider any requests for same. If is not always practicable to meet with book clubs in person, we are available to meet by phone conference. Modern technology is wonderful! [back to top]
Q. How did you begin writing suspense thrillers?
The law is fascinating. It can make a difference in one person’s life, which can change a neighborhood, a town, a country. Both of us have written extensively in our careers. In Diane’s legal briefs, she strove to make case law come alive to the facts of a case. David’s reports of investigations, the basis for his testimony before the judge and jury, had to be precise. When we helped develop policy for communities to handle youth gangs or memoranda on how our government should encourage enemies to defect, we were creative. Of course, we could be eloquent when seeking a pay raise, award, or promotion!
With David’s experiences as an agent, friends encouraged him to write down his interesting stories. Through the years, we’ve read many books in the genre, including John Grisham, Robert Whitlow, David Baldacci and others. After Diane began genealogy research of her ancestor’s emigration from Europe, she was moved to write a historical fiction based in Europe. Publishers encouraged her write a novel related to her and David’s careers, which birthed our collaboration on Facing Justice. [back to top]
Q. Why did you write Facing Justice?
We are mindful one day we will face justice from creator God for what we have done with His gift, Jesus Christ. Facing Justiceis fiction, a story of choices made, the consequences of those choices and determination against tremendous odds. During our careers, we dealt with many complex characters, some deserving every minute they spent in jail. We witnessed the pain of their victims. Some strive to make our lives safer and, in our opinion, are heroes. Some, strong in their faith, are great examples of how to live the love of Jesus. Others struggle with matters of faith or profess to have none.
The heroine, Eva Montanna, doesn’t know why God allowed her twin sister to die on September 11. Her search for answers lead her to many twists and turns but ultimately to have hope again.
Facing Justiceis set in Washington, D.C., a city like no other on earth, where America’s history mingles with the raw power of the federal government and international intrigue. This permitted us to fictionalize some of the influences and events on which we worked. During our time there, we enjoyed the pulse of the White House, the Courts and Congress. We hope our suspense novel shows the complex nature of justice, and that you, our friends, will enjoy it.
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Q. Does our American system of justice work? With insight and wisdom, the Founders crafted our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. While not perfect, the three branches of government are meant to be co-equal, which balances power unlike any other country. The Fourth Amendment protects the American citizen from unreasonable searches and seizures. We have seen the jury system work, contrary to some televised cases that suggest juries cannot be trusted.
We’ve been blessed to work with dedicated people, who work hard to ensure justice is applied equally. Facing Justice shows the high drama of a federal agent trying to discern who is guilty and innocent. We are thankful to you, our military, federal agents and police officers who risk your lives to keep us safe from those who mean to harm us.
