Welcome to Interview Alley, the place on my blog dedicated to. . . you guessed it . . . interviews! Kathleen Donnelly is a K-9 handler and part owner of Sherlock Hounds Detection Canines, a private narcotics detection company in Colorado. In August 2023, she was a finalist for the Suspense category and Readers’ Choice Award at Killer Nashville for her debut novel Chasing Justice. I’ve learned so much from Kathleen during her speaking engagements but especially in her debut, Chasing Justice. She joins me today to talk about her new release, Hunting the Truth. ~ Donnell Ann Bell
Donnell: Hi, Kathleen, welcome! I loved Chasing Justice and wondered how book two could compete with such an intense debut. I needn’t have worried. In Hunting the Truth, Forest Service Officer Maya Thompson and her K-9 Juniper return where book one left off. Maya is invested in solving the murder of her mother and the apparent suicide of her grandmother.
When I read your books, you put me firmly in the national forest. You’ve clearly been there. A little birdie told me your father was a researcher for the Forest Service. If this birdie was correct, I’m guessing you spent a lot of time in the area about which you write. Am I close?
Author Kathleen Donnelly
Kathleen Donnelly: Hi Donnell, thank you so much for having me on your blog today! The little birdie who mentioned my dad worked for the Forest Service is correct. Both of my parents loved the mountains and we would often go hiking and have a picnic. I enjoy escaping to the mountains. In fact, now I love taking my camera with me to take pictures of wildlife and other scenery. The most common areas I visit are the Roosevelt National Forest and Rocky Mountain National Park. I always imagine my fictional national forest is roughly in the location of the Roosevelt and Arapaho National Forests.
Donnell: Maya’s partner is a Malinois shepherd. While researching these dogs online, I came across, Belgian Malinois. Is that Juniper’s breed?
Kathleen Donnelly: That’s correct. Juniper is a Belgian Malinois. They are a variety of Belgian Shepherd and commonly used for law enforcement and military work. They are an amazing and versatile breed. I met my first Malinois while training in Oklahoma with my dogs. Our instructor also trained and worked K-9s for law enforcement. I fell in love with the breed as they were high energy, intense and loved their work. Our trainer had other types of shepherds, but there was just something special about the Malinoises.
Donnell: One thing you seem to concentrate on in your books is Juniper’s mischievousness if left alone. If she’s not working, she’s chewing or digging. These are expensive dogs that require hours of training. Maya inherited Juniper after her own K-9, Zinger, was killed in Afghanistan. As I read, I got the sense that Maya and Juniper are still getting to know each other and in a very real sense growing up together. How old is Juniper and how do you see their relationship evolving?
Kathleen Donnelly: I really wanted to give an accurate portrayal of what it’s like living with a working dog. They’re not for the faint of heart. They are very expensive and the training is always ongoing. These working dogs are high energy and if they don’t have something to do, they will find a way to entertain themselves and sometimes that includes the destruction of things in their environment.
Juniper is two years old and you’re correct that Maya and Juniper are still getting to know each other and connect. Since this is a series, I wanted to show the bonding process. I know personally, when I begin working with a new dog, it will take me about a year to get to know their individual quirks and feel like a team. Over the years I’ve realized that every dog has taught me something and made me a better person. I wanted to portray Maya’s character arc and journey through her work with Juniper.
Donnell: FYI, readers, that character arc showing Maya’s and Juniper’s relationship is working! Next question! Maya Thompson is tough. She should be; she’s a former marine. She does, however, come with baggage, not only because of the crimes that touched her young life but the horrors she saw in war. How did you as an author get to know so much about Afghanistan and the U.S. Marine Corp? Did Maya come fully formed? Do you know her well now or does she continually surprise you?
Kathleen Donnelly: When I first met Maya, she was pretty much who she is now. I knew as this character kept talking to me that I needed to do more research about her past. As I developed her character, I was lucky to connect with several Veterans who shared so much about their experiences with their deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq. It was important to me that I portrayed women in the military correctly. I was honored when Tara Darlene Smith met me for coffee and told me about her service in Iraq, her personal journey with PTSD and her time in the military. Tara is writing her own memoirs and sharing essays on her website. Please check out her projects at https://www.taradarlenesmith.com/. One thing that Tara shared with me is that she discovered because women weren’t on the front lines, many people thought only men were returning from war with PTSD. As she pointed out though, when you’re in Iraq and doing your job, the enemy doesn’t care if you’re male or female and she found herself in many dangerous situations. She felt like this stigma has improved, but it made me even more determined to accurately portray female military veterans and their struggles coming back home.
I was also able to connect with a Marine recruiter at a school where I work my dogs. He answered many questions about the Marines and that helped me fill in more of Maya’s past. However, there are still times Maya surprises me. She is her own person and every time I go to the mountains, I feel like I’m going to pass Maya and Juniper as they go out on patrol.
Donnell: Yep, you’re a writer, all right! I must say after reading Hunting the Truth that you are quite adept at misdirection. I was enthralled with Eric, his relationship to Maya’s mother Zoey. He’s a great antagonist and a worthy opponent to Maya. How much fun was he to create as well as the other characters in the book? Did the outcome of Hunting the Truth match the vision you had in your head when you stared at the initial blank page?
Kathleen Donnelly: I had so much fun with Eric Torres. I think he toyed with me as I wrote him just like he toyed with Maya. He is quite an interesting person and I’ll leave it at that so there are no spoilers. I felt like writing Hunting The Truth was almost like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. I had ideas for Eric and the other characters, but I didn’t really know who was going to be the mastermind until I was finishing my first outline. Then it all came together, and as I wrote, I found myself adding little bits and pieces. I had a lot of fun piecing this plot together. I’m happy with the outcome and I think it did match my vision overall. Although I will say, some characters did surprise me.
Donnell: Your knowledge of weapons and police procedure is impressive. Because you’re writing mystery and because of Maya’s occupation, and reader savviness, these topics must be authentic. What do you do to ensure the authenticity I always read in your books?
Kathleen Donnelly: I am fortunate in that I have some great resources. I took the citizens academy with the Larimer County Sheriffs Office and did a ride along with a mountain deputy. All the classes with the academy were fantastic and the deputy who allowed me to join him on his workday was very patient answering all my questions. I did learn though that it’s not really a good idea to ask the SWAT team about kidnapping a sheriff without first explaining you’re a mystery writer. Luckily, I didn’t get an early tour of the jail. I think they believe me now…
I was also able to connect with a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer and K-9 handler. He gave me some great information about his job and continues to answer questions which I really appreciate. I also have a good friend who’s a retired Chief of Police. He has met me for breakfast to answer questions and is good natured about my random text messages about things like DNA or hiding bodies.
My best friend’s husband was in the military and has a varied background including search and rescue, hazmat training, and cyber security. He has been great when it comes to answering questions about the military and other random questions about things like search and rescue. He was also a volunteer firefighter and helped me shape a chapter in Hunting The Truth. Again, I won’t say more as I don’t want to spoil anything.
I also belong to some great groups that have experts who answer questions about law enforcement. I have a friend who was a patrol officer and K-9 handler who has answered questions. I’m very lucky that everyone I’ve reached out to has been willing to talk to me as I strive to be as accurate as possible. And of course, with the dog work, I can reach out to our trainers, which has been wonderful. Looking ahead to book #3, Killer Secrets, I wanted to have a human remains detection dog or HRD dog. I was able to connect with a handler for Boulder County and learned a ton from her about that K-9 work.
The research has been fun. I hope I didn’t forget anyone as I really appreciate every person who has helped me create an accurate portrayal of the jobs.
Donnell: For the romantics out there, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Maya’s relationship with a certain deputy sheriff. I know Maya was disappointed when her sheriff grandfather didn’t give her a deputy job, but I believe the author knew best when Maya took the job with the forest service as it lends more freedom for Josh and Maya to work together through the series. Was this your plan all along?
Kathleen Donnelly: Believe it or not, it actually wasn’t my plan! In my first drafts of Chasing Justice that certain deputy sheriff was not meant to be such an important part of Maya’s life. But as Josh’s character came together, it just seemed right. I even held out on the two of them having feelings for each other until my agent Ella Marie said, “You know, they seem like they have an attraction.” She was right and so their relationship began and continues to evolve with the series.
Donnell: I see that in addition to your second release you have a third release coming in Spring of 2024 from Carina Press [as you said above, Killer Secrets]. Readers love to know an author’s process. Are you a panster, a plotter/outliner? Do you have a story/character arc to guide you? Finally, how do you fit three books into such a busy schedule?
Kathleen Donnelly: Yes, I do have another book, Killer Secrets, coming out at the end of March. This is book #3 in the National Forest K-9 series and I’m really excited about it. It was fun to write and there were more interesting characters that show up including some from Josh’s past.
I am a total plotter/outliner. I think that’s because the books come to me in random scenes and I write them down and then start piecing them together. I think of it like a jigsaw puzzle. Often the last character to come to me is the final antagonist. I know there’s going to be one, but I find they hide themselves for a long time, as an antagonist should. For character and story arcs, I learned to focus on each character’s goal, motivation, and conflict. My good friend and mentor, Margaret Mizushima who writes the Timber Creek K-9 series, helped me with this and I’m grateful as I found this was the key to having my books come together the way I wanted.
My schedule is definitely busy! Sometimes I feel like I’m not going to get everything done. My daily schedule is varied with working my own dogs to help deter contraband in schools, writing, and teaching some horseback riding lessons. I trained horses before I became a dog handler. This can keep things very busy, but I love the writing so I make sure I protect my writing time.
Kathleen, thank you for such an education about the forest service, about K-9s and northern Colorado, and a very satisfying read. I’m learning new terms like “tree cop”, “widow-maker” and more. Thanks for being my guest today. Readers, Hunting the Truth is now available for preorder.
https://kathleendonnelly.com/hunting-the-truth/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1335475915?tag=hqnweb-20
Questions or comments for Kathleen? Thanks for joining us! ~ Donnell
About Hunting the Truth:
Those are the last words Forest Service law enforcement officer and K-9 handler Maya Thompson ever heard her mother say.
Returning to the Colorado mountains, ex-soldier Maya is no longer a scared little girl. She’s here to investigate her mother’s cold case, but fear creeps in when it comes to her personal life—things are getting serious with sheriff deputy Josh Colten.
After new DNA evidence surfaces, both her beloved grandfather and Josh warn her away from the case, suspecting that she could be the next victim. But Maya doesn’t listen.
Instead, Maya and her K-9 partner, Juniper, track a suspect deep into the forest and directly into grave danger…
National Forest K-9
Book 1: Chasing Justice
Book 2: Hunting the Truth
Loved this interview and it looks like I’m adding to my TBR pile.
Morning! I’m so glad you enjoyed the interview and thanks for adding Hunting The Truth to your TBR pile. Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Great interview! Thanks for taking the time to do this.
Hi Suzanne! Thanks so much. I’m glad you enjoyed the interview! 🙂
Thank you Kathleen and Donnell! Kathleen, it’s so fun to read about your process. I cannot wait to read HUNTING THE TRUTH, and I look forward to KILLER SECRETS.
Thanks so much, Barbara! I appreciate you taking the time to read the interview and Hunting The Truth! I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Thank you, C.F. and Barbara! I love authors’ processes also. I think it all boils down to a vat of magic!!! xo
Thanks for having me on your blog today, Donnell. I know I always find it fascinating to read how other authors work. I agree with the vat of magic! 🙂
Great interview! Love that you feel like you could meet Maya and Juniper out on a mountain trail!! Can’t wait to read Hunting The Truth!!
Thanks so much, Marie! 🙂 It’s fun when characters feel so real. I hope you enjoy Hunting The Truth!
Great interview, Kathleen and Donnell! I loved reading it. 😁
Thanks, Francelia 🙂
Thanks so much, Francelia! 🙂
Kathleen and Donnell, what a wonderful interview! I love it when you create specific questions for authors, Donnell, and you’ve given us such enlightening and intriguing answers, Kathleen. I agree that Hunting the Truth is a perfect sequel to Chasing Justice, both books landing on my favorites list. Congratulations on completing three books in this series, Kathleen, and giving readers such a thrilling, authentic adventure each time! Looking forward to the next one.
My pleasure, Margaret! xo
Thanks so much, Margaret! And I agree, Donnell, you do a great job with interview questions! 🙂
Awesome interview! Thank you, Kathleen & Donnell!
Thanks so much, Rhonda! 🙂
Great interview. The book is really good. I got an Advanced Reader Copy. In this one Kathleen delves more into Maya’s potential romance with Josh, which adds a nice new element and new sources of danger. Hunting the Truth follows very well from Chasing Justice, but you can still read it as a standalone. I love the way Maya intuitively understands Juniper, and vice versa. Congratulations on a terrific series, Kathleen!
Thanks so much, Carl! I’m so happy you enjoyed Hunting The Truth. I loved writing it and being in the world of Maya, Juniper and Josh. Thanks for stopping in! 🙂