Welcome to Interview Alley. My guest today is Author Linda Lovely. I’ve known Linda since 2010 when we were finalists in RWA’s Golden Heart contest. An award-winning author who has written thrillers, romantic suspense, and amateur sleuth mysteries, her current series involves HOAs. Her newest contribution to the series, A Killer App. What do you get when you combine HOAs and Artificial Intelligence? Several dead bodies and a riveting mystery. Please welcome Linda Lovely to my blog! ~ Donnell Ann Bell
Donnell: Linda, thank you for allowing me an early read of A Killer App. The mystery is solid, your characters unforgettable. Also, I can’t think of a timelier subject. Turn on the news or pick up a paper and you’ll read about AI (Artificial Intelligence). What inspired you to incorporate AI into a Homeowners Association series?
Author Linda Lovely
Linda Lovely: Villains [need] to be smart and talented to offer novel heroines true challenges. After watching an online demo showing how Artificial Intelligence could create a convincing deepfake video of President Obama giving a talk he never gave, I asked: what if someone with these AI skills used them to achieve personal gains, to settle personal scores? Then, I was off to the races.
Donnell: Indeed you were! You begin your mystery with HOA conflict. One homeowner is involved in an accident, which later proves false. HOA Investigator Kylee Kane comes up with viable suspects, but later whittles down the list to a suitable antagonist, whom you call the Chameleon. As I read, I couldn’t think of a more warped, wicked, and worthy opponent. Both Kylee and the Chameleon are smart, driven, and maneuver each other like proverbial chess players. Without giving more away, how did you get to know your antagonist? Maybe you don’t know this, so I’ll tell you: When did you suspect you had an exceptional plot?
Linda Lovely: To me, the best villains see themselves as heroes. One day while listening to an NPR radio discussion of Ayn Rand and her objectivist philosophy, I decided my villain could be an extreme devotee of Rand’s belief system. The Chameleon feels fully justified doing whatever is necessary to achieve happiness. Naturally, she sees none of her downfalls as her responsibility. Enemies are always to blame.
Donnell: The victims you write about in A Killer App have either found disfavor with your antagonist or they’re vulnerable and can be manipulated. What went through your mind when you decided to combine Artificial Intelligence into your HOA series?
Linda Lovely: I decided to write an HOA series because these communities are the modern equivalent of the English villages and small towns that have provided ideal mystery settings for authors like Agatha Christy and Louise Penny. People know each other. When something bad happens, gossip immediately IDs potential motives and suspects. AI easily fits into this world, providing an echo chamber for prejudices and opinions. AI’s ability to magnify falsehoods is frightening.
Donnell: As someone who has sat on two HOA boards, I could only nod at the drama Ted Welch, Kylee’s amour, and owner of the management company endured. Ted and his staff manage twelve HOAs. Ted’s retired from the State Department. Sorry, Linda, I’m not sure working for the State Department qualifies someone to manage HOAs. 😊
Then of course, I’ve never served on a board that needed Security, and Kylee Kane (retired Coast Guard) neatly fills this position. Talk about Ted and Kylee’s relationship, think back to when you created these characters. Has their evolution surprised you, or have they obediently fallen in line with your expectations and performed as directed?
Linda Lovely: Ted and Kylee’s complicated relationship goes back to childhood when they lived across the street from each other in Keokuk, Iowa (my hometown). Back then, Kylee viewed Ted as her little brother’s bratty best friend. Decades later, when they both wind up in the Lowcountry, Ted asks Kylee to consult with his HOA management firm. Soon, Kylee realizes the ‘brat’ of yesteryear has become a smart, talented man who shares her values. From the start, I envisioned their relationship arc. Of course, how it actually plays out is always a surprise. I’m a “pantser” who never outlines and begins each book with just the main characters and a premise.
Donnell: Ted’s son Grant plays a key role in A Killer App. In addition to Kylee and the Chameleon, Grant is one of the point-of-view characters in A Killer App. I loved this format. You write each POV in A Killer App in first person, present tense. Do you always use the same POV characters in your series? Or, besides your protagonist Kylee, do you alternate POV characters?
Linda Lovely: This is the first series I’ve written in present tense. It just felt right to achieve the tension and pacing I wanted. In prior books, I’ve given my heroine (it’s always a heroine!) and my villain their own POVs. It’s an ideal way to offer insights into a villain’s motives and plans. Adding a third POV—Grant’s—is a new twist. It introduces a “younger” viewpoint and opens a window on actions that occur when the heroine and villain aren’t around. However, I am VERY careful to label each chapter so readers know which POV character has the stage. I never mix POVs within a chapter.
Donnell: I think your Hilton Head South Carolina setting is as much a character as Kylee, Ted, Grant, Mimi, Myrt, Frank, the list goes on. This setting seems precise as if you know it inside and out. Do you use real places within the HOAs or incorporate fictitious places?
Linda Lovely: We lived in the Lowcountry for a dozen years, and I did lots of PR for tourism organizations. So I visited many communities and fell hard for the Lowcountry’s charms. I still have friends living in Beaufort County and Charleston and visit often. While I mention real restaurants and landmarks, all the HOAs are fictional. Finding HOA names that weren’t taken was a real challenge!
Donnell: You include interesting tidbits. Example: I enjoyed learning about the endangered Black Rails, which are called Ghost birds. The entire book was an educational experience. Also, I had never heard the term “incel” before. Could you explain the term for our readers?
Linda Lovely: An avid birder friend frequently goes to the coast on bird-watching trips. She’s been a big help in developing the character of Grant’s girlfriend, who’s studying ornithology. To my knowledge, I’ve never met an incel, but I’ve read about the online community of young men who describe themselves as “involuntary celibates” or incels. Their inability to attract women sparks anger at all females. The Chameleon preys on one incel’s hatred to incite him to violence.
Donnell: Kylee is a woman who can take care of herself. She’s adept in self-defense and carries a Glock along with her trusty concealed carry permit. She’s also allergic to champagne and wine but will drink a beer. She’s no stranger to broken bones and stitches. Thinking of the time you fell down the basement stairs, https://tinyurl.com/u6mbxrde I wondered, “In what way is Kylee like the author and vice versa?”
Linda Lovely: Authors are advised to “write what you know.” I write what I love and what I fear. It’s easier to describe emotions you actually feel. So, Kylee shares my fear of heights and my love of the water. She’s also saddled with my allergies and many of my opinions. Of course, Kylee is much smarter, braver, physically fit, and talented.
Donnell: I’m still reeling from the amount of research you did and all that AI can accomplish when used for nefarious purposes. You talk about Deepfake, AI whisperer, Hallucinate and Training. Kylee comments that once you’ve let the genie out of the bottle, it’s hard to put it back in again. I hope she’s wrong and I think A Killer App could be the start of a major public awareness campaign. I liken AI to cigarettes. Perhaps AI should come with a Surgeon General warning label.
Linda Lovely: Thank you, Donnell. Since I finished writing A Killer App, I haven’t stop researching AI. It will have a major impact on all our lives. I’m among the many authors who’ve learned AI was trained on one or more of our books. The publishing industry is feeling AI’s effects already as novelists, screenwriters, editors, narrators, translators and book cover artists grapple with practical and ethical questions about its use.
Donnell: Thank you Linda. Readers are in for a fantastic mystery and an eye-opening account of technological advances.
About the Book: Deepfakes Can Be Murder
Kylee Kane, a security consultant for Welch HOA Management, finds the first victim, Andy Fyke, crumpled at the bottom of a flight of stairs. Kylee suspects his fall’s no accident and is tied to Andy’s campaign to prohibit rentals in his Hilton Head Island community. Yet, Andy’s obvious enemies have ironclad alibis.
When another Lowcountry HOA retiree dies in a hit-and-run boat tragedy, Kylee begins to think the incidents are linked—even though the victims and their assailants have little in common.
The link is the Chameleon, an Artificial Intelligence expert, who can create a deepfake of almost anyone—living or dead. Even more frightening is the Chameleon’s ability to seek out disturbed souls and laser-focus their rage. A talent employed to compel subjects to act as surrogate assassins.
When Kylee begins to pursue the Chameleon, the AI expert decides it’s time to groom an assassin to permanently sideline Kylee.
About the Author: To learn more about Linda Lovely’s standalones, her other series, as well as previous books in her HOA mystery series, sign up for her newsletter at Welcome (lindalovely.com)
Thank you for the read and the interview, Linda! Happy Release Day!
Thanks so much, Donnell. Always a pleasure to spend time with you!
Great interview Linda and Donnell! And so scary! AI scares the bejeebies out of me. And a mystery surrounding an HOA is brilliant! My husband has been the president of ours for several years and people are cruel and so scary! He’s resigning–finally–next month.
Thank you, ladies!
Sounds like A Killer App might be a good holiday present–to reinforce his decision.
Oh my gosh, as someone who sits on an HOA, I fully concur!!!
Great interview, Donnell and Linda!
Marilyn
Glad you enjoyed it!
Writing what you love and fear is a perfect way to breathe life into characters! Wonderful interview!
Thanks, Marie. It’s good therapy, too!
Great interview. Looking forward to reading.
Thanks, Lorraine!
Very interesting! I’m definitely going to order this book.
Hope you enjoy it, Diana.
A Killer App is a fast-paced well-written book. Thrilling and scary to realize this could be happening anywhere. Even in a small community.
Thanks, Cindy. It is scary, and the genie’s out of the bottle. Since we can’t put it back, better figure out how to live with it–benefits and perils.
Great interview, Donnell and Linda. I’m looking forward to reading this third offering in the series. I haven’t checked, but it should be on my Kindle right now. Books 1 and 2 were terrific, so I know this one will be too. Many sales, my friend.
Thanks so much, Polly.
Good interview! Looking forward to readin it.
Thanks, Ellis! Let me know what you think.