As the author of two bestselling thriller series featuring strong female protagonists, I'm no stranger to reading and writing fast-paced, exciting stories. Having grown up on a steady diet of spy novels, James Bond movies, and mysteries, I wanted to read about women who were adventurous and brave and could take care of themselves. At the time, this kind of novel didn't exist at my local library. Fast-forward several years. I now write the kinds of characters I wish I'd been able to read about growing up: strong, capable women who are deeply flawed but essentially good.

Raised in the Midwest region of the US, I received my Bachelor's in Political Science from the University of Minnesota and, having itchy feet and craving adventure, promptly moved to Mexico to live on a sailboat. This began my decades-long love-affair with all things Mexico.

I now live outside of Seattle, Washington with my sweetheart Mark, an ex-chef-turned-contractor, and write whenever I get a chance.

Award-winning photographer, international bestselling indie author of the Kate Jones Thriller Series, an action/adventure series, and the Leine Basso Series, an edge-of-your-seat thriller series featuring a former assassin.

YUCATAN DEAD, the 6th Kate Jones thriller, was published in July 2013. After a recent trip to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, I returned home with the kernel of a story that became Yucatan Dead. The idea had formed somewhere between the ruins of Ek' Balam and the Riviera Maya, and wouldn't let me go. Before I left on the trip I'd been writing what I thought was going to be a mystery with my character, Kate Jones. But Mexico changed all that. You don't argue with Mexico. So, the mystery turned into a full-on thriller about the ruthless drug cartels that have destabilized so much of that country. Since I'm a novelist and basically lie for a living, I made up a group of off the grid commandos working deep in the jungle, fighting the cartels. Little did I know at the time, but groups of locals had steadily begun taking up arms against the cartels, unable to stand by and watch them turn their home into a violent wasteland. Some of these groups have been backed by the CIA and/or the DEA, as well as the Mexican government. Many continue to operate clandestinely.