The Demon Crown: A Sigma Force Novel

To quote my editor: This book is Sigma’s most frightening adventure to date. And I don’t disagree. The novel starts when a group of scientists stumbles across an island off the coast of Brazil, where all life has been eradicated, consumed and possessed by a species beyond imagination. Before they can report their discovery, the scientists are attacked and killed. Save one, an entomologist, an expert on venomous creatures. This one event soon blows up into a global threat, when the same species is unleashed across the Hawaiian Islands. As people die by the hundreds, it appears the only way to halt the organism’s spread its to nuke those islands. To prevent that from happening, Sigma Force must discover the terrifying origin of the species—and find a way to destroy it. But already the organism is changing, growing, spreading—adapting and surviving every attempt to stop it. So, yes, it is indeed a frightening story—especially so because how real this threat actually is. Even Homeland Security maintains the threat raised in this novel to be a top priority.

Specifically the threat posed by invasive species, those foreign invaders to our shores. We’ve already seen how the Everglades are being overrun by pythons that are wiping out our native bird populations. Then there are Asian carp in our lakes and rivers doing the same to native fish. And it’s not just here in the States. Other examples of invasive species are plentiful and global. Most of these cases are from due to accidental contaminations. What worries Homeland Security is that some hostile power might weaponize such a species and use it as means of waging war. Especially as such a threat is nearly impossible to defend against. It’s just such a frightening scenario that I explore in The Demon Crown.

Not at all. I tailor each story so a new reader could jump into the series at any point. In fact, only a small fraction of my readership have read my series in order. So anyone interested in this unique set of heroes and the troubles they face, THE DEMON CROWN is a perfect place to jump on in.

I actually have the opposite problem. I have so many thoughts and ideas for future books that I wish I could clone myself so I can get them out of my head. As to the origin for all those ideas, I always have my antennae up for three things: a piece of history that ends in a question mark, a tantalizing bit science that makes me wonder “what if?”, and finally some intriguing locale where those first two could collide. I collect all those tidbits on a daily basis, from newsfeeds, from magazines, or simply from asking someone “tell me something about this place that no one else knows about.” It’s the latter method that generates the best story ideas.

This novel serves as a cautionary reminder that we are not living in the Age of Man, but rather—as has been true for over 400 million years—we are living in the Age of Insects. In fact, it is now hypothesized that insects contributed—if not led—to the extinction of the dinosaurs. How? You’ll have to read the book for the shocking answer. But of course, this then begs the question concerning the insects’ latest competitors for the earth’s dwindling natural resources: Could we be their next target?

Mostly because so little is truly known about the man who founded the Smithsonian. James Smithson was a British chemist who never set foot in America, yet left his fortune to our young nation in order to establish this institution that would carry his name. He did so without warning or explanation. Then shortly after the founding of the Smithsonian, its first building—the Smithsonian Castle—was nearly destroyed by a fire during the Civil War. Most of Smithson’s books and journals, along with his vast mineral collection, were destroyed, all but erasing his heritage. Then even more intriguingly, the inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, defied the regents of the Smithsonian to sail to Europe. On New Year’s Eve in 1903, under the cover of a snowstorm, he stole the bones of James Smithson from a graveyard in Italy and returned them to the States, where those bones reside today in the Smithsonian Castle. To me, Alexander Graham Bell could’ve been a member of Sigma Force. Here we have a scientist and inventor who was not above a little skullduggery…in this case, literally. In fact, many true-to-life mysteries surrounding those stolen bones are critical to the story.

As a veterinarian myself, I’ve always loved science, medicine, and technology, especially anything that’s cutting edge and new. In my books, it’s not so much the cogs and wheels of that new bit of science that intrigues me as it is where that technology might be heading and how it might affect or lives—good or bad. The rapid advancement of such technologies often challenges the moral compasses of society and to have that mirrored by my characters during their adventures adds that touch of relevancy to a novel. In The Demon Crown, the book tackles issues involving not only invasive species, but also climate change, and the newest revelation by scientists concerning what truly wiped out the dinosaurs. Shockingly, it’s not what anyone imagined—and that threat still exists today.

I certainly do love to dig deep into the subject matters I write about. I love it so much I’ve learned over the years that I have to rein myself in a bit. I limit my main block of research on a novel to 90 days. On the 91st day, I have to begin writing. That all said, I’m also a bit of a lazy researcher. I prefer to interview people and pick their brains versus drily reading some history lesson or scientific treatise. Rather than having to earn a degree on a certain subject, I’d rather query people who have already earned those PhDs. Such a method often uncovers tantalizing details that I would’ve never found in a book, article, or Internet search. For The Demon Crown, I contacted scientists in various fields, but also the management team of a Polish salt mine—where, of course, much mayhem abounds in my novel.

Sure. My support for veterans first came about after I participated in a USO tour of authors to Iraq and Kuwait in the winter of 2010. Upon coming home, I knew I wanted to do more. First, I worked with USA Cares, which raises emergency funds for vets in need, then most recently I joined US 4 Warriors as an advisory board member. The new charity started as a grassroots effort in San Diego and has since expanded nationwide. Besides helping to promote the social welfare of vets in a wide spectrum of activities, the latest endeavor also involves helping veterans tell their stories…and get published! So as a writer, I’m especially exciting as US 4 Warriors expands into this adventure.