I'm really excited about my latest book, The Devil's
Workshop. My inspiration for the book was some
fascinating research I ran across one day while working on
my computer. I pulled up some websites about bioweaponry.
The more I read, the more fascinating it seemed to me --
not so much just the whole idea of bioweapons, but the
idea that our government might still be involved in
actively pursuing new generations of bioweapons when, in
fact, we, along with around 100 other nations, signed the
1972 Biological Weapons Convention, which prohibits the
proliferation of bioweapons. But the research clearly
shows that many countries are disregarding this treaty and
are actively developing bioweapons. It then occurred to me
that it is highly unlikely that our own CIA wouldn't also
be aware of these facts and for defense reasons be
operating a unit to do the same. As I began expanding my
research, I began to find out some shocking facts, such as
the story run by "60 Minutes" about the bacterial tests
with dangerous contaminants run by a government unit in
the New York City subways. There were also some other
strange things going on. For instance, more than one
million mosquitoes a month were being bred in Fort
Detrick, Maryland; needless to say, there were numerous
complaints from nearby residents. When you put that fact
together with the fact that mosquitoes are an excellent
vector (or targeting mechanism) for bioweapons, and with
recent congressional testimony about the rooms full of
illegal anthrax and sarin that were found at Fort Detrick,
it's easy to conclude that illegal testing is happening in
the United States.
In the Fort Detrick case, the scientists argued that they
had to have samples of antitoxins in case a terrorist
attack does occur, and so in order to develop antitoxins
they had to have strains of anthrax and sarin on hand. But
you don't need two or three rooms full of that stuff,
which is enough to kill the whole planet! All of this
fueled my imagination to think, "What if this unit still
exists and what if all of the evidence that I'm seeing
here is evidence of a secret off-the-books unit that's
developing bioweapons?" I decided that I would name it the
Devil's Workshop, and it became the focal point of the
story. But every story needs more than a great plot -- it
needs interesting characters.
The main character in the novel is Stacy Richardson. I
always want my female characters to be as important and as
strong as my male characters. When creating a character, I
always start by asking, "What's important to this person?"
I gave Stacy a relationship that's very important to her,
which she believes is nurturing and has allowed her to
achieve her dream of becoming a microbiologist. Then, at
the beginning of the novel, that relationship is snatched
from her in a shocking way that doesn't make any sense to
her. She believes she's being lied to about her husband's
so-called suicide. So she starts on a quest; it's her
quest that starts to unravel the conspiracy to hide this
off-the-books program. Stacy is a very strong character:
She stands up to some really powerful people, like Admiral
Zoll, one of the main heavies in the book. I especially
enjoyed writing the scenes where she takes on the macho
military guys, with only her brains and courage to back
her up -- those guys really underestimate her. She also
has to find out for her own peace of mind what her husband
was actually doing when he was stationed at the Devil's
Workshop. The answers may not be what she's expecting.
I really enjoyed the process of writing The Devil's
Workshop. I hope you'll enjoy reading it!
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