In this episode of In Conversation with Terry Shepherd, Terry dives deep into the writer's craft with author and artist Karen Ann Phillips to celebrate the release of A Deadly Hook, the third and final installment in her popular Rocky Nelson series.

What happens when a peaceful weekend in the Sierra Nevadas is interrupted by a Bigfoot sighting and a shocking murder? Karen shares how her protagonist, Raquel "Rocky" Nelson—a retired boxer with a soft heart and a knockout punch—navigates a sinister mystery that leaves one of her own friends as the prime suspect.

Inside This Episode

• A Different Kind of Sleuth: Why Karen chose to make her protagonist a 55-year-old boxer instead of a traditional bakery owner to set her apart in the "cozy" genre.
• Art Imitating Life: The autobiographical elements behind Rocky, including Karen’s own boxing lessons and her "money pit" experience owning a vintage trailer.
• Handling Heavy Themes: How Karen weaves sensitive topics like suicide and sibling rivalry into a traditional mystery while maintaining a "heartfelt" tone and a happy ending.
• The Romantic Tussle: Rocky’s ultimate choice between the "hot firefighter" and the "handsome detective".
• The Writing Process: Karen’s transition from short stories to novels, her use of "sprints" for discipline, and the mentors who helped her along the way.

About Karen Ann Phillips

Karen Ann Phillips is a novelist and a professional cover designer. She is an active member of the writing community, including Sisters in Crime and Capital Crimes. While A Deadly Hook wraps up Rocky’s journey, Karen is already at work on her next project: The Mother Daughter Detective Agency.

Connect with Karen:

• Website: karenaphillips.com
• Featured Book: A Deadly Hook

Mentioned in this Episode

• Sisters in Crime & Capital Crimes (Sacramento Chapter)
• Eight Weeks to a Complete Book by Becky Clark
• Writing mentors: Cindy Sample and Penny Warner

We all inevitably become the brand. And that's why I wrote, "How to Become a Dynamic Podcast Guest and Sell Stuff." It's a sweet and short primer that teaches you about the gear, the appearance and the messaging that can grab and hold today's micro-attention spans and motivate your listeners to take action. It's Just a dollar ninety nine at Amazon. Grab your copy today and sell mo

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Episode Title: From DOJ Corridors to Chicago Syndicates: Chad Boudreaux on Crafting Mob Justice

Episode Description:

Imagine starting a high-stakes job at the Department of Justice on September 10, 2001. For our guest today, Chad Boudreaux, that was reality. After spending decades navigating the overlapping spheres of homeland security and defense leadership, Chad has channeled a world of classified briefings and calibrated language into a thrilling second vocation as an author.

In this episode, Chad joins us to discuss his latest novel, Mob Justice, the highly anticipated follow-up to Scavenger Hunt. He takes us behind the scenes of his writing process and into the gray areas where the law’s formal architecture meets the improvisations of survival.

We explore his protagonist, Blake Hudson—an earnest, tested DOJ attorney—who is dispatched to a Chicago still haunted by the lingering aura of the Prohibition-era Chicago Outfit.

In this episode, we cover:

• A Trial by Fire: What it was like for Chad to start at the DOJ the day before 9/11 and how those decades in federal service shaped his fiction.
• The Anti-Action Hero: Why Chad chose to make Blake Hudson an earnest, naive protagonist navigating a system that rewards calculation, rather than a preloaded "marquee star."
• Authenticity Over Melodrama: How Chad consulted former FBI agents to master the true "vocabulary of surveillance" and ensure his wiretap scenes carried documentary restraint.
• The Ultimate Antagonist: A breakdown of the book's most arresting confrontation featuring Enzo—a former Supreme Court clerk who chillingly pivots into a mob consigliere.
• Institutions & Humanity: Exploring the novel's core themes of loyalty, betrayal, and finding the irreducibly human elements beneath the marble floors of Washington.

Whether you love legal thrillers, organized crime history, or just want to hear how an insider translates real-world government experience into page-turning fiction, this episode is for you!

Get the Book: Pick up your copy of Mob Justice and its predecessor, Scavenger Hunt, wherever books are sold.

We all inevitably become the brand. And that's why I wrote, "How to Become a Dynamic Podcast Guest and Sell Stuff." It's a sweet and short primer that teaches you about the gear, the appearance and the messaging that can grab and hold today's micro-attention spans and motivate your listeners to take action. It's Just a dollar ninety nine at Amazon. Grab your copy today and sell mo

What if the secret to humanity's future was hidden inside a murdered judge's laptop?

In this episode of In Conversation with Terry Shepherd, Terry sits down with debut thriller author Gary Fields to explore his globe-spanning, time-bending novel, The Book of Judges — already drawing comparisons to The Da Vinci Code.

When a respected judge is killed, three unlikely heroes — a young lawyer, a theology doctoral candidate, and a quirky tech genius — have just 72 hours to decode the clues buried in his computer. What they uncover sends them on a desperate chase across Florida, hunted by a relentless killer, and ultimately face-to-face with a secret that could change the world.

Gary shares the remarkable journey behind the book: from poetry and songwriting as a kid, to careers in tech and law, to 15 drafts over 20 years before finally publishing his debut. He talks about the spiritual concept of "the Words" — his belief that creativity connects us all — and why themes of human destiny, interconnectedness, and justice run through every page.

You'll also hear his surprisingly chilling take on artificial intelligence, what Henry VIII has to do with the future of political freedom, and why Joshua Sutton — his protagonist — will be back for a sequel.

In this episode:

• The origin of The Book of Judges and why it took two decades to write
• How Gary blends authentic legal history with modern thriller pacing
• The three protagonists — and the real people who inspired them
• Dreams, destiny, and the idea that we're all more connected than we know
• Gary's AI warning you won't soon forget

📖 Learn more and read a free expanded chapter: garyfields.com

In Conversation with Terry Shepherd — a deep dive into the writer's craft with the artists and support systems who create the stories we love.

We all inevitably become the brand. And that's why I wrote, "How to Become a Dynamic Podcast Guest and Sell Stuff." It's a sweet and short primer that teaches you about the gear, the appearance and the messaging that can grab and hold today's micro-attention spans and motivate your listeners to take action. It's Just a dollar ninety nine at Amazon. Grab your copy today and sell mo