When I hear from someone reading my new book (yes, the one that’s not released yet, Qubyte) and he says he has a technical question, there’s a little moment of ‘what could this be?’ and a small sense of foreboding.  

It was a really good question and easily answered, but not something anyone else has mentioned so that was very cool. 

The question involved an Internet café more specifically the term ‘Internet Café’ – it’s an important place and it never had a name that Ellie knew, it was always the Internet café. This place brings up the past and reminds her how quickly shit can go wrong. 

I really liked being able to tell Pete why the café existed the way it did. No branding, no real movement into the 21st Century, it’s still the same café that Ellie visited in Killerbyte. These days you’d be hard pressed to find an actual Internet café with computers sitting in a row and that makes this particular place standout in the story which is obviously set in the present day.

Then he told me that he’s enjoying the book. And I breathed a sigh of relief and maybe there was a little fist pump! 🙂

Yeah, this is my 10th Byte novel, but it never gets easy. I’m never sure if I hit the marks or not. And when someone new to Ellie Iverson’s world begins with book 10, it’s nerve wracking. 

To be honest, no matter where someone I care about start the series it will always be a nervous time for me. 

Having someone who knows shit and who you greatly respect read it – well, it’s a sink or swim moment. So, I’m one pretty happy author right about now. Thanks Pete. 🙂

My biggest hope when new readers hop on board the crazy train is that they love Ellie as much as I do and that she becomes a real person to the reader. Someone they’d like to drink tequila with or grab a coffee with, someone they care about. 

Ellie is who she is because of a culmination of experiences (just like the rest of us) and she rarely backs down because she believes in justice – however that unfolds. I’ve known her a long time – and she still surprises me. Writing Ellie Iverson gives me a sense of security. (I know, right? Insane stuff!)

Writing Qubyte not knowing what would happen or who would still be standing at the end was interesting and a little bit scary, but, there were things I did know. I knew how Ellie would react in various scenarios (to a point, once that point was hit all bets were off!), I knew what pushed her buttons, and I knew without any doubt that she would never ask anyone to do something that she wasn’t prepared to do herself. 

Sending a book out into the world is terrifying.

It will never get easy and for that I am grateful. 

You can pre-order Qubyte for kindle here.  

Pre-order an ePub version of Qubyte from kobo here.

Pre-order from Apple Books here.