by Rebecca K. Jones
The protagonist of my second novel, Stemming the Tide, published this fall by Bella Books, is Mackenzie Wilson, a female prosecutor living and working in Tucson, Arizona. Mack was also the main character in my first book, Steadying the Ark, which came out in 2022.
After Ark, I didn’t expect to write any more about Mack Wilson—more than anything else, I wrote the book simply to see if I was capable of writing a long piece of fiction. When it came time to write a sequel, there were some ways in which the process was easier—I had the confidence of a first book supporting me, I knew my characters better than I did the first time, and I had a much clearer sense of plot and pacing than I did originally. There were also ways, however, in which the second book was more of a struggle than the first one. I needed to find higher stakes, new sources of tension, and a way to incorporate the will-they-or-won’t-they romance that lingered at the end of the first book. 
After spending 10 years as a prosecutor in the Phoenix area, I had a good idea of how to raise the stakes. In the first book, Mack was placed in physical danger and then rescued by her ex-girlfriend. In the second book, I wanted to put Mack in physical danger again, but I wanted to put her best friend and her ex-girlfriend at risk, too. This is, of course, a trope in the suspense/courtroom procedural/female protagonist genre: in both books, Mack must rely on herself and other women to get out of trouble that’s been caused by men.
I understand where this trope comes from. Men really do put women in danger. Women really do have to pull themselves out of these situations, and really do rely on other women for help. That danger varies, certainly. Not every woman is kidnapped by a deranged stalker or gets involved with a serial killer. I would hope this goes without saying, but not all men put women at risk. Most don’t. But I don’t know any women who have managed to skate through life without, at least once, being put into a physically dangerous situation by a man.
Even though the trope comes from reality, I wrestled with the question of whether or not I want to be the kind of author who contributes to this perception of women as imperiled and in need of rescue. On the one hand, there’s a good reason why physical danger is a staple of the suspense genre: it’s exciting, even thrilling! On the other hand, though, I try not to write trauma porn—there’s enough of that in the world already. Mack Wilson prevails against men who mean to do her harm. She can save herself, and she and her support network can save each other. Does that turn the trope on its head? I hope so.
When this blog post comes out, I will be nearing a finished draft of the third Mack Wilson book. Spoiler alert: in this one, Mack is never in physical danger. That’s not to say that the book won’t concern itself with violence against women—both of its two parallel cases involve the infliction of physical harm on women and girls by men. Even though Mack herself isn’t confronted with violence this time, I think it’s fair to say that Book 3 has the highest emotional stakes for Mack.
In my years as a prosecutor, there were only a few times when I felt physically unsafe around defendants, but I’ve seen defendants attack detention officers and their attorneys, and I’ve seen families get in physical fights in the courthouse. Life can be scary for people working in the crimina justice system—I know lots of people who carry guns or keep them in their homes, and situational awareness is regularly emphasized in trainings.
Ultimately, I write for two reasons—because I find it enjoyable, and I want to entertain readers. I’m sure that many authors have the same motivations. I’m in the rare position, though, of getting to write about the criminal justice system from the inside. I feel fortunate to get to bring readers into my daily life and teach them something while they’re (hopefully) being entertained. For this reason, I am aware of the balancing act between faithfully representing the world I’ve spent my career working in and writing thrilling books that people will want to read.
Will Mack find herself in peril in book four? Probably. But whether it’s a deranged stalker or a crazed killer, I trust that Mack and her friends will use their grit and their wits to dig themselves out of whatever danger I put them in.
Steadying the Ark will be featured on a Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast sometime this year!
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It’s always nice to get an inside perspective from someone who enjoys their job.