Almost three million copies of Josie Brown’s novels are in readers’ hands. She is the author of the 20-novel Housewife Assassin’s Handbook series; the 8-novel Totlandia episodic series; the 3-novel Extracurricular
Josie’s interviews for her podcast, Author Provocateur, and for the International Thriller Writers magazine THE BIG THRILL include such notable authors as Samantha M. Bailey, David Baldacci, C.J. Box, Allison Brennan, Lee Child, Robert Dugoni, Barry Eisler, JT Ellison, Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke, Tess Gerritsen, Lee Goldberg, Andrew Gross, Kristan Higgins, Andrew Mayne, James Rollins, Daniel Pyne, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Brad Thor, Julie Valerie, and Debra Webb.
Me: Tell us about the Housewife Assassin series.
Josie: My protagonist, Donna Stone, appears to have a perfect life: three children, a dog, and a house in one of Southern California’s prestigious gated communities, Hilldale. Her handsome, loving husband, Carl, works for an international Investment firm, Acme Industries. She has the perfect yard, cooks like a professional chef, and jogs to keep her svelte figure in shape.
Her only flaw: she ruffles the feathers of the community’s mean mommies because she is always late for carpool pickup.
Maybe that has something to do with the fact that she times her government-sanctioned assassinations while her kids—twelve-year-old Mary, ten-year-old Jeff, and five-year-old Trisha—are at school.
Hey, well, Los Angles traffic can be such a pain…
In truth, Carl died the day Donna was giving birth to her youngest child: Trisha, now five. Turns out Acme Industries is a US MIlitary-contracted black-ops organization, and Carl was one of its top hard men (i.e., assassins). When his boss, Ryan Clancy, divulged this to Donna, he also said that he’d like for Quorum, the international terrorist group that killed Carl, to think that Carl was still alive. If Donna played along, Acme would keep Carl’s paycheck coming…
She says yes—in part because she can’t face the fact he’d died, let alone break this news to her children.
In time, she convinces Ryan to let her take Carl’s place. It’s the best way to avenge Carl’s death—until Acme’s chance to take Quorum down means planting another operative, Jack Craig, under Donna’s roof.
Now, Donna has a dilemma. Does she play house with the perennial winner of Spooklandia’s Undercover Lover award? And what if her kids—whose father is now just a faded memory, fall in love with a man who’s underfoot merely as cover for their mission?
Me: What inspired you to write this series?
Josie: The idea for The Housewife Assassin series hit me like an icy chill. It was a warm day. I was standing in my living room, thinking of all the things on my to-do list: grocery shopping, carpool, vacuuming—and the fact that there had just been news of a terrorist attack on US soil. It struck me that this is one of those times when the average parent feels so hopeless. You want life to be normal—that is, to experience those little things in life that become traditions and memories. In a topsy-turvy world, those things are even more precious.
I wanted to create a heroine whose life had been turned inside out because of terrorism. Her way of responding is to get involved on the basest level.
At that moment Donna Stone was born. (And yes, her name is an homage to the character on the television show.)
Me: What is the most challenging aspect of writing this series?
Josie: As I write book #21, “Antisocial Media Tips,” I think authors of novel series can agree that we always strive to move the personal stories of our protagonists forward while keeping their on-page lives fresh for our readers. Mine expect me to be on top of the issues of international espionage. It’s why I subscribe to some twenty-plus newspapers and magazines. And believe me, there are a lot of sinister “what-ifs” out there to choose from—sadly, too many! It’s fun to figure out how Donna, Jack, and their mission team will save the world.
At the same time, my readers are vested in the lives of Donna, Jack, and the family they now share. In my books, the kids aren’t raising themselves. And, in time, they’ve found out the truth about their parents, which has given them a reason to mourn, be angry, accept, and carry on. More to the point, seeing this side of their parents has helped them survive—and to thrive.
Me: Who is your favorite character in the series and why?
Josie: Donna—of course! Possibly because she is everything I am not: brave (I’m afraid of fire, water, and heights; I was also afraid to fly until I got hypnotized), a great cook (I burn water—no joke!—or, at least, the pot I boil it in), and violence. I can shoot a gun—and I’ve got a kick-back scar to prove it. But I prefer Donna’s kills to be more imaginative. I think this is one of the reasons that readers come along for the ride.
Me: What’s next for Donna?
Josie: I’m working on the twenty-first novel in the series: The Housewife Assassin’s Anti-Social Media Tips. The novel picks up a few threads that were unresolved in the last few books, which happened in close succession. At the same time, I always include some international intrigue or incident of social disorder that is happening in real time.
