Question: JB, Where did you get the idea for Distraction? Why did you write it?

I first began writing Distraction as a story about hacking and the dangers we may be facing because of our increasing uses of technology. I am not anti-technology, but I do believe we need to take a close look at the real risks of how we are using it today. As I began writing, I wasn’t sure what the core of the story would be…the “big hack”…I called it. One morning as I was doing research, I came across a news article about the Westlake Landfill. I was familiar with it from things I had read before but hadn’t considered it for a story. Suddenly, I found myself with the perfect “big hack”. As a writer, I thought the two concepts would make an interesting story and would be an opportunity to make readers aware of two very real risks that exist today.

There is a third issue in Distraction and the other Emily Graham books, and that is the role of the secret groups behind the stories. I’ve never been much of a conspiracy theory guy, but as I look at everything going on globally today and the social and political trends, my imagination wonders if there isn’t something behind it all, some ‘thing’ that is writing the script the world is following. It may be imaginary, but that’s why we still call it fiction.