By Isabella Maldonado As a writer, I often find myself navigating the delicate balance between logical complexity and emotional depth. My stories are filled with intricate codes, riddles, and mysteries, while also delving into deeply emotional themes of betrayal, redemption, and resilience. To...
By Isabella Maldonado Ah, the elusive flow state—that magical realm where words pour out like a perfectly brewed cup of coffee, smooth and invigorating. It's the writer's equivalent of a unicorn: often discussed, rarely seen, and when you do catch a glimpse, it's nothing short of enchanting. If...
By Isabella Maldonado The FBI National Academy is an advanced course for law enforcement executives from around the world. For approximately three months, over 200 men and women move into college-style dorms at the FBI training campus at Quantico. The academic portion of the program is...
By Isabella Maldonado What do Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Beyoncé Knowles, Steve Jobs, and Kobe Bryant have in common? They all had to overcome shyness, public challenges, or inner struggles to perform at the highest levels—while the world was watching and judging their every move—and conceal...
By Isabella Maldonado Now that I’m a mom, I find that I routinely dole out advice to my son. I expect—or at least, hope—that he will heed the words of hard-won wisdom garnered from years of…oh, who am I kidding? He’s going to do whatever he does. Just like I did. During their training period,...
By Isabella Maldonado For my most recent novel, I wanted a lead character who was an action hero like Jack Reacher, Jason Bourne, Mitch Rapp, or Scot Horvath. But my hero had to be a woman. And she had to be believable. After some research, I learned such women do exist in real life. They are...
By Isabella Maldonado Imagine you’re trapped in a locked room, forced to use your deductive reasoning, cunning, and wit to escape. Now up the ante with a ticking time bomb set to detonate in less than a minute. To make things worse, each incorrect solution speeds up the countdown clock. Finally,...
The Rogues are excited that Isabella's new book A KILLER'S GAME just went live as an editor's pick and is being offered as an Amazon First Reads for the month of May! The editors noted: For fans of Squid Game and Criminal Minds, bestselling author Isabella Maldonado delivers the...
By Isabella Maldonado When you see a puzzle, a hidden message, or a secret code, do you have an urge to solve it? Let’s face it, cracking a code is a dopamine hit mixed with an adrenaline rush. From ancient times, humans have been forced to extrapolate from clues in their environment and solve...
by Isabella Maldonado The Latino equivalent of Windex is Vicks VapoRub, which is used to treat everything from a head cold to a sucking chest wound. Now you know. When I retired from police work and took up crime writing, I saw the need for a change from what usually populated bookshelves in the...
