CHANNEL YOUR INNER BATMAN

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...

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LOOKING FOR A REAL-LIFE HERO

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...

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CRACKING CAPTIVATING CODES

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...

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MY BIG FAT LATINO NOVEL

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...

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REGIONAL FLAVOR

by Isabella Maldonado I write two crime fiction series, one with a homicide detective and the other featuring a federal agent. A major difference between the two is how the setting changes the feel of the story. Having your main character work in the same place grounds your story deeply in the...

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PLEASE EXCUSE MY BADGE

by Isabella Maldonado More than two decades with a gun and badge changes you—for better and for worse. After retiring from the force, I found shifting to civilian life somewhat challenging, and discovered that being a cop requires certain behaviors and skills that don’t transition well. Here are a...

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