Cindy Skaggs

My dad was larger than life. He was significantly older than my mother, had been married five times, and fathered ten kids. He died when I was young, but I grew up on stories of his adventures—like the time he played poker with a Kansas City mobster, only to discover the man had stolen his horse. My dad’s honor code did not allow for horse thieves, so he drove up to that man’s barn, put the horse in his trailer, and made it home alive.

He’d also been robbed at knifepoint by the killers from In Cold Blood around the time of the Holcomb Murders. Through it all, he held an old-fashioned belief in protecting women. He never laid a hand on us girls, and he told his sons to protect their sisters because he knew not all men were honorable.

These stories weren’t just family legends; they were my first lessons in the art of storytelling and in what makes a hero. They shaped the themes and characters in my romantic suspense novels, where heroes live by their own code of honor, even when the law can’t protect the innocent.

In Untouchable, a by-the-book FBI agent blurs the lines between right and wrong to protect the ex-wife of a mob boss when her son is kidnapped. In my Team Fear series, every hero would move heaven and earth to defend the women in their lives. They may not always be on the right side of the law, but like my dad, they know some lines you don’t cross… And some you will, if it means protecting the people you love.

The Team Fear series started with a newspaper article. During the Gulf War, there was an experiment on Air Force pilots where the military gave them something to inhibit the fear reaction, but something went wrong. The “what if” of “bad things happening” is like candy to a writer.

I started to wonder: What would happen if you limited the physiological reaction to fear? What takes the place of fear when you remove it? I shifted the story to soldiers instead of airmen and began exploring the dark consequences of trying to remove fear, which is something we actually need. Fear has a purpose.

And because of my father’s stories, I knew the best way to showcase the good in these men was in the way they protect women. It’s one thing to be rough and tough and fearless, but the true character of a man is demonstrated by the way he treats those who do not have those attributes. How you treat the people at home is as important as how you do the job. My heroines are strong, capable, and perfectly able to defend themselves, but let’s be honest: having a warfighting hero willing to move heaven and earth to protect you is heady stuff. It’s that balance—strong women, good men with complicated pasts, and high-stakes danger—that makes Team Fear what it is.

Oh, man. Titles are hard! I want each title to be unique, embody something essential in the book, and avoid overlapping with other published novels, which is harder than it sounds.

In Untouchable, the heroine is incredibly isolated. She’s escaped a marriage to the mob but lives in the no-man’s-land between the mob she fled and the law enforcement machine pressuring her to turn on her ex, something that would surely get her killed. She’s afraid to have friends, spending most of her time with her son. She’s untouchable because of her past, but also because no man wants to risk the wrath of a mob boss. Until the hero—a by-the-book FBI agent—bends the rules to help save her son.

Unforgettable is about the mob boss’s sister, a hypnotherapist who uses hypnosis to forget something dangerous from her past. But when a former boyfriend re-enters her life, she realizes some things—and some people—are unforgettable. Well, once you have two Un-books, a pattern emerges.

Unstoppable is the story of Mick and Dez. He’s a mountain of a man no one can stop, and she’s too determined to back down. Together, they’re unstoppable.

Titles, for me, are like a promise to the reader: a single word that captures the heart of the story waiting for them inside.

When I get a kernel of an idea, I let it simmer for a while. With Untouchable, I was a newly divorced single mom, and the only time I had to myself was at the gym, on the treadmill, while the kids were in the daycare. As I walked off the stress of the day, I started asking questions:

“What kind of woman runs on a treadmill like it’s her religion?” “What’s the worst thing that could happen to a child in the gym daycare?” (Like I said, newly divorced.) “And why would a woman on a treadmill need a bodyguard?”

Once I had the answers, I understood my character well enough to start imagining the opening scene. I play it like a movie reel in my mind, over and over, until I know every step of that scene—until the moment she discovers her son is missing.

From there, I figure out my main plot beats, develop the hero’s character, and write from plot point to plot point. Once I’m in this phase, the writing moves quickly. I revise and edit as I go, so by the time I finish, I have a clean draft ready for my editor. Part of the reason for this is that I hate the editing phase, so if I incorporate it into drafting, it feels less like a struggle.

My current project is a magical realism novel set in Dublin, and I’m still in that ruminating phase—asking questions about my main character, who started as a young man but has slowly become who she’s meant to be: a middle-aged woman running from the chaos of her American life. I can’t wait until I can visualize the opening scene and start writing! But I don’t rush the process.

Oh, all the time. Even my first book, which featured a mob boss, was influenced by my father’s stories. I used dialogue from past interpersonal conflicts, much like F. Scott Fitzgerald did in The Great Gatsby. Life is our inspiration as writers, and while I’ve never been fearless or untouchable, I can include parts of myself and the world I know. Sometimes, those pieces of past experiences or relationships find their way into my stories without me even realizing it.

My sister once said she hears our mother’s voice in my writing, but I didn’t put it there intentionally. It just happened.

The Untouchable series is set in Colorado, where I live. The Team Fear series is set in Texas, where I was stationed once upon a time. The soldiers in Team Fear aren’t based on anyone I know, but I did serve in the military, so those details come from experience. My next book is set in Dublin, because I moved there in 2022 to study Irish Literature and fell in love with the place.

These are the threads that make up the tapestry of my stories, which uses places I know (Colorado, Texas, and Dublin) and worlds I’ve lived in (military life) to create fiction that feels real, even when the stories themselves are pure imagination.

I understand storytelling better because of the MFA, but also because of teaching creative writing. Anyone can write. You don’t need a degree, but what the MFA and other creative writing programs offer is a chance to cut ahead in the line. It’s like drowning in information about the writing craft, getting in those much needed 10,000 hours of practice.

When I finished the program, my brain was on fire with too much new information. It took teaching others for me to recognize how much I had learned because I had to present the information to students. By digging into my learning and my own process, I was able to teach concepts by breaking them down. Then I started intentionally adding an element (like minor characters) to my books based on what I’ve learned and what I teach. When writers start using a new technique, it’s like writing with a non-dominant hand. You feel clumsy and awkward. But over time, it becomes intuitive. I think that’s been the biggest boost from the program is slowing down my writing to figure out how I work.

Writers need real life to write characters that feel authentic, so while it might seem like a goal to simply be able to write as the sole job, I’m not sure that would work for me. If we hide away in a writing tower, we become isolated and less connected to our fellow humans. I don’t know that I would ever want to write “full time,” if that’s even possible these days, because people, society, and the odd workplace drama are good for the writer’s soul.

I’m also ADHD, so having “more time,” doesn’t equate to more writing getting done. I find that I do more when I’m busy than when I have “free time.” And because I have ADHD, which for me is a struggle to start or implement a project, I need either interest or urgency to get things done (so a deadline creates great urgency).

While I’m always interested in a new book, to stayed engaged to the end, I need to write quickly, and I need something to create a sense of urgency. I have help to stay focused in the form of small writing communities that hold me accountable. We do writing sprints together, which holds me accountable, and provides a sense of urgency since there’s usually a time limit. It also provides me with a body double, which is a person who acts as an anchoring presence. Literally, they’re just there working on their own thing, but the presence of another person helps maintain motivation. I know for a fact that I am more productive when I do sprints with others. At least three of the Team Fear books and the last two Untouchable books were written this way.

That’s something that’s changed over time. What interests me in storytelling is discovering the story. I like to be surprised by the characters and situations, so detailed pre-plotting would steal most of my joy (interest) in a story, but I realized while writing the Untouchable series that I do myself a disservice by not pre-plotting at least a bit.

For instance, I wrote books 2 and 3 completely rather than selling on a partial (first three chapters + book synopsis), because there was no way I could write a synopsis without having first written the book. Because of this, I now write somewhere in between. I have a strong sense of the story in my head, I know the character fully before I start, and I know the main beats of the plot I want to reach. This gives me the spine of the story while allowing for discovery during the drafting phrase.

Great question. I’ve been reading romance novels since I was 13 (don’t tell my mom I’m sure my mom didn’t know it at the time). I have an intuitive sense of the flow of romance beats. But since I like challenging myself (making my life harder), I wanted to increase the tension through suspense. It’s probably related to my ADHD. Why do one thing when you can do two? I also think that the tension in the suspense increases the tension and chemistry between the characters.

My next book is a magical realism novel set in Dublin. With only a hint of romance and no traditional suspense, it’s challenging me, which is part of my interest in the project.

The things you do for your kids! J We were stationed in Illinois (I think), and they were lower elementary school age. Our favorite Mexican restaurant always brought the kids an activity sheet, crayons, and raw dough to play with while we waited for the food. Rather than playing with the dough, they would hand it to me and challenge me to make something out of the dough (make a car, a turtle, a gun (boy child)). It was such a great time, and good memories with my kids. I now use playdough as a fidget spinner.

If tortilla dough were an art form, how would it mimic or inform writing? It’s playtime. Because it was dough, and not something that would create permanent art, it allowed me to play, to make mistakes, be silly, without worrying about judgment. For me, the best writing happens when we allow ourselves to make mistakes or U-turns, when we’re silly, and most especially, when we stop judging the work and just have fun.

Oh, massively. When I’m in the ruminating phase of a new book, I create a playlist that acts much like a soundtrack in a movie. I know what will happen when that song “plays” in the story. I listen to the playlist constantly, especially at the gym where the act of moving helps loosen up my creativity. I’ve done this since the first Untouchable novel and have a bunch of playlists that take me back to my thoughts and ideas for a book, so when I get edits back, for example, I can listen to the playlist and get myself back in that headspace.

I also write with music blaring on my earbuds, and when I forget, the writing suffers. I know many people listen to classical music or music without lyrics, but that doesn’t work for me. I listen to something loud where the lyrics are almost another instrument. This helps shut off all distractions and forces focus, which my ADHD brain appreciates.

Kids and pets are sometimes a distraction from my creative process, but in a good way. They remind me that life is more than what I put onto the page. The neurotic dog and his crew need time and attention. They keep me from becoming hyper-focused on writing at the expense of everything else. I have to get up, feed them, take them for walks, and play. All of that helps my creativity.

As for the kids, from the age of 4, my daughter was a dancer, and we spent many weekends at the venue for their dance competitions or practice. I’d sit in the way back of the auditorium and write while other groups performed, and then focus back in when it was her turn to go. The constant exposure to dance and music always boosted my creativity. While it was another art form, it’s still telling a story.

With my son, who writes poetry and hopes to be a writer later in life, we played games, much like the tortilla dough. We’d create fake stories for people we saw out in the world. I made both of my kids study mythology and the hero’s journey in elementary school (poor kids), and we’d watch a movie and discuss where each element of the journey was in the movie. We’d even play a version of “how to survive a Zombie apocalypse,” which was part game and part storytelling.

Kids and pets keep us connected to what is important, but they also give us a sense of play that we need to keep replenishing our creative well.

Burnout. I wrote too many books too fast while also getting my MFA, and when I finished the MFA, I was creatively depleted. Recovery is ongoing. To re-regulate and re-inspire myself, I’ve learned to do the things we know we need to do: exercise, a good diet, meditation, drinking plenty of water, and not overextending myself. I have a hard time setting boundaries, “sure, I can do one more thing,” so I’m learning to say no to the things that will deplete me. I spend time with my writing community. I try to keep the negative voice in my head from interfering with the writing process.

My current work in progress (WIP) is a magical realism novel set in Dublin. It’s not the book I imagined when I first left for Ireland, but it’s the book it’s meant to be. I’m writing a collection of short stories, not set in Ireland and not romance or suspense. I decided I have too many ideas to write all of them as books, so short stories are something new I’m playing with. I also have one book left to finish the Team Fear series, so that should take me through 2026.

The highlight for me was the book cover contest, and the new followers. I was surprised by how long my book stayed in the running, and since I didn’t promote it to my newsletter followers (my bad), I went much further than I expected. The bigger element is having someone else run some promotion for me during a busy time in my life. It was a nice surprise whenever I saw something posted on social media that I didn’t have to organize.