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IN THEIR BLOOD , my first suspense novel, was triggered by a burglary of my own home when my husband, daughter and I were asleep in the upstairs bedrooms. Although the burglar didn’t come upstairs and no one was hurt, for months after, I remained haunted by the break-in and a terrible feeling of violation. I kept imagining the intruder was going to return and that next time we wouldn’t be so lucky.

Most nights, I would lie awake in bed and listen for footsteps climbing the stairs, and listen. And listen. Until one day, I decided to write down my fears. They became the opening chapter of IN THEIR BLOOD

From there, the plot grew. I wondered--what would happen to an ordinary family that’s shattered by a violent crime? Perhaps a family not all that different from my own. What if the parents had been killed that night? What would become of their kids? How would they cope? Would they remember the lessons their parents had taught them?
And so I imagined twenty-two-year-old Jeremy Stroeb, a disillusioned college dropout backpacking through Europe when he learns about his parents’ deaths. He’s forced to return to Miami to take care of his sixteen-year-old sister and assume the responsibility he’s tried to avoid his entire life. And I thought… what if Jeremy decides to get on the inside of his parents’ lives hoping to find who might have had a motive for wanting them dead? And how would Jeremy feel when he discovers his parents were not the people he had always believed them to be?

IN THEIR BLOOD is a story about family, mistaken perceptions, and growing up. It’s also about challenging gorillas and ogres and confronting the fears of our childhood—lessons I had learned well. IN THEIR BLOOD was my first published novel. It received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, then went on to win the Benjamin Franklin award for best Mystery/Suspense novel.

At last, after almost a million words, I was off and running

Tomorrow: Sharon Potts Day 4: Someone's Watching

Bio
Sharon Potts is the award-winning, critically acclaimed author of three thriller novels.

A native of New York, Potts graduated from New York University’s Stern School of Business. Before migrating to Miami, Potts worked in public accounting. In Miami, Potts served as a managing director of an international staffing company and president of an executive search/accounting recruitment firm.

Pott’s is member of Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers.

Her career as a mystery/thriller writer began with In Their Blood, winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award and recipient of a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly, followed by Someone’s Watching and now, The Devil’s Madonna.

Potts lives in Miami Beach with her husband, Joe, and Australian shepherd, Gidget.