M. H. Mead - Guest Post - The Caline Conspiracy

Today I am welcoming the authors of The Caline Conspiracy to the blog, to tell us a little bit about their latest release....

Not OUR Children

Why do we read fiction? For the characters. More specifically, for the relationship between the characters. The more real they seem, the more they strike a chord in our own lives.



One of the most important relationships in The Caline Conspiracy is the emerging tumult between Aidra and her teenage son, Jon. Aidra is a private investigator living in a Detroit condo she can barely afford, trying her best to raise her son as single mom. As she embarks on an apparently hopeless case, she’s also dealing with the chaotic effects of Jon’s puberty. He’s growing up faster than she’d like to admit.

Our readers have asked us, “Are you really comfortable writing about your children that way? Making your relationship public?”

While we appreciate the compliment—that the parent-child dynamic in The Caline Conspiracy rings so true that it must be based on our own lives—we need to stress that any resemblance between our own rotten, spoiled, whiny children and those depicted in our fiction is completely coincidental.

Just kidding. Our kids are amazing.

Yes, we have teenage children. And Harry teaches high school so he’s around teens all day every day. Let’s just say we know how that relationship works—or doesn’t work. We put all of that knowledge, and those emotions, into our fiction.

As a single mom, Aidra is constantly overwhelmed both at home and on the job. Jon would love nothing more than a dog, but there is no room in Aidra’s life—or her heart—for a pet. Since the painful loss of her beloved Doberman, she wants nothing to do with any dog, certainly not a genetically engineered dog.

Especially one that might be a killer.

The world is shocked when a famed geneticist is murdered and his own pet caline is the prime suspect. Madeline, like all calines, was genetically engineered to be the ideal pet—smart, loyal and gentle. How could she kill her master? The widow doesn’t believe it, and hires Aidra to prove Madeline’s innocence.

Madeline was more than a pet. She was part of the family and the mother part of Aidra sees that something about this case isn’t right. The more she investigates, the more she believes an innocent animal is being framed.

But her investigation puts herself and her family in danger, and the only thing that saves them is the combination of Aidra’s private investigator’s smarts and her love for her son.

Aidra is a hero for trying to save Madeline. She’s a hero for never giving up until she finds the truth. But to us, she’s more of a hero because she’s a great parent.

About The Authors: 

Margaret Yang and Harry R. Campion write under the shared pan name M.H. Mead. They are the authors of FATE’S MIRROR, GOOD FENCES and the newly-released THE CALINE CONSPIRACY. You can find them on their website www.yangandcampion.com or on Facebook.