Every book starts somewhere. This one started at a crossroads: part daydream and part serious effort to avoid graduate school homework.
I won't tell you where I was when it happened — officially, I don't exist during business hours. What I can tell you is that I live and work in the same world where PICS takes place. The government buildings, the bureaucratic absurdity, the jargon, the SOPs — none of that was researched. It was remembered. Sometimes it was experienced that morning. At the same time, PICS is a work of fiction. Just because the details are correct, doesn't mean all of them are straight-up working facts.
I started writing this story during one particularly chaotic chapter of American life. Here we are in another. (Chaos, it turns out, is always relevant.) Having said that, there's chaos... and then there's Chaos with a capital "C." For example, a typical Tuesday in federal service contains enough material for an entire novel...you either find the humor in it or start updating your resume. (I don't want to update my resume. I love my job!)
That's where Chaos came from. She's the version of me that handles it better than I do. Making sense of nonsense. Faster, smarter, and significantly better armed. When things get ridiculous — and they always get ridiculous — I find myself asking: what would Chaos do? (Honestly, probably hide and take a nap.) But before that, she'd remove solve the problem, document it with photographic evidence, and file the correct paperwork in triplicate, with spelling errors.
As a former U.S. Marine, I wanted the military details to feel real because they are real. The call signs, the rank structure, Quantico, the culture, the humor — especially the humor. Marines are not what people expect.
Neither is Chaos. I hope she gets in your head the way she got in mine. What started as a daydream crossed the boundaries of reality and fiction, and faster than you can say Whiskey Tango Foxtrot I had not only a conspiracy on my hands, but a slow-burn romance and a character I couldn't shake.
When life gets chaotic, it's okay to evade and escape for a while. Fighting is a last resort. Let Chaos fight for you; live through her vicariously. Or Stankiewicz. Or Shadow. But not Ozwald. For the love of Montezuma — not Ozwald.
Semper Fidelis,
Marina Zuryck
who officially doesn't exist...at least not during business hours
PICS (or it never happened) is a military romance and conspiracy thriller — available soon! Join the Team Chaos roster and get some bonus content — a sneak preview of the first 3 chapters.