Most readers noticed that each story in the Compass Club quartet begins with a prologue detailing an incident at the fictional Hambrick Hall. The incident establishes something about that hero’s character and is a thread that runs through the story. It also dictates something about how the book will end. You may, or may not (especially if you read the books as they were released), have noticed that the first few paragraphs of the first chapter of each book references the laughter of the Compass Club. Allowing these men to laugh loud and long was important to me, as the men on which they’re (very, very) loosely based, are four of the funniest people I know.

West’s story was something I had been thinking about since I began the Compass Club series. I actually fiddled around with it in my head when I was thinking about the plot for North’s book, but then I realized it would have to be West’s story and that I would have to write all the other books just to get to it. It’s a little darker — or as my sister says — twisted — than the other stories, but that’s what happens when I put things off. That kind of anticipation ties me up in knots, and if I’m tied up…well, you see what happens to the characters.