NK Chats To… Evie Jacobs

Published October 4, 2025 | By Laura

Hi Evie, thank you so much for joining me today and for inviting Novel Kicks onto your blog tour. Can you tell me about your book, Dangerous Decisions and what inspired it?

Thanks for having me! Dangerous Decisions is the story of Nate Hughes, a pilot who shares a business with his siblings, and Angie Liu, a CIA agent who is investigating an informant’s death. The two meet at a casino in Miami and have a one-night stand. Everything is great–until Angie realizes Nate is actually the son of the man whose death she is investigating.

Dangerous Decisions is an interconnected standalone, meaning that while it is technically the second book in the Dangerous Skies Adventure series, it does not have to be read after or with the first book.

I couldn’t tell you exactly what inspired this story, but while I was writing Dangerous Descent, I always knew that Nate would investigate his father’s death in the second. Thinking back, it seems like Angie’s character came easily as well. I wrote a good chunk of this book during COVID and wasn’t happy with the result. It wasn’t until I published Dangerous Descent that I decided to revisit Dangerous Decisions and turn it into something I was proud of.

What was your route to publication?

Evie’s Main Writing Office

I queried my first book, Dangerous Descent, with no luck, and was about to shove it in the metaphorical drawer when I decided to try a few small publishers. I wasn’t expecting much, but one publisher responded within a week asking for the full manuscript. After that, things moved pretty quickly, and I had a publishing contract by the end of the month. The experience of publishing through a small press was invaluable. I learned a ton, but more importantly, the validation that someone wanted to publish my book gave me the confidence to stick with it. Despite all the positives, I also wished I’d had more control over the final product. For the second book, I went it on my own.

What elements do you feel make up a good thriller?

Tension, danger, high stakes, momentum, immediacy, and characters you care about.

What’s your typical writing day like? Do you have any writing rituals? A favourite place to write?

Evie’s Basement Office

On a perfect day, I get up, eat breakfast and putz around for a bit before getting to work. After that I will stagger work time with exercise, more work time, lunch, free time, and then a bit more work. Unfortunately, I have a full-time job, so the perfect day doesn’t happen as often as I would like.

I get the most done at writing retreats, events where you travel to a new location (either alone or with other writers) with the purpose of doing nothing but writing. These are always super productive, but the level of productivity is not sustainable. I do as many writing retreats as I can, but when I’m writing at home–which is where most of my writing happens–I work at my desk in the basement. This is a little workstation I set up, and it’s only used for writing. Because this is the only thing I do here, I’m not tempted to check email, surf the web, etc. All I do there is write. I don’t even really do my planning–which often requires research–in my upstairs office.

What scenes do you find hardest to write?

I think it varies, but I struggle with scenes that are meant to show passage of time, probably because they can feel like a passive summary. I naturally write stories that unfold over a relatively short period with one thing happening after another. I struggle to stretch out timelines.

Sex scenes are hard to write in the sense that they take a lot of time, but I enjoy writing them and don’t mind the extra work. Still, because of the time investment, I will sometimes skip past them.

What’s your favourite word?

This is a fun question! I don’t think I have a favorite word, but I was recently reading through a historical romance I’m working on, and there is a sarcastic, jaded character who belittles love every chance he gets. He describes his recently married friend as having been dragooned into staying home with his wife and mother. I totally don’t remember writing the word, but I saw it and thought, “Oh, that’s fun.”

Do you have any advice for someone facing writers’ block?

For me, when I get stuck, it’s usually because I don’t know where I‘m going next. This is why I find a quick session of longhand freewriting to be so beneficial. I never do it for very long–about five minutes–and it usually helps me get unstuck. This is the only time I write anything by hand. Mentally, writing with pen and paper signals to my brain that it’s not official, and I’m able to just let my mind go.

What are you currently working on?

I’m working on the third (and last) book in the Dangerous Skies Adventure series. This book focuses on Jack, the third Hughes sibling.

Which songs would you add to a playlist for your novel?

I love 80’s music, so that is my first thought: Billy Idol, Oingo Boingo, Depeche Mode. But when it comes to music and writing, I can’t focus on what I’m doing if I’m also listening to music with lyrics. I have a subscription to brain.fm, which has instrumental music, and I find it works quite well. The music helps get me in the zone but also blends into the background.

Which fictional world would you like to visit and why?

Probably Regency England. I know this is technically a real historical era, but I consider it fictional because I don’t think the Regency England of romance novels is a realistic representation. For one thing, most people were not aristocrats, and dukes were not as plentiful as the fictional world would have us believe. Not to mention the over-crowded and dirty conditions in which many people lived. Child labor, debtor’s prisons, and just a generally difficult life. So, while I wouldn’t like to visit real Regency England (especially London), I do like the romanticized version.

How do you approach the research and editing processes? When do you know when you’ve done enough?

I once read that Neil Gaiman was asked about research and he said something to the effect of: Pretend you’re a smash and grab robber. Throw the brick through the window, get what you need, and get the heck out of there. I think this is a perfect metaphor for how research should be done. You want enough realism to make the story believable, but you also don’t want to get so bogged down in the details that it drags the pacing.

Any other advice for new writers?

Don’t neglect professional learning. Just because you’re a good writer who’s come up with a story, you most likely won’t write a perfect book the first time you try. There are tons of things to learn–from story structure, to character development, to pacing, tension and conflict.

Would you rather –

Have the ability to see into the future or be able to visit the past?

Definitely the past. I’m not sure I want to know what will happen in the future.

Have the ability to move things with your mind or read minds?

Moving things with my mind. Folding clothes? Loading the dishwasher? Not having to get off the couch? That would be pretty sweet.

Sing or dance to your favourite song for the rest of your life?

I’m not good at either, but I do like to sing. Especially if I’m alone.

Have money or power?

Money

Have an endless summer or winter?

Both sound awful.

Drink tea or coffee?

I love a dirty chai, so I’m going to say both.

See the movie or read the book first?

Definitely the book.

Read a Paperback or eBook?

eBook. You can carry dozens of books at one time, and it all weighs the same.

Would you rather have magical powers here on earth or live in a magical place without powers?

Probably neither, but if I had to choose, I’d want to stay on Earth.

About Evie Jacobs –

Evie Jacobs is a word nerd. As a child, she read constantly. And when she wasn’t reading, she was writing.

Not much has changed. By day she works in a library surrounded by books, and by night she writes steamy action/adventure romance.

She lives in Colorado with her husband, two cats, and six bicycles.

Say hello to Evie on Instagram, Facebook, Bookbub and Goodreads.

About Dangerous Decisions –

They’re chasing the truth straight into each other’s arms.

When CIA agent Angie Liu disobeys orders by looking into the mysterious death of an informant, her investigation leads her to Jamaica. To get out of the U.S. undetected, she must turn to the last man she wants to ask for help—the sexy, one-night stand she ran out on who just happens to be her dead informant’s son.

Nate Hughes wrote his father off as a drug smuggler. But after his dad’s possible murder reveals another side of the story, Nate will stop at nothing to get answers. And when the beautiful woman who bolted from his hotel room shows up at his family airline in need of an unofficial ride to the Caribbean, he’s not about to let her out of his sight.

Angie doesn’t want to fall for the handsome-but-gruff son of a former asset, and Nate wants nothing to do with the organization that may have set his dad up to be murdered. But neither is prepared for the feelings that surface—or how much they’ll need the other to stay alive.

Dangerous Decisions was released in September 2025. Click to buy on Amazon UK, Amazon US, Waterstones and Barnes & Noble.