Conspiracy, Inspiration & the Perfect Soundtrack for Writing This Thrilling Sequel

Wolf’s Head Bay: The Race for Home by Jeffrey Allen Boyd

Wolf’s Head Bay: The Race for Home by Jeffery Allen Boyd is a gripping continuation of the thrilling saga that began in the first book of the series. As the book picks up where its predecessor left off, readers are once again immersed in the harrowing journey of Jeremy and his friends as they navigate the treacherous remote northern Michigan wilderness in search of safe harbor and justice.

At the heart of the narrative lies a powerful message that resonates with particularly strong relevance given issues that currently plague the real world: the stark reality of human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Boyd deftly intertwines this unfortunate truth with the riveting plot, compelling readers to confront the darker facets of society while doing so thoughtfully and embarking on a rollercoaster of suspense and intrigue.

You can check out our full review of Wolf’s Head Bay: The Race for Home here, and keep reading to learn about the behind-the-scenes effort it took to bring this sequel to life.

Q: Did you always know Wolf’s Head Bay would be a series?

A: No, I did not. In 2004 when I completed Wolf’s Head Bay: The Journey Home, a young adult novel of adventure about the exploits of eighteen-year-old Jeremy Hodak and his nine-year-old identical twin brothers, Travis & Matthew living in northern Michigan, I had no plans to write further. Soon after while internet surfing I came across something called the Franklin Credit Union scandal or the Franklin child prostitution ring — a true crime government conspiracy involving an embezzlement scheme that had connections to missing children, child trafficking and the White House. I was both horrified and intrigued. So, I kept digging. I decided to keep writing about my young cast of characters and make the focus of a sequel involving human trafficking because it is so prevalent in our society.

Q: What went into planning this series? What was your writing process like?

A: I did an enormous amount of research for several weeks sitting at my computer. I created a pinboard to help me stay organized and keep track of all of my characters and their physical traits and appearance including the clothes they wore. This was necessitated because one of my male characters’ hair length kept changing from chapter to chapter. Everything was on 3×5 cards and pinned to the board. It also included all of the props and weapons, vehicles (RVs & helicopters), scene locations and structures involved, like the glass resort tower. I even blocked the RV scene on the Mackinac bridge to help me maintain accuracy in my description of the action.

A: When I began to write Wolf’s Head Bay-Journey of the Courageous Eleven/The Race for Home, I was still working full time. I was off on the weekends so Saturdays and Sundays were my writing days. My office area and desk face a palm tree courtyard. Yes, it was quiet, so to get into the mood of writing an action/thriller I would put on all sorts of action/thriller movies on my VHS/DVD surround-sound. I have a ton of ’em. My favorites are the Jurassic Park series, anything with Bruce Willis, and so many more! How could I possibly write with all that racket blasting? It was easy. We all have our ways of doing things which to others may seem odd. This works for me and it always puts me into the mood or zone.

Q: What theme in your books is the driving factor?

A: The existence of God and our relationship with Him. My book is not religious for I am not religious. But I ask, or should I say, one of my characters asks a lot of questions. In Wolf’s Head Bay-The Journey Home one of them falls through the ice out on a frozen river resulting in a near-death experience. He believes he went to Heaven. And that experience changed him. He’s still a kid, but rather than filled with questions, he is at peace. And that is his strength. 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?

A: Two things. I wrote Journey of the Courageous Eleven/The Race for Home using what I call the Irwin Allen/Clive Cussler formula — to create an exciting hard-to-put-down thrilling read! And everyone who has read/reviewed it seems to agree.

Finally, considering my young adult audience and the sensitive nature of human trafficking, my goal is to present an impactful cast of characters and a positive outcome. Equally important, I created a story about relatable people in situations confronting this real and growing threat to our human society. Because my young cast of characters care about each other, they’re able to trust and rely on each other’s ingenuity and strengths for survival, despite their fears. Through their shared experience which helps them to cope with their ordeal, these teens grow mentally and emotionally more resilient, strengthening not only their bonds to one another but for one of them, his faith.

Q: What’s your next project?

A: And what of faith and God? An important story element of ‘Courageous’ is the conflict between two of my characters as they each struggle with their own faith. One of them believes God will see them safely through their ordeal while the other believes it’s up to them to save themselves. There’s a growing consensus that as our society abandons these beliefs — God — removing them from our institutions and schools leaves a void, replaced with what many see today as lawlessness, violence and government corruption involving human trafficking. 

This is the theme I want to explore to a greater depth in my next Wolf’s Head Bay action/adventure thriller.