Is the first lady trying to overthrow the president? Award-winning writer Kathleen Antrim's fictional response to this shocking premise is at the heart of her chillingly convincing political thriller, CAPITAL OFFENSE.

 

An Interview With Author Kathleen Antrim - By Sue Owens Wright, author of

Question: Your debut novel, "Capital Offense," has an intriguing premise, Kathleen. Tell us about the book and what inspired you to write it.

KA: The genesis of this novel was when Bill Clinton was elected president, and Hillary broke with the tradition of an East Wing office for the First Lady. Instead, she took an office in the West Wing--just steps from the Oval Office. She was the first First Lady to do this, and it made me very curious about the power of first ladies and to whom they are accountable. I wondered who had the authority to tell a First Lady, "No."

What I discovered is that constitutionally, First Ladies are accountable to no one. When our forefathers wrote the constitution women couldn't even vote, so certainly they weren't considering a future that would involve politically ambitious women. The First Lady's position in government, however, is extremely powerful. History has repeatedly shown that they can and have influenced both domestic and world policy.

First Ladies have immense access to world leaders, powerbrokers, the media, etc., but they occupy a stealth position in that they report to no one.

It took about 6 years to research the novel and about 2 years to write it. I've interviewed people from ex-CIA to Secret Service to individuals holding Cabinet positions. The end result was plenty of support for a thought-provoking thriller