Rapper, actor, producer, and entrepreneur Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson (cocreator/coexecutive producer of STARZ’s Power) makes his thriller debut (following earlier urban fiction novels) with The Accomplice (Amistad), about Nia, the first Black woman to join the Texas Rangers in the early 2000s. LJ talked with Jackson and his coauthor, Aaron Philip Clark (author of the “Detective Trevor Finnegan” series), about storytelling, genre, and the interior world of their novel.

Curtis, you’re a storyteller across music, film, and now novels. What elements of storytelling are the most important? How do these elements vary across media? 

Curtis Jackson: Storytelling has always been the foundation of everything I do, whether I was making music or creating TV shows. I wanted to create larger-than-life characters but have them be relatable, and I wanted fans to come away with drama they couldn’t find anywhere else. 

Aaron, you’ve coauthored several books. What is your process for choosing a writing partner?

Aaron Philip Clark: There’s no science to choosing a writing partner, it’s more of a feeling, whether we’re creatively aligned. Usually, I can tell right away if the partnership will work, but there are instances where it takes several discussions. Writing a book is no easy feat, and when working with a creative partner, it’s very much like composing music. Both people need to have a similar ear for melodies, verses, and choruses.

The protagonist of your novel is a Black woman. What inspired the decision to make your main character a gender that you’re not, and was that difficult? Which of her traits were most important to you to include and avoid?

CJ: I have always been drawn to strong women. That’s how I was raised, so the decision came easily to me. But the thing I love about Nia is that, like me, she’s from Queens but lives in Texas. Nia is tough but strategic, she plays the long game, isn’t reactive.

Aaron, as a creative writing instructor at UCLA who offers writing courses on your website, what do you think are the most important elements of a story? What makes a novel “work?”

APC: I start with character because it’s really what drives a story. A book can have a compelling plot, but if the characters are one-dimensional, lack motivation, and exhibit no clear wants or needs, I lose interest. It’s not enough to have a clever idea or concept; readers want to be invested in the characters. The second element of importance is the plot. A plot should hook the reader, but

I also think when writing crime fiction, thrillers, and mysteries, it needs to feel assured. I’m a great lover of twists and reveals, but they should be organic, nothing forced.

I think readers are sophisticated and can tell when a story is more concerned with “gotcha” moments than it is with peeling back the narrative layers earnestly and thoughtfully.

Curtis, you’ve said you wanted to “bring a big heist story to the page.” But The Accomplice is about much more than the heist, including the blurring of the line between right and wrong, between legal and illegal. It’s about a Black, LGBTQIA+ woman in a white man’s world; men protecting women who might not need protecting; criminality and wealth and political power. How did a story about the heist turn into so much more?

CJ: What I love about heist movies is that beyond the central crime, they can be anything you want, and the characters can be super fun, so long as the individuals can perform their role in the caper; The Accomplice is a reflection of that. By setting the first book in the series 25 years ago, we can tell a big story with big themes like greed, ancestral wealth, and blurred lines.

The Accomplice is called a crime novel, but it also seems to encompass both modern Westerns and urban fiction. How do you see both of those genres blending into crime, and what do you think are the elements readers are looking for in the broad category of crime fiction?

APC: There are strong Western influences. One of the things that struck me when discussing the book’s Texas setting with Curtis was that there aren’t many Westerns, especially modern ones, with Black protagonists, and far fewer with Black female protagonists. It’s always felt like a very masculine and white male–dominated genre. It was time to offer something different. Westerns and crime fiction often borrow many of the same tropes, such as the lone outsider having to contend with powerful people—Boss Hogg types who might control a city or town—or the valiant lawperson who seeks to bring justice where there’s rampant lawlessness. Those were some of the themes we wanted to explore.

This book has male characters that seem to be looking after women who don’t need to be looked after, possibly making things worse for the women, and maybe even creating something in them that is harmful. If the book was set in 2024, do you think that theme would still be applicable?

APC: In terms of women in law enforcement, I can’t say there are many significant changes from 2004 to 2024. It’s still overwhelmingly a male profession that isn’t the most inclusive. It’s something Nia must contend with in the book. But it was a conscious decision not to render her some damsel in distress or make it so she must rely on male Rangers to do her job effectively. Nia is a squared-away Ranger who knows the job and knows how to investigate. It was important for Nia to be victorious on her own. While she experiences setbacks, she’s unrelenting in her pursuit of the truth, and I believe that’s what helps drive the narrative.