Attica Locke Says She's a 'Pretty Political Writer' — Especially This Character (Exclusive)

"For that particular character who's gotten himself into a pretty bad pickle, it was time to wrap up his particular story," Locke tells PEOPLE

Attica Locke is proud to take inspiration from the outside world for her work on the page.

While speaking to PEOPLE ahead of the Texas Book Festival, the author opened up about where she gets her inspiration for Texas Ranger Darren Matthews, the protagonist of her Highway 59 series, which concluded with the release of Guide Me Home in September.

"I'm a pretty political writer from my very first book on. So I don't know that anything will be wholly different, because politics always kind of find a way into my work, because it's how I see the world in terms of how power gets distributed," she says.

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But she's also relieved to leave a particular character behind. The novelist explains that writing about a "law enforcement officer who's trying to do the right thing" began to take "too much of a toll on my psyche."

"And so I might come at writing about the times that we're living in just through a different character, but for that particular character who's gotten himself into a pretty bad pickle, it was time to wrap up his particular story," she says.

Although Locke admits she only has "the vaguest whisper, stream of smoke of an idea," that is "barely anything" for her next project, she reveals that she often finds inspiration through reading.

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"I would say that mostly I chase the idea by reading stuff about it. I will get a kind of idea, then I'll try to read and read and read a lot of stuff around it to see if my idea flourishes," she says. "So actually, I find my way into a lot of stuff through more reading."

She previously shared with PEOPLE that she approaches writing as "a deep study of the human psyche."

"I have a deep affection for human beings in all their stripes and forms. I just find human beings so interesting. I am curious about people. I have a compassion for them, and I think I'm always looking for the why of people's behavior," she told PEOPLE in September.

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Guide Me Home is available now wherever books are sold.