Get ready to learn more about the book Reasonable Doubt in this discussion with sapphic author Sable Noire.
Join us for an exclusive peek behind the scenes as we quiz Sable Noire about Reasonable Doubt, writing, reading, and more.
This book is part of the Taboo / Forbidden Relationship category in the 2025 IHS Reading Challenge.
Why did you write Reasonable Doubt?
I wanted to write a cop serial about a bad guy (gal) with a heart of gold. You know, the kind who will kill the bad guys if they’re going to hurt people. The kind of person who will toe the line of the law in order to see true justice done – and not feel guilty about it!
Jordan is a US Marshal who has a pretty shady background, and while she has a heart of gold, she doesn’t have anything to tether her at the beginning of this story. So while I’m planning to (mostly) write vigilante justice serials, Jordan needed a woman to ground her. Hence, Reasonable Doubt.
Who is your favorite character in the book?
Jordan is absolutely my favorite. She’s unapologetically herself and doesn’t waste time second-guessing her choices. She sees what needs to be done and does it, without hand-wringing or apologizing. I wish I had that kind of decisive confidence all the time! I’m much more like Catherine—overthinking everything, worried about doing things the “right” way. Writing Jordan lets me live vicariously through someone who trusts her instincts completely.
What inspired the idea for Reasonable Doubt?
The wrongful conviction crisis in America inspired this book. I’ve done research work on these cases, and what struck me was how often good people—prosecutors who genuinely believe they’re serving justice—convict innocent people because they’re so focused on building the perfect case that they miss contradictory evidence right in front of them. I wanted to explore what happens when someone who built their entire identity on being “right” discovers they were catastrophically wrong.
What part of Reasonable Doubt was the most fun to write?
The Founder’s Day Festival three-legged race scene was pure joy to write. Watching these two competent, controlled women who’ve been dancing around their attraction get literally tied together and forced to cooperate while being terrible at it—the banter practically wrote itself. It was the first time they could just be playful with each other without the weight of their real situation crushing them.
How did you come up with the title for your book?
“Reasonable Doubt” is the standard of proof in criminal trials—the prosecution must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. But in this story, the title has multiple meanings. Catherine has reasonable doubt about her own past convictions. She has reasonable doubt about whether to trust Jordan. The entire justice system is built on this concept, but the book explores what happens when “reasonable” becomes impossible to define and doubt becomes the only certainty.
The idea is also a foundation of Jordan’s future cases where she needs to cross a line sometimes, and a nod to the reality that so little of our world is black and white. What is reasonable doubt, exactly?
What is your writing process like?
I’m a plotter with pantsing tendencies, which is probably the worst combination. I outline extensively—I need to know my character arcs, major plot points, and thematic threads before I start. But then my characters inevitably hijack scenes and take them in directions I didn’t plan. The best moments in my books usually come from these unplanned detours, but it means I spend a lot of time restructuring and rewriting to make everything cohesive again.
What’s your favorite writing snack or drink?
Dark chocolate and black coffee, always. The chocolate has to be at least 70% cacao—something with depth and a slight bitter edge. I keep a bar at my desk and break off small pieces throughout the writing session. The combination of caffeine and chocolate keeps me focused without making me jittery, and there’s something about the ritual of it that helps me transition into the writing headspace.
When you’re writing an emotional or difficult scene, how do you set the mood?
I have to emotionally prepare like an actor getting into character. For really intense scenes, I’ll reread earlier emotional moments to get back into that headspace. I write those scenes in one sitting if I can, because breaking them up destroys the emotional continuity. I usually need to decompress afterward—take a walk, do something mindless—because staying in that intensity is exhausting.
Do you feel bad putting your characters through the wringer?
I feel terrible about it, which is why I do it! They need to earn their happy endings, and that means breaking them down to their foundations and forcing them to rebuild themselves stronger. With Catherine, I had to destroy her entire professional identity and make her question everything she believed about herself. That was brutal, but it was necessary for her to become someone who could accept love and moral complexity.
What type of books do you enjoy reading the most?
I’m drawn to morally complex characters who operate in gray areas—people who do questionable things for defensible reasons. I love antiheroes, vigilantes, and characters who have to choose between being “good” and doing good. Life has a way of teaching you that most people exist somewhere in the messy middle. Now I’m bored by purely virtuous protagonists. Give me someone who’ll break the rules when the rules protect the wrong people!
Do you only read books in one genre or do you genre hop?
I’m a total genre hopper—thrillers, literary fiction, romance, true crime, memoir, mystery, even the occasional fantasy. I’ll read anything if the characters are compelling and the emotional stakes are high. But I gravitate toward stories where someone has to make impossible choices, where there’s no clean solution and every option costs something. I’m less interested in what genre packaging those stories come in and more interested in whether the author is willing to make their characters suffer for their choices.
