I'm actually finishing up "Martuk ... the Holy: Proseuche", the sequel to "Martuk ... the Holy" which should be published sometime this November (2013). And, I gotta tell you, I got a kick out of writing this because I have planned what's going to happen and where the story's going to go, of course. But with this book, it took me by surprise and threw me into places I never could have imagined. I just hope every book I write from now on does that.

I get asked this a lot and, quite honestly, I have to divide them into groups: those I've read for pleasure and those I read now for research. Because when you write about historical places and times, a great deal of what you read will, by necessity, be research. So, I'm really enjoying Reza Aslan and his book "Zealot" about the ministry of Jesus. And I've always enjoyed how Susan Wise Bauer can bring the past to life in her world histories. But for pleasure, I tend to always turn to Anne Rice -- love, love, love "The Witching Hour" -- and Stephen King. I mean, if I'm going to take time out of writing for a bit of reading, might as well turn to The Masters, right?

Besides my dogs wanting breakfast? It's quite easy, actually. I have a very strong work ethic, very large, ambitious goals, and a need to organize what I'm doing that borders on OCD. Put that all together and you're left with a fairly rigid schedule that allows for little time off and daily word counts that even make me pause and reconsider my sanity.

The first thing I ever wrote, seriously, was a screenplay that eventually ended up being briefly considered by DreamWorks. And it's still bumping around, looking for a home, something said by every screenwriter everywhere. :)

First, I jot down thoughts on the narrative, recording random musings and ideas just to kinda see if it'll work or if it will go where I think the story should go. After that, I arrange these thoughts into general chapters. That way I'm able to see if there are any structural questions or outright implausibilities with what I have planned. From there, I sit down and start writing, knowing full well that what I have planned will absolutely, 100% change. That's the nature of creativity: being open to wander down different, unexpected paths. But if your general narrative is strong, it can handle a temporary detour.

The first story? No. But I do remember reading Anne Rice's "The Witching Hour" and just being floored by the scope of it. I mean, the woman skips through generations and history and religion and the changes in society and how we believe decade by decade and ... it just goes on and on. Not only was the writing lush and evocative, as she often is, but you really got the sense of the span of time. It impresses me still, to this day.

I used to come with an image and a fairly set idea of what I wanted. But now I've learned to take my hands off the wheel and create something WITH my cover designer, Timothy Burch. And oftentimes, what I've found is he'll take the germ of my idea -- or our idea -- and go so much further with it. I'm always excited to see what he comes up with.

My desk is me on my couch, my 16-year old dachshund Cinnamon sleeping next to me, my laptop propped on my knees, a cup of something deliciously drinkable within reach. I don't see that changing anytime soon. :)

In the Summer of 2004 I wrote my first screenplay and my first play. And then, several screenplays and plays later, I sat down in the Spring of 2008 and fleshed out the first ideas for "Martuk ... the Holy", my debut novel. I've done nothing but write ever since. Scripts, TV shows, a collection of Short Fiction based on Martuk, etc and so on.

When you have an angry immortal slaughtering his way throughout history, you need to put him in the middle of huge, history-changing events. So, for the first book, "Martuk ... the Holy", I needed to begin at his beginning, first placing him in ancient Mesopotamia, in Uruk, during that time when the Priests were fighting the Kings over supremacy and then, later, shifting him into 1st-century Palestine during the time of Jesus. These were both events that changed the course of history. For "Red and Gold", the latest installment in The Martuk Series, an ongoing collection of Short Fiction based on "Martuk ... ", I wanted to take an innocent who dreams of wearing the red and gold of a Priest, place him in the Temple in Uruk, and watch what happens when he realizes those men he admires and aspires to be are pure evil. There's always a consequence to choice, and that's another theme I brush against in "Red and Gold".

I would rather spend two or three years writing books and building a readership then two or three years convincing an agent to sign me, getting the thumbs-up on my work from that agent, having the agent submit the work to Publishers who may or may not, six months after receiving it, respond with a Yes or a No, and then, if I get published, receive little marketing support, no advance, a minuscule royalty rate and, if my sales don't shoot through the roof (see, little marketing support), end up in the bargain bin as an afterthought. It just made more sense to write what I write, put the work out there, and then, little by little, find those who enjoy what I do.

Writing the last page, uploading it, publishing it, taking a deep breath and then immediately opening a new Word Doc and writing Chapter One on a new book.

Without people who enjoy and appreciate your work, it makes no sense to write eight, nine hours a day, every day, even weekends. So to say they're everything is a bit of an understatement. They expect a lot from me and I work hard to give them my best. But, honestly, with "Martuk ... the Holy" being so strongly reviewed and getting the attention it has, the bar is already set pretty high.

Hanging out with my two dogs, playing tennis, doing research for future books. I also write scripts and TV pilots as a way of taking a break from writing fiction. Sounds like work, but it's a nice way to refocus my writing head. :)