Who are your favorite authors?
I have quite a few; I love to read history and biographies as well as fiction. Some of my favorite authors include Doris Kearns Goodwin ("Team of Rivals"), Tom Clancy ("Sum of All Fears") and the classic -- Jane Austen ("Pride and Prejudice", "Sense and Sensibility").
What is your writing process?
My writing process is evolving and hopefully getting faster, as I am finishing novels more quickly as the series progresses.
New ideas are never a problem for me -- I usually have several stories started at once -- which may be another reason it takes a long time for me to finish a novel. (Okay, it is a major reason…)
I start with characters and a basic plot, but as I write, the characters sometimes change the story. I realize that may sound odd, but I have to imagine characters in all types of situations to really get to know them. I had a writing teacher that used to say "take your characters with you wherever you go". It works! Sometimes the scenes I envision wind up in the book as part of the plot.
I also do a great deal of research -- for example in "The Essence", General Nicolai Hewzenko was inspired by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk; and though Nicolai's country is fictional, I researched Yugoslavia and Afghanistan before creating it.
Most of the writing goes smoothly until about three-quarters through the story. I usually know how I want it to end, but I have to think hard to get that last portion of the story to converge and peak so the ending makes sense to the reader.
Read more of this interview.