Confidence is one thing, disrespect is quite another. (Justice Elizabeth Knight)

The military is a very cool world to write about. I went down to Ft. Benning, Ga., for military training, and I learned a lot about soldiers and officers and why they joined up and what their life has been like.

But if I worried too much about publishers' expectations, I'd probably paralyze myself and not be able to write anything.

Pender laughed. "Verify? In this day and age? Who cares about verifying anything? It's all about the speed. Who gets there first defines the truth. You know that as well as any man living.

Today might not be so good. But tomorrow, you got another chance to get it right.

I'm scattered, and then that last hundred pages, bam, I'm a laser.

I look for material that both interest me and challenges me. If I am drawn to the material and I have to work hard at it, the characters and the plots reflect the hours and hours of research.