When you work alone, you need to socialize at some level.

Ideally, I like to integrate the human issues into the suspense story itself.

Certainly going back to Sherlock Holmes we have a tradition of forensic science featured in detective stories.

I've worked for law firms, I've worked for corporations, and for the past 20 years, I've been writing working for myself, and believe me it's a lot better. That's a big part of the James Bond panache, that you're responsible, 100 percent responsible, for the success or failure of your mission in life, whatever it is.

I was editor of my high school literary magazine and a reporter for the school newspaper.

And life changes. Maybe just a little, maybe a lot. And at some point, it just isn't worth the fight to fix it.

Hardcover books are fairly expensive these days and to read one requires a significant commitment of time in our busy society. So I want to make sure that when readers buy one of my books they get something they're familiar with.