One thing you really have to watch as a writer is getting on a soapbox or pulpit about anything. You don't want to alienate readers.

Writing was not a childhood dream of mine. I do not recall longing to write as a student. I wasn't sure how to start.

Nobody wants to read about the honest lawyer down the street who does real estate loans and wills. If you want to sell books, you have to write about the interesting lawyers - the guys who steal all the money and take off. That's the fun stuff.

I'm a Christian, and those beliefs occasionally come out in the books.

There are few things in life worse than a long-winded lawyer.

We cuss them because we're not good enough for them. We hate them because they wouldn't look at us, couldn't be bothered to give us an interview. I guess there's a Trent & Brent in every city, in every field. I didn't make it and I don't belong, so I'll just go through life hating them.

I don't start a novel until I have lived with the story for awhile to the point of actually writing an outline and after a number of books I've learned that the more time I spend on the outline the easier the book is to write. And if I cheat on the outline I get in trouble with the book.