I would never believe it of you, my boy, regardless of the schemers your mother and sister turned out to be. You may not be the most clever boy, nor the most prudent, nor the most gentlemanlike, nor...Edward cleared his throat.Right! But you have a good heart, and I have every hope that with the proper education and mentoring you will be credit to the family yet.

In fact, with each of my novels I have been surprised by something that happens that I had not thought of beforehand.

I am asked to submit a 2-3 page synopsis to my publisher ahead of time, so by the time I begin writing, I have a fair idea of where the story will begin, the main conflicts, and the basic ending point. But that still leaves plenty of room for changes and discovery along the way.

While researching my first book, I discovered so many fascinating tidbits that I wanted to share them with readers to remind them that while the book was fiction, the situations were based on historical realities - some of which were pretty hard to believe.

I received so many positive comments about the quotes that I decided to continue to use them in my novels.

I believe a novel must first of all be a good story. My hope is that the spiritual message is woven in so well, is such a part of the fabric of the story and of the characters' lives, that it is subtle but meaningful. This is difficult to do well and is something I constantly endeavor to improve.

I've managed to include only enough historical detail to give the "flavor" of the time period while keeping the characters and story focal.