If you write, one of the questions you're always trying to answer is, Where do you get your ideas? And, if you write, you know how pointless a question this is and how difficult it is to answer.

I'm dense when it comes to discouragement.

The money can be decent, but I really don't recommend the work-for-hire route as an entry into publishing. Too many things can go wrong.

It took me about 12 years to reach my million-word mark. The challenge now is to continue to challenge myself.

One of my great passions is the collection of historical trivia.

It's possible to become so comfortable with one's style and structure that one ceases to grow.

My writing has to support more than my research habit, but I love to curl up with a book about some dusty corner of history.