ATLANTA NIGHTS is sure to please the reader who enjoys this sort of thing.

There were two things going on: 1) I had already established in my own mind where I wanted to go with the next series, and having James around as a Grey Eminence would have complicated matters. He had had an amazing life and it was time to bid him good-bye.

Don't assume the world evolved in the order in which you discovered it.

My dear dead mother wanted me to go into an honorable trade, like grave robbing. Would I listen? No. Be an assassin, like your uncle Gustav, she said. Would I pay heed? No. Apprentice to the Necromancer―

Neal had a couple of good ideas and they fit nicely, so that's the way I decided to go.

Life is problems. Living is solving problems.

Often I'll try things that just won't happen the way I'd like them to, so hearing that they're not working saves me some wear and tear the next time around.