Two questions form the foundation of all novels: "What if?" and "What next?" (A third question, "What now?", is one the author asks himself every 10 minutes or so; but it's more a cry than a question.) Every novel begins with the speculative question, What if "X" happened? That's how you start.

The first rumors about Zenith came from the Czechoslovakians.

(Stereotyping) is only for those without the imagination to see people as they are instead of being like someone else they understand.

Suspense is achieved by information control: What you know. What the reader knows. What the characters know.

My life is a very simple life thank you

Every person you meet - and everything you do in life - is an opportunity to learn something.

Sunday was the normal day for the political awareness session at sea. Ordinarily Putin would have officiated, reading some Pravada editorials, followed by selected quotations from the works of Lenin and a discussion of the lessons to be learned from the readings. It is very much like a church service.