Mayra Calvani's Blog - Posts Tagged "spy"

My guest today is Gabriel Valjan, author of the Roma series, published by Winter Goose Publishing. The first book, Roma, Underground , came out earlier this year. The sequel, Wasp’s Nest, was just released this week. The third installment is scheduled for August 2013.

Valjan attended the University of Southern California for his undergraduate education and completed graduate school in England at the University of Leeds. Ronan Bennett short-listed him for the 2010 Fish Short Story Prize. Valjan’s short stories continue to appear in print and online literary journals. He recently won ZOUCH Magazine’s inaugural Lit Bits Contest. He lives in New England.

Find the author on the web: Website/blog / Winter Goose Publishing Author’s page / Pinterest for Wasp’s Nest

Wasp’s Nest is available on Amazon Paperback / Barnes & Noble Paperback / Kindle / Nook

Read my review of Wasp’s Nest on The Dark Phantom Review.

Thanks for this interview. Tell us a little about what got you into writing?

Like most things in my life the road was not always obvious or straight. I didn’t always know that I wanted to be a writer. As a child I read voraciously, so I was quite awed, quite intimidated, by the great talents on the bookshelves at my local library. I began with a lot of self-doubt about my ability to sustain an idea, create multidimensional characters, and capture the tics of dialogue. I knew what I enjoyed in literature, understood to some degree how it all worked. I was convinced (still am) that nobody could teach the idea that starts a short story, a novel, or a poem. When I had set aside the initial excuses and insecurities, I discovered that I was having fun and I had stories within me.

What was your inspiration for Wasp’s Nest?

After I wrote the first in the series, Roma, Underground, I knew that I had created my cast of characters. Two things happened then: one, I wanted to see how each of my characters would grow and evolve, interact with each other, the world around them, and bond emotionally; and two, I wanted to take my own sense of ‘what if’ thinking and create situations and see how my characters would negotiate them. I believe what makes my characters interesting is that they each of them has their own ‘issues,’ as we all do in life, but mixed in it all is a cultural collision of American and European. In Wasp’s Nest, the ‘what if’ has to do with cancer research and technology. What if someone had a way of detecting cancer at the level of DNA and prevent cancer from occurring without chemotherapy, radiation, and disfiguring surgeries? Since the majority of us will die either from heart disease or some form of cancer, there is that ‘what if.’ And then there is the ‘what if’ in Wasp’s Nest of the threat a potential cure poses to those industries that profit from chronic illness. I don’t suggest that ‘what if’ is a pure either/or. Dance with the angel of a cure, but don’t forget that the Devil was also once an angel.

For those readers who haven’t read this or the first book yet, what is the blurb of the series as a whole and how many instalments are you planning?

I haven’t committed to an exact number, but I had planned six novels. The overall arc of the series is watching friends learn how to love and trust each other, learn how to move within a morally compromised world. The main character Alabaster (or Bianca if you prefer her alias) is difficult to know, extremely intelligent, and dichotomous at times in her thinking. She sees things others do not, yet she struggles with intimacy and trusting another person. Dante, her boyfriend, is a nice guy, a little too patient with her at times. Farrugia is a stoical investigator with an edge to him. His peer Gennaro is a widower who has never forgiven himself for causing his wife’s death. Alessandro has brains but picks the wrong women. Then there is Silvio, the ambitious and humorous interpreter. In Wasp’s Nest, readers will be introduced to Diego Clemente, a garrulous, very Boston character. Throughout the Roma Series I try to infuse authentic Italian culture and food.

In this novel, you dive into the controversial world of biotechnology, genetics, and pharmaceutical companies. Is the theory about wasps, the methyl toolkit, and their connection to cancer in your story a real thing?

The Nasonia wasp is real. There are three species indigenous to the U.S. and a fourth was indeed discovered in Brewertown, New York. In the novel I mentioned Mendelian genetics, which should return readers to basic biology. I try to keep it simple. I address the reason why this wasp was selected and why the fruit fly is an imperfect model. The reader will discover that the Nasonia wasp is no pleasant creature, but what I said about its genetics is true; it is easy to study, easy to manipulate, but the ‘what if’ is that current research in Nasonia is devoted to the development of pesticides. The concept of the methyl toolkit is real. The ‘what if’ I propose is pointed at oncology. I don’t think that it is misleading to say that we all have the potential for cancer. Women with a familial predisposition to cancer, for example, can be tested for the BRCA1 and HER2 genes for ovarian and breast cancers, respectively. A while back, the actress Christina Applegate tested positive for the BRCA1 gene, which was unexpressed, but she opted for a double mastectomy as a pre-emptive strike. This is an example where technology exists and the ethical debates begin. While some sophisticated ideas do exist in Wasp’s Nest, I tried to not make them inaccessible. I believe readers are intelligent and seek intellectual engagement while they enjoy a story.

How much research did the book required?

I always do a great amount of research, but I hope that what I decide to include is articulate and not beyond the grasp of the reader, or so implausible that it is science fiction. I research technology online and in technical libraries. While I don’t have a Ph.D, I’ve retained a working vocabulary from my scientific education. With the methyl toolkit I did speak with an immunologist and instructor who researches cancer and teaches at the graduate level. While I was remiss in thanking him in the Acknowledgements I had him in mind when I introduce readers to Portuguese food in Wasp’s Nest.  I should also mention that another form of research necessary to the Roma Series is cultural in nature. Two of my friends act as my editors. Dean proofreads all my work; and Claudio does the ‘cultural editing.’ Both men are far more knowledgeable in Italian than I. Claudio is a native speaker, a linguist, a journalist and a professional translator, with northern and southern Italian culture in his veins. While I can read Italian with respectable facility, only the native speaker can give you the authentic phrases and turns of phrase. This ‘cultural editing’ was crucial to the third novel, out in August 2013, since it deals with a volatile part of recent Italian history, with an unfortunate American connection.

I love the title, which of course suits the story well because it works on two levels. Did you come up with it right away or did you have to brainstorm?

I knew the title from the start. I had wanted to create a story in Boston. The title does work on many levels. It alludes to the insect, the Bostonian stereotype of the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, and the colloquial expression of getting into a mess, although I think the proper phrase has to do with a ‘hornet’s nest.’ One of the particular joys with Wasp’s Nestwas working with Winter Goose in designing the cover art. I should point out that the wasp on the cover is not a Nasoniacritter, but a yellow jacket wasp.

How long did it take you to write the novel and did you plot in advance?

I wrote Wasp’s Nest in four to six weeks, BUT I spent longer editing and shaping it before I submitted it to Winter Goose, where it underwent more editing with James Logan. Fellow Winter Goose authors Jessica Kristie and Sherry Foley provided me with invaluable feedback and suggestions before James touched the manuscript. Jessica is a poet so her contribution around imagery was helpful. Sherry is the author of two Winter Goose thrillers: A Captive Heart andSwitched in Death. She taught me other “suspense tricks.” I can’t emphasize how helpful they were for both Wasp’s Nest and for me as a writer. In terms of plotting, I knew where I was going with this novel. It did feel at times like “seat of your pants” writing, but I advocate getting the story down on paper and then editing afterwards.

What made you decide to make your main character a woman? Has this been challenging? If yes, in what way?

The genesis for the Alabaster character came from a dare. I was talking to a work colleague whom I’ve known for over ten years. Margaret knew that I was writing short stories at the time so she suggested that I try my hand at writing a female character.  The result was a short story entitled “Alabaster.” Yes, it is challenging to write out of gender and I would add that it is also difficult to write from a child’s perspective. I have a deep respect for children’s authors since they have to modulate story and vocabulary to their audience. I don’t think writing from a female point of view is insurmountable. Research can get you the answers. The skill is in transforming the knowledge into believable action and dialogue.

In Book I, it was Rome. Now, it is Boston. In both novels your locations are fleshed out in vivid detail. How important is a sense of location in a story?

In the Roma series I try to make the location a character. We can take our environments for granted. Wasp’s Nest takes place in Boston, the third, fourth, and fifth novels take place in Milan, Naples, and Boston. Cities change all the time: think of Whitman’s Manhattan and New Jersey, T.S. Eliot’s London, and Baudelaire’s Paris. The modern metropolis provides a remarkable backdrop to our individual and social conflicts and pleasures.

How do you keep up with what’s out there in terms of spy gadget technology?

I hope readers don’t think that they are getting Jane Bond. John le Carré Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy proved that spy-craft is a slow game of chess. As I mentioned earlier, I read a lot so I read the geek articles whenever I find them, rummage in the libraries when an idea takes root, but in terms of gadgetry I think I use a remarkable device called the ‘intelligent brain,’ and it happens to belong to a woman.

As it’s the case with book I, there’s a lot of marvellous food description in Wasp’s Nest. 

Starving is not an option in Italy. How could you not love the food and the attitude of La Dolce Vita?

If you could narrow down the three main elements of a good spy story, what would they be?

Ambiguity. Misdirection. Movement. A story has to move; the pages have to turn. Ambiguity in character and motivation is true to life. Human beings are not selfless creatures; that is why I think altruism is a virtue. One of the joys of a good mystery is watching intelligent people being intelligent.  This is damned difficult to write, since your protagonist has to be smart enough to spot something that neither the other characters nor your readers can see, even though it’s right in front of them.

You also write poetry and short stories, having published many in literary journals. What do you find more enjoyable: working in a poem, a short story or a novel?

Each has its appeal. Poetry is a house with all the necessary language; and by its nature, not often natural language. The short story is an airplane with a short runway and flight is imminent or the plane crashes. The novel is an endurance race, where there are miles to go, numerous paths to take, but you have only so much water and food: use them wisely. For me poetry is intimate and personal. While I enjoy the short-fiction format, I have noticed that what was once acceptable – twenty to fifty pages is now impractical, with most stories clocking in at 5,000 words. Flash or micro fiction is challenging. Is it a story or a vignette? I’ve only had one flash-fiction piece published; it was a 111-word story that I did for a contest for ZOUCH Magazine.

Congratulations on winning first prize in ZOUCH Magazine’s Lit Bit contest. Can you tell us about it?

I was searching for the “calls for submission” web pages and I saw page after page of requests for flash fiction. I felt dismayed but then I thought: What can I tell in a short, SHORT piece? I wrote one sentence that told a hero’s journey. The brevity of the form drew upon my experience in writing poetry.

What’s on the horizon for you?

I’m almost done writing the fifth book in the Roma Series. I’m trying to find a publisher for a three-volume noir series that I have written. It has two main characters, an American and a British woman, who are part of the American intelligence community. The novel starts in Vienna and continues in McCarthy-era Los Angeles and New York, highlighting the time, the mores, and the dark rivalry between the CIA and FBI.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers?

Write because you love to write. No matter how great you think the writing is, please have someone edit it for you. Respect your reader and try to understand that not everyone will like you, that criticism, while an opinion, is an opportunity for improvement. If you find a writer that you like then write a balanced review on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Goodreads. Last but not least – thank you for reading.

This interview originally appeared in Blogcritics. 

Dr. Stone has a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering, and numerous international certifications in computer security. He has worked at NSA, NASA, and the Department of Defense in various capacities, as well as having been a professor of engineering at a major university. He recently retired from engineering and plans to devote himself to writing. His first novel is CRYPTO, published by Twilight Times Books.

Q: Congratulations on the release of your novel! Tell us, what’s inside the mind of an espionage author?

A: I can’t speak for others, but I want to tell a good story. My next book is not even in the espionage genre. The third will be. It happens espionage, treason, and various other forms of misbehaviour are displayed prominently on the current world stage, making it easy to be relevant.

Q: Tell us why readers should buy CRYPTO.

A: First, it’s a really good story written by an author immersed for decades in the security world. I’ve tried to be very accurate in the background materials, and give a sense of what it’s like, while not compromising anything that might be sensitive. Incidentally, I actually personally knew a prominent spy who got caught.

Q: What makes a good espionage novel?

A: Let’s start with the basic rules: interesting people, doing interesting things, in interesting places: Have strong central characters, run them up a tree, and let the reader struggle with them to get down. Espionage stories should be obscure mysteries simply involving politics, plots, and treason.

Q: What espionage authors do you admire or recommend?

A: Eric Ambler, Richard Condon, Len Deighton, Ian Fleming, Ken Follett, Frederick Forsyth, Jack Higgins, John LeCarre (a bit dark), Robert Ludlum, Helen MacInnes, Daniel Silva, and many more. Unfortunately, I took a speed reading course some years ago and keep running out of books by favourite authors. Fortunately, I also like ‘space opera (Cherryh, Weber, Bujold), serial killer novels (Deaver, Sandford), and even some classic Regency Romance (Austen, Heyer). I like to read.

Q: What was the most difficult aspect of writing this book?

A: Making sure the details are all correct. For instance, I wanted a stream of Zil limos entering the Lubyanka in Moscow. I’ve never been there, so didn’t know where a door might be. Google Street View shows the only such portal off an alley at the back. I was amazed.

Q: How did you celebrate the completion of CRYPTO?

A: I started my next book, My Every Thought, a near-future Sci-Fi/Thriller about human-realistic robots and ‘Monsters from the ID.’

Gabriel’s short stories and some of his poetry continue to appear in literary journals and online magazines. Ronan Bennett short-listed Gabriel for the 2010 Fish Prize. Gabriel won first prize in ZOUCH Magazine’s inaugural Lit Bits Contest. Winter Goose Publishing publishes his Roma Series: Roma, Underground(February 2012), Wasp’s Nest (November 2012) and Threading the Needle(October 2013). Gabriel lives in New England.





Q: What’s inside the mind of a mystery/suspense author?

A: One of the joys of a good mystery is watching intelligent people being intelligent. This is difficult to write, since your protagonist has to be smart enough to spot something that neither the other characters nor your readers can see, even though it’s right in front of them. The fun part is unfolding the plot and juggling the characters, moving both forward at a good pace, while respecting your reader’s intelligence.

Q: Tell us why readers should buy Threading the Needle.

A: In this outing of the Roma Series, Bianca's curiosity gets a young university student murdered, but not before he passes her details of a secret weapon under development with defense contractor, Adastra.  Within days, the media turns Farrugia, her backup at the scene, into hero, then suspect. Guilt may drive her to find justice for the slain Charlie Brooks, but she is warned by the mysterious Loki to stay away from this case that runs deep with conspiracy. In Threading the Needle, the third volume of the Roma series, Bianca must find a way to uncover government secrets and corporate alliances without returning Italy to one of its darkest hours, the decades of daily terrorism known as the “Years of Lead.”

The Roma Series is really about a group of friends -- all with their individual strengths and weaknesses – but committed to each other out of friendship, love, and respect. Gennaro is the senior investigator, crusty and cantankerous; but he is the voice of experience. Farrugia is the weathered but haunted detective, tempted to but disciplined enough not to sink to the level of the thugs he has known. There is Alessandro, young, intelligent, but libidinal and irresponsible at times. Dante, a promising investigator, is the romantic-love interest of the main character, Bianca, who is a forensic accountant on the lam from a secretive U.S. agency, Rendition. She is brilliant, a thrill-seeker, but extremely reserved, almost closed-off, which creates friction with Dante and the group. Then there is Loki, the mysterious go-between who contacts Bianca with cryptic advice and clues.

Q: What makes a good mystery/suspense?

A: Plot and character, but not in that order. The plot has to be believable, but I’ve noticed that the trend in the mystery/suspense genre is to have the protagonist be flawed, which is fine, but many main characters border on unlikeable; they have addictions, family problems, or interpersonal issues, which can suspend belief. Bianca, my main character, is difficult at times, but she knows it and she knows why she is difficult and she is determined to fix it. Each mystery and each journey with her friends brings her closer to opening up, becoming a better person. Intimacy and trust frighten her.

Q: What is a regular writing day like for you?

A: I am a morning writer. I find that writing first thing in the morning when the mind is receptive is best for me. On a great morning, I’ll write twenty pages, but I average eight to ten pages. In terms of word count, accounting for standard formatting, I’d say that is 2,500 to 5,000 words a day.

Q: What do you find most rewarding about being an author?

A: Seeing my own development as a writer, whether it is the use of language, a time period, or particular format such as short fiction. With respect to the Roma Series, I’m taking chances in exploring complex subject matter or going deeper into the psychological motivations of my characters. Each character has blossomed with sufficient depth that they could be the main character of their own novel. In Threading the Needle, I confronted a difficult time in Italian history, one that I think few Americans know about but should, since terrorism and manipulating public opinion are relevant today. The challenge was presenting the information through two different cultural lenses: American and Italian.

Q: How did you celebrate the completion of your book?

Gabriel Valjan’s Author Page at Winter Goose Publishing: http://wintergoosepublishing.com/authors/gabriel-valjan/

Pinterest for Threading the Needle: http://pinterest.com/gvaljan/threadin...

Rachel Anderson of RMA Publicity represents Gabriel Valjan. Rachel can be reached at rachel@rmapublicity.comThreading the NeedleWasp's NestRoma, Underground

Born and raised in Washington, D.C.’s  Georgetown, Ruth J. Anderson served with several Congressional and cabinet-level officials for over 25 years, including the Federal Communication Commission; Senator Richard Russell, Senate Commerce Committee, Secretary of Commerce, and Postmaster General. Upon the recommendations of Sen. Henry Jackson and Judge Roy Morgan, Ruth joined the Atomic Energy Commission and then U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as Editorial Assistant and Research Specialist.  Ruth served as President of the Federally Employed, Inc., SMC, which represented over 750,000 Federal employees.

She was selected for the World Who’s Who of Women in Cambridge, England and in 1977, was honored to be the first woman to receive the Silver Medal for Meritorious Service at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  A past member of the New York Academy of Sciences and the Society of Women Engineers, Ruth also served on the Federal Women’s Interagency Board. Ruth Anderson resides in Florida.   Whistle Blower and Double Agents  is her first novel. Centered on what Anderson calls “a cover-up of epic proportions,” its an explosive international thriller inspired by actual events.

About the book During a visit to the CIA on a safeguards inquiry, an Atomic Energy Commission nuclear scientist finds that the safeguards program of his agency was flawed and allowed for nuclear material to be stolen from within the nuclear plant and passed on to other countries.  Deeply alarmed, he reported this finding to the AEC, and later to the U.S. Congress and the President. But when the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman falls in love with a beautiful female undercover CIA operative, what follows is a pulse-quickening, globe-spanning page turner that will leave readers wondering where truth ends and fiction begins—if at all…

Welcome to The Dark Phantom, Ruth! Tell us, what is inside the mind of a thriller espionage writer?

While I can’t vouch for what is in the mind of every thriller espionage writer, I can say that I have a healthy active brain, which I inherited from my grandmother, who was a brilliant woman. My grandmother on my mother’s side loved to write and she wrote extensively. In fact, that grandmother was a relative of Charles Lamb, a great writer in England. I’ve loved to read and write my whole life, as well.

Why should readers buy Whistle Blower and Double Agents? 

Readers have said Whistle Blower and Double Agents is exciting and a page-turner. I’ve heard from a number of people who have read the book say they have difficulty putting it down. I hope that readers in search of a good story will find that in Whistle Blower and Double Agents. One writer described it as “straight out of a James Bond movie – chock-full of intrigue, suspense, romance, and action.”  That is certainly high praise.

What makes for a good thriller novel?

First, I like novels that have some basis in reality. For instance, I prefer to read thrillers written by an author who either knows his/her subject or is willing to do the research to learn about the topic he/she is writing about. Some of the best thrillers, in my opinion, are rooted in fact. Whistle Blower and Double Agentscertainly fits that bill, as the book is inspired by actual incidents around the 200 pounds of uranium missing, or unaccountable, from a US nuclear power plant.

The question of responsibility pointed in many directions – the man who operated the nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, the CIA, and even the President. My employer, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission held hearings where a lot of lying and cover-up ensued at the expense of the brave and later maligned nuclear scientist who blew the whistle on the case. I’m often asked why I believe there was a cover-up. I interviewed the whistleblower and was haunted by the stories for years. You see, the ‘whistleblower’ found out exactly what happened to the uranium, who was involved—and who received the ‘missing’ uranium. Ultimately, I felt that this was a story that needed to be told.

Second, I love when there is a sense of authenticity and realism about the characters in a novel. I had the benefit of personally knowing the characters in Whistle Blower and Double Agents. That experience helped me bring life to these characters so that readers get that sense of reading about real people and not just characters in a book.

When do you write?

I write at night since it is quiet and no one bothers me. It’s important for me to really be able to concentrate while I’m writing. Also, in researching Whistle Blower and Double Agents, I was working with people all over the country and found that night was the easiest time to speak with contacts in other regions. I researched the book thoroughly so that the facts would be correct. That was very important to me, even though it made the writing process tedious and time-consuming.

What has writing taught you?

Writing has taught me how to research a word, observe a person, take note of colors, examine a room, to consider a person’s emotion and what is really conveyed through laughter, a smile, or sadness. In other words, writing has reinforced just how important it is to be observant, to listen and to pay attention.

Writing has also reinforced my belief that if you want to succeed, you have to work hard. The process of writing Whistle Blower and Double Agents was a lengthy one: I started writing the book in the 1970s and would return to it every once in a while over the years. I started writing regularly again around 2001 and finished the book in late 2015. Even though it was a process that spanned decades, I’m so proud of the book and the hard work I put in to it.

Photo and cover art published with permission from the author.

Gabriel Valjan is the author of the Roma Series from Winter Goose Publishing. Also the author of numerous essays and short stories that continue to appear online and in print, Gabriel lives in Boston’s historic South End, where he enjoys the local restaurants. His two cats, Squeak and Squawk, tolerate the occasional empty food dish and his traitorous fondness for dogs.

Q: Congratulations on the release of your latest book, Corporate Citizen: Roma Series Book Five. To begin with, can you give us a brief summary of what the story is about and what compelled you to write it?   

A: Corporate Citizen has Bianca returning to Boston. She was last in Boston in Wasp’s Nest (Book 2). She’s here now to help the cantankerous Clemente, who has enticed her with a cryptic reference to her past employer, the covert agency named Rendition. While in town, Bianca will confront her past through a new member to the team, a former soldier with PTSD. Readers will learn more about her past, what makes her ticks; this installment will present major revelations Book Five turns the corner into new territory.

I wrote Corporate because I had watched the banking crises with interest (no pun intended). After I had written the novel, I watched the movies The Big Short and Spotlight, and felt a weird sense of discomfort. In books three and four, Threading The Needle and Turning To Stone, I had visited the ideas of financial and institutional terrorism, but after viewing those two films, I felt I had captured and conveyed the magnitude of cynicism (The Big Short) and corruption (Spotlight) in Corporate Citizen, although my characters fight the good fight. A day doesn’t pass without news about the deeds or misdeeds of a corporate conglomerate. This disquieting news plays as background noise in our lives.

I introduce a new character, a veteran who is both dangerous and compassionate. Nick was modeled (loosely) on a deceased family member. When I was a kid, he wouldn’t talk explicitly about combat but he did mention that he and other selected infantry soldiers had been given large doses of Dexedrine, an amphetamine, and, on one occasion, LSD. He would die at the age of forty as a result of exposure to Agent Orange.

Q: What do you think makes a good mystery-suspense? Could you narrow it down to the three most important elements? Is it even possible to narrow it down?

A: Ambiguity. Pace. Tension. A good mystery-suspense is like a kettle on the flame; you know that the water is heated and at some point you will hear the water roil and then see whispers of steam before the kettle screams. A writer is responsible for how much water is in the pot and the degree to which the flame is pitched. The water will boil, the whistle will blow -- suspense and tension. Is there a potholder nearby? An enjoyable mystery-suspense book is one that gives you an unexpected ending such that when you think about it, you see all the pieces had been there and had come together.

Q: How did you go about plotting your story? Or did you discover it as you worked on the book?

A: With Corporate, I knew where I was going with the story. I knew what I wanted to achieve and how I was going to go about it. Corporate Citizen is a game-changer in many ways. Writing it, the intention was a calculated risk, but I don’t believe in a formulaic approach. Life has its changes. New challenges are necessary for my characters to grow. With change, there is discomfort, catharsis, and renewal.

Q: Tell us something interesting about your protagonist and how you developed him or her. Did you do any character interviews or sketches prior to the actual writing?

A:  Bianca is an amalgam of people I’ve known. I once knew a notorious hacker. Another friend of mine, now deceased, was beyond brilliant, with a 200 IQ, but unable to interact with people. You could tell when you dealt with him that he was thinking about things on another plane and that he struggled to put it all into words. Bianca is a combination of these two individuals, and there is an element of my younger self. I was cold and very Spock-like when I was younger. It was a defense mechanism. I’ve mellowed some. I don’t do character sketches, but it isn’t difficult for me to access the people I’ve known and anticipate what they would say and do in certain situations.

Q: In the same light, how did you create your antagonist or villain? What steps did you take to make him or her realistic?

A: I think pure Evil is rare. Human beings have a primitive instinct, a survival impulse to avoid such people. It’s more realistic that a person is flawed, that they have a genuine impulse to do good, but the end-results are problematic. History is littered with individuals who are one nation’s hero and another’s nightmare. I aim for ambiguity. Here, the title matters. Is a soldier, who has killed for his country, a bad person? Objectively, he has taken lives. Is the politician, who has ordered an assassination to maintain hegemony and political stability, evil? Readers of the Series know that Rendition had started with the best of intentions. In Corporate Citizen, there are two new characters: I let the readers decide whether they are villains.

Q: How did you keep your narrative exciting throughout the novel? Could you offer some practical, specific tips?

A: Writing a novel is like the race between the tortoise and the hare. First, I think you have to a clear and fast glimpse of the finish line. What does each character want? What is the price (assumed and real) of what they want? What will they have by the last page? If you have rough answers to these questions and you know your characters well enough that they speak to you inside your head then write it all down. That is the slow part of the process. You could vary the pace, like a director with a camera, with a cutaway to another scene, to another character, but end your chapter with a question or a revelation that is picked up later. The more you write, the more you read, the better you will get at knowing what to do, when to do it, and the more likely you’ll have a sense of how to do it. I know that sounds vague, but the more you read other authors, the more you become aware of the tricks of the trade. This is why reading widely across genres helps. There is also some excellent writing for serial television, such as Breaking Bad. Enjoy it first and then make a case study of it so you teach yourself how the writer(s) did it. Jane Austen almost never describes what her characters look like and yet she writes dialogue, often in close combat, that has withstood the test of time. What you teach yourself, the knowledge you acquire, is on your terms, in your own language, and what you know, you’ll never forget.

Q: Setting is also quite important and in many cases it becomes like a character itself. What tools of the trade did you use in your writing to bring the setting to life?

A: It helps that I’ve lived or traveled to the places that I use in the Roma Series. However, special precautions are necessary when a writer uses a foreign locale. I wrote an article for Writer Unboxed about avoiding stereotypes. When I think the story is as good it’ll be, I’ll send it to my Italian friend in Milan, Claudio Ferrara, who is also a talented writer and translator. He does what I call ‘cultural editing.’ Simply put, there is a point where, despite all of my research and empathy, a native speaker helps with authenticity – whether it’s an Italian word, or a detail about a place. A foreigner often sees touristy things but a native will point those things that are the heart of the city and culture. Let me give you an example. I live in Boston, the city that sparked the American Revolution. There are so many touchstones to the historical past: the Freedom Trail, the Old Meeting House, and the Boston Tea Party, but I’ll point to one curious memorial. On School Street, where there used to be a Borders bookstore, there is a plaque commemorating the site of the first Catholic Church building in Boston and the city’s first public Mass in 1788. The Puritans settled New England in 1620.  Think about that gap in time and its implications for religious tolerance. It’s all a matter of perspective and insider knowledge.

Q: Did you know the theme(s) of your novel from the start or is this something you discovered after completing the first draft? Is this theme recurrent in your other work?

A: The recurring themes throughout all of the Roma Series books are friendship and loyalty among friends while they negotiate dangerous situations. I know from the start where the story will take place, and which aspect of organized crime I will present to the reader. Where I strive to be distinctive in crime fiction is in how I show that organized crime is more than just some thug like Tony Soprano, though they do exist. Organized crime in Italy is the vampire that feeds off superstition and fears, but yet has morphed, paradoxically, into a very modern, sophisticated and multinational corporation.

Q: Where does craft end and art begin? Do you think editing can destroy the initial creative thrust of an author?

A: A writer’s skill is craft, but the art of it all is a collaboration of invisible hands. Editing and revision is where there is Art. My friend Dean Hunt copy-edits my writing and has proofread my novels. Suzanne Rindell, author of The Other Typist and a doctoral student in American literature, remarked that “F. Scott Fitzgerald’s spelling [was] so awful sometimes I think if he had auto-spell Gatsby would not have died.” Not comparing myself to the wonderful Fitzgerald or Rindell, but writers need guard rails. Line editing requires an attentive ear and knowing the writer. Dave King has helped me in this regard. He also has helped me with structural editing for the plot’s arc. I have readers who spot-check for continuity. I’ve already discussed Claudio’s work with me as my cultural editor. When my novel visits James’s desk at Winter Goose, I hope that it is as clean as possible, and yet he’ll find nits and wrinkles. The point to all this is that a book in hand – what we call Art -- is the product of many different talents and minds at work.

Q: What three things, in your opinion, make a successful novelist?

A: Item #1 is a quote from screenwriter Aaron Sorkin.

Stupid people surround themselves with smart people. Smart people surround themselves with smart people who disagree with them.

In a word, you rise to the occasion because smarter people, those who’ll call you on it, make you a better writer and person.

Item #2: The ability to create characters who want something, and an obstacle in the way of fulfilling that desire. The character should start somewhere and arrive somewhere else.

Item #3: The writer should be invisible to the story. The story should reveal itself without any authorial intrusion, which means no verbal pyrotechnics, no showing off what they know, or forced jokes or gratuitous violence. Whatever happens in the story should be organic and logical to the initial premise and appropriate to the personalities.

Q: A famous writer once wrote that being an author is like having to do homework for the rest of your life. What do you think about that?

A: I agree. Writers are sensitive to language and the ‘homework’ is studying other writers. For example, I have little interest in rap music, but I admire and appreciated what Lin-Manuel Miranda did in his musical Hamilton. He used contemporary music to teach history, tell a story, a tragic one. I had read and enjoyed Chenow’s Hamilton, but the musical Hamilton brought the historical person of Alexander Hamilton, a brilliant and at times monumentally insecure man to life in my imagination.

Q: Are there any resources, books, workshops or sites about craft that you’ve found helpful during your writing career?

A: I consult Dave King and Rennie Browne’s Self-Editing for Fiction Writers and visit Writer Unboxed online, along with Kristen Lamb’s blog. While I respect advice, exercises, and strategies, I think you’re best left to figure it out on your own, using your imagination and learning lessons from reading for decades.

Q:  Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers about the craft of writing?

A: Do it. Write. Put your butt in the chair and hands on the keyboard and see what comes through the fingertips. Readers want a story that entertains them, moves them, and changes their way of looking at the world. Trust your imagination, draft and revise it. Have fun and write that story.