Foreward to a Fatal Interview

I am ensconced in my writer's cave, surrounded by books and notes and pillows and dogs, writing my sixth Mak Vanderwall crime novel, Assassin, and thinking of death, sex, murder, betrayal, greed. Such topics are the bread and butter of the thriller novelist. So it is appropriate that I picked up my new edition of Red Dragon, by Thomas Harris, whom I consider to be one of this genre's very finest authors. I am to review this favourite novel of mine for the September instalment of my monthly book club, Tara Moss Recommends for crime channel 13th Street.

Thomas Harris himself writes a brilliant foreword to Red Dragon, entitled, Foreward to a Fatal Interview. In it, he describes the process of writing Red Dragon, and discovering Hannibal Lecter, M.D., the famous fictional villain his story let loose on the world. Among many wonderful insights, Harris has this to say about the writing process:

'You must understand that when you are writing a novel you are not making anything up. It's all there and you just have to find it.'

With fresh inspiration, I continue my search...