Frequently asked questions

How did you become a writer?

I always wanted to write. I can't remember a time when I didn't. Throughout my professional life as a Banker, Corporate Recruiter, Security Director, Teacher and Motivational Speaker, I always wrote. I did it usually late at night when it's quiet and you're not disturbed. When I write I really feel alive and happy. It's a passion with me.

Where do you get your books ideas and themes?

All my life I've been fascinated by history and how men and women react under pressure. How some of them are successful. And others fail. Most of human life has been lived under a background of war, civil strife and social change. I like to write about men and women living and involved in those kinds of pressures and see how they react and face them.

Do you do your own research?

Always. I write novels with historical backgrounds and such novels must be carefully researched. Great writing is in the details and in the style you use. The better you understand the period, the better the writing and the novel will be.

What authors or books do you read?

I read authors who have a claim to greatness. For me that means Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo, Cervantes, William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway. These are the authors I read and like to reread.

You often speak of books that have greatness. What does that mean?

I think books ought to touch and inspire people. They should make an attempt at understanding who we are and in exploring the whole of the human condition. Only then can books define who we are and motivate us in going on and becoming better persons. That's what I mean by books that have greatness.

You've written The Long War. What other novel or novels are you working on?

I'm writing another long and complex novel called The Honor And the Glory. It is the second in a series of seven novels that will be published under the general title of The War Chronicles.

You write fiction. Do you also write non-fiction?

I do. I'm also presently writing a book called Ray Davison: an American Hero about a great American firefighter and Success: the Ten Steps to Achieve It about people wanting to make a success of their lives. I'm also planning to write other books of Non-Fiction.

What would you say to someone wanting to become a writer?

I would say be yourself. Don't listen to people who will tell you it's crazy, risky, and not worth doing. Read the writers you like and that you feel best speak to you. And then get going and write and write and write. You'll see. It'll pay off.

Finally how would you like to be remembered as a writer?

I'd like to be remembered as someone who gave it all he had and really believed in people. I'd like to be remembered as someone who wrote about great periods of history, those of extreme peril and crisis, and did it as well and movingly as anyone. In other words, as someone who took risks and wasn't afraid to reach for the impossible and try and go beyond it, even.