In the course of contemplating, writing, repeatedly re-writing, and finally publishing my first novel, I’ve been blessed with more than twenty thoughtful pre-readers, several phenomenally talented editors, and a bunch of inquisitive friends. Here’s a sampling of the questions they’ve asked and my attempts at answers.

Did you always want to be a writer?
No. I wanted to play centerfield for the Yankees. But I was always fascinated with words. At an early age, I discovered a talent for rhyming. I wrote poems and later wanted to write songs. So, in college, I borrowed a suitemate’s guitar (thank you Robert) and taught myself how to play. I wrote a song on the first two chords I learned. I’ve written several hundred since then and even performed as a solo acoustic act around New York City in my early twenties. But, more than the melodies, it was always the words that inspired me. In fact, in my novel, The Book of Judges, a key concept is The Words. If you read the extended version of my short story Justice (a more concise version appears in The Book of Judges) which you can download for free from this website, you’ll get an introduction to The Words.

What formal training do you have as a writer?
None. I have an undergraduate degree (SUNY Albany) in math/computer science and a law degree (University of Miami). So I had to learn “on the job.” It took three years for me to complete my first draft of The Book of Judges. I had the bones of a story, but far from enough craft to make it a truly readable novel. A wonderful editor, Margaret Lucke, helped me see much of what I needed to do, and I wrote a few more drafts. But my life (three kids, a busy solo law practice, coaching youth sports, local political activism, a golden retriever) was too busy. I put the project aside for a number of years until I had the time to devote to my writing. Once I did, I exercised my writing muscles by writing scripts, taking masterclasses, and learning about things like pacing and cliffhangers, until I felt ready to get back to working on the novel. I edited away, completing several more drafts, and was then referred to an amazing editor, Tanya Egan Gibson. I worked with Tanya for two years. She taught me so many more things about the craft: getting deep inside my characters’ heads, foreshadowing, holding back. Tightening, always tightening. And, finally, letting go.

What do you feel are the most important things you learned in the process?
For us Type A people, the hardheaded “I will do everything myself” strivers, there comes a point where we need to recognize that we are out of our depth. When we need to seek out someone who knows more. Being willing to truly listen to constructive criticism. Being honest with myself about which criticisms and advice to take or to reject. Being willing to throw away ideas I liked, sentences, paragraphs, even chapters and characters that didn’t fully serve the story. To paraphrase Stephen King’s graphic advice: to write something readable, you must be willing to “kill your darlings.”

What is your writing process like?
At the outset, I don’t overly outline, but I sketch out my main plot points: core idea, beginning, ending, and some of the middle, along with my protagonists. Then I research any big ideas to flesh them out. The research influences directions in the story and with my characters. I lay out specifics about my primary characters: names, descriptions, backstories, how they fit in the story. Once I have my primary ideas together, I’ll roughly outline an overall flow for the book. But I leave major space to create and further research along the way, allowing me to pursue new paths on smaller, and sometimes larger, issues. As I progress, I’ll outline the next few chapters ahead. My process is similar with each historical story within the overall novel. Going back for redrafts, I’ll constantly look at tightening, sharpening my cliffhangers, reassembling chapter placement, improving flow and heightening suspense. As far as how much I write and when, this has varied greatly. In my early years on the novel, my life was so busy that I crammed writing into whatever hours I could, often late at night when my wife and kids were asleep. It took three years for that first draft. In more recent years, having much more time, I find that I am a sprinter, not a marathoner. Rather than writing every day for a set number of hours or pages, I find that I write best when I am inspired. I write in bursts, not on a regular schedule, but I’m usually at my best in the first half of the day. I know that’s not the typically recommended process, but when my mind gets going on a specific part of the book, I run with it, sometimes for days and nights on end – that’s my “happy place” as a writer. Then I go back to the rest of my life until I’m ready for more.

What inspired you to write a novel? And, more specifically, a novel that is a modern-day thriller interwoven with stories of historical fiction?
My wife, Debbie (whom I call Deb), and I both love to read and we both love a wide range of fiction. We’d each just read several modern-day thrillers that either connected to historical secrets or had parallel historical timelines. One night, after finishing one of those books, Deb looked over at me and said the four words we all need to hear from our significant others from time to time, “You could do this.” Three days later, I had the kernel of an idea that formed the basis for The Book of Judges.

How did you develop your main protagonist, Josh’s, moral complexity?
A primary driver of that was a plot hole. My modern-day story has several antagonists, so I decided I didn’t want to have the police heavily involved – too many cooks at that point. But, from my pre-readers, it became apparent that my explanations for keeping the police out of it were not strong enough. That led me to create some crucial facts about Josh’s past that not only provided a better explanation of the plot, but also about who he is and why.

How did you balance suspense and pacing throughout the story?
As much as I work to keep my scenes active and moving, I try to leave the reader in suspense at the end of a chapter, a question in their mind, an important conflict revealed but unresolved, pushing them forward in anticipation. My hope is that my readers will trust me to later provide the answers at an appropriate time (I will). The trickiest suspense/pacing balance in this book is between the modern-day story and the historical stories. In the transition into a historical story, I want two somewhat contradictory things: first, something in the modern-day story my readers definitely want to go forward for, and second, a compelling, concise, tightly knit historical story, that will hold them on its own and have its own rewarding ending, while tying into the overall plot and sending my readers back to the modern-day story somewhat quenched but far from satiated.

Any recommendations on how to go from idea to a publishable novel?
First and foremost, if you have an idea you believe in, go at it hard. Perfect it as best you can. Relish researching (if applicable) and revising. Once you’ve got a draft you feel pretty good about, put it aside for a week or two, then read it with fresh eyes. Make any necessary changes and, as best you can, catch any remaining typos. Try to find some other writers or friends and family willing to be pre-readers. They’ll help point out things like character flaws, plot holes, and unnecessary exposition that you may have missed. Once you’ve cleaned that up, consider hiring a professional editor. My editor was invaluable in taking me through the additional drafts my novel needed.

How did you get The Book of Judges published?
There are currently three primary paths to publishing: traditional publishing, self-publishing, or hybrid publishing. Though many authors self-publish, using Amazon’s tools or through other self-publishing companies, I did not want to do all my own administrative work and publicity. So, I tried the traditional path. I wrote query letters to innumerable agents, focusing on those who appeared (according to sites like Agent Query) to have interests in thrillers and historical fiction. I was fortunate to land an agent, but I ended up being unhappy with the relationship. Several other agents were positive about my novel but were either looking for different things or were afraid to approach traditional publishers with it because of its blended genres. I heard that there were some excellent publishing industry professionals who had tired of the traditional publishing route and formed hybrid-publishing houses, where you could submit your manuscript without an agent and, if you were approved, enter into a publishing relationship. I found out through a friend that a well-respected publisher, Brooke Warner, headed up two such hybrid imprints: SparkPress and SheWritesPress. Each has sales and distribution through Simon and Schuster. SparkPress publishes only around twenty novels per year, so I was thrilled when they accepted The Book of Judges. I’ve been extremely impressed with Brooke and her team’s professionalism as we’ve taken the novel through final copy-editing, cover design, marketing strategies, etc.

What are your future plans as a writer?
I am currently working on a sequel to The Book of Judges. Many of its historical stories were much longer in earlier drafts. I may expand one or more of those into novels or novellas. I have some other ideas as well. I’ll have to see which ones inspire me into more of my writing “sprints.”