Frequently Asked Questions
 

Whenever I tell someone I'm a writer, the conversation almost always begins with the same two questions.
 

Where do you get your ideas?

Ideas are everywhere; you have to keep your eyes and ears open.

Inspiration can come from books, films, television, newspapers, conversations, music... almost anything.
 

For example, while writing Due Diligence, I was struggling to find the perfect name for one of my main characters. Names have never come easily to me. As I was listening to music, George Thorogood's version of Who Do You Love? started playing. One lyric sounded like, "Arlene Tucker me by the hand." It was actually "Arlene took me by the hand," but I'd misheard it, and suddenly I had the perfect name: Arlene Tucker.

That's how writing often works. Inspiration arrives when you least expect it.
 

How much money do you make?
 

Don't give up your day job.
 

One of My Favourite Stories
 

At a neighbour's barbecue, a man I'd never met walked over and asked,
 

"What do you do?"
 

"I'm a writer," I replied. "I write books."
 

He looked at me for a moment and said,

"I read a book once. Didn't like it."

Then he turned around and walked away.

I still laugh about that one.