Interviews with Authors

LJ: When you begin a new project, do you first come up with a storyline and then research it or does your research create the story by the possibilities that it suggests to you?

DB: It is usually a combination. I have a basic idea and a "mini" outline (maybe a page or two), then as I'm researching additional storylines, ideas come through.

LJ: Have you ever had to toss aside a manuscript and start from scratch or do you rewrite until the story morphs into what eventually becomes published?

DB: I haven't had a time when I threw out an entire manuscript but I have revised large chunks when in the late stages of a novel the story needed new angles and twists that had to be set up in the earlier pages.  More times than not, the story develops as I am writing.
 
LJ: Many of your readers respond to your characters as if they are people who exist in real life. How do you create characters to put readers in this frame of mind and do you have a favorite character?

DB: Character development is one of the most exciting parts of the writing process for me. I think readers tend to remember characters more than storylines. I love to see how my characters grow and develop. And I don't have a favorite character.  I'm attached to each of them for various different reasons.
 
LJ: Do you believe that your training as a lawyer taught you logical plot progression or did you learn to write fiction elsewhere?

DB: Being a lawyer helps with understanding the discipline needed to work on long projects and how to write persuasively.  But, not all attorneys can write fiction and not all fiction writers can be attorneys.  There are similar skills but there must be passion and talent in one's career path to be successful. 
 
LJ: You sponsor "Feeding the Body and Mind," a program which distributes books to people through food banks in order to increase literacy among the less fortunate. What prompted you to create this program?

DB: Working with the board and staff of my family foundation, Wish You Well Foundation, the connection between illiteracy and poverty was obvious in whatever we were doing. I reached out to Feeding America, an amazing organization which supports the hundreds of local area food banks in the US, and asked them to partner in this important program. They immediately got on board and the program has been going on successfully for three years now.
 
LJ: Prior to being published, how did you manage to keep from being arrested for your research into murder? Also, how did you manage to get people in the business to talk to you when you were an unpublished writer?

DB: Before Absolute Power hit the market and became an instant bestseller, I had to be creative in getting professionals to talk with me. I developed my storylines as far as they could go without research and then presented those ideas to various professionals. Once I got in to see one person, I asked for references to others and kept making contacts this way. I was respectful of their time and knowledge, as I still am when researching today, and I try to be understanding about their time.

LJ: Can you sum your life up in six words?

DB: Family, friends, books... in that order!

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