I spent years copying the habits of other writers, thinking they were the one true way to put words on the page. So, since the great amount of email I receive comes from people who want to write a book of their own (or have me ghost for them), here are a couple other things I've picked up along the way. . . .
I'm sitting in my office on a Sunday afternoon. Rode the Peloton, went to church, Ricardo's in San Juan for crunchy tacos and refried beans, a little time re-reading The Winds of War, and now here I sit.
A long while ago, I wrote The Explorers. I sold the idea as a new take on the Burton-Speke expedition to find the source of the Nile. But the Killing series took off after the contract was signed. What was supposed to be one book is now up to thirteen. So in the interests of keeping things fresh (and fulfiliing my contract), I spun the Burton-Speke drama into something entirely different. . . .
This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of one of my forgotten works: Inline Skating Made Easy. When people ask me to name my first book, I usually talk about Surviving the Toughest Race on Earth, my memoir about covering and competing in the legendary Raid Gauloises adventure race. But Surviving wasn't the first. Actually, Inline wasn't either. . . .
