Bestselling Author David Baldacci Answers Gather Member Questions

I recently had the privilege of interviewing bestselling author David Baldacci.  Mr. Baldacci's new book "Stone Cold" will be released on November 6th.  He will also be hosting an episode of Court TV's series "Murder By The Book" on Monday, November 12th at 10 p.m. E/P.  Mr. Baldacci carved time out of his busy schedule to answer Gather member questions about the show, his new book, and the craft of writing.

I'm wondering if you can start by telling us how you got involved with the Court TV series "Murder by the Book." 

The episode that I am hosting is airing on November 12th about the Georgetown Starbucks murders. It is near my hometown and I had actually done a lot of research about Georgetown for a book that I was writing at the time.  I had been to that Starbucks many times.  It turned out to be a random murder/botched robbery sort of case.  It even had some political overtones because one of the victims had recently worked at the White House.   

Were you familiar with this case before your involvement with the series? 

Yes, I was.  The people at Court TV asked me if there was a particular case in mind that I thought would make for a good episode and that one had always intrigued me.  

Have you ever used any real life crime in your own writing? 

No, but I've used real life scenarios that have happened.  I wrote a book called "The Simple Truth" where I dealt with the fact that soldiers who had been harmed by the government really can't sue the government because they have sovereign immunity.  I didn't use the exact case but I took the idea and built it into a fictional scenario.  

So obviously when you were working as a lawyer, none of that has ever made its way into your writing?  

Laughs.  No, not really.  

Is "Stone Cold" the last book in the Camel Club series? 

I haven't made that decision yet.  I left myself some latitude at the end.  I like these guys a lot.  I really like Oliver Stone a lot so I'll never say never.  I haven't made up my mind.  

Are you the kind of author who constantly has fifteen ideas in his head for other books? 

Pretty much.  Having a good idea is easy.  It's executing it that's the hard part.  

I've read "Camel Club" and I'm halfway through "Stone Cold," which I am really enjoying.  There are so many little details that you feel like you've got insider information.  The reader learns about the intricacies of the Secret Service and where to eat at The Library of Congress.  You obviously seem like a guy who keeps your eyes and ears open.  I know that this is your background, but I'm wondering how you catalogue all the information.  Do you have a good memory or do you write it down? 

I do have a good memory.  Things that I see I tend to remember, particularly if they strike me as odd.  I keep journals, files and notebooks.  I also keep notes tucked here and there so I can pull them out when I need to.  A lot of it is ingrained in my memory.  

I am interviewing you on behalf of gather.com and many of the people on the site are aspiring writers who are interested in knowing about your writing process.  Is it still the same as when you first started?  Is there a set time when you sit down to write?  Is it a long process? 

The only perfect place to write is in your head.  I don't need to have the same pen, the same desk, and the same chair.  Or the same smoking jacket.  Laughs.  But you need to be in the zone.  I don't sit in front of the computer and try to make the words come.  I tend to think about it for a long period of time and daydream and get it crystallized in my head.  Then I will sit down and write in big bursts. I don't count words.  I just know what I want to write that particular day.  I don't write everyday.  I think about it everyday.  I do a lot of research and as I'm writing, the plots evolve and change.  The characters evolve over time.  You have to be infinitely flexible when you are writing because you can't pound a round peg into a square hole.  If something's not working, you need to be able to change it.  I certainly do a lot of stuff on the fly.  I think about it a lot. Spontaneity is nothing more than things you've been thinking about a lot on a subconscious level that percolate to the surface.  You might think it's a new idea, but it has been around for a while.  

As detailed as the books you write are, I would assume that you go into the writing process with an outline? 

Yes, I do a little mini outline.  I don't outline the whole book because I don't know all the things that are going to happen when I sit down to write it.  So I do the mini outline with 10-20 pages of bullet points that I want to get into.  I'll sit and think about.  Sometimes the best thing a writer can do is go for a walk and think about something.  All of a sudden, voila, the answer appears.  

Can you talk a little bit about how you got your first book published "Absolute Power."  I know that you were working as a lawyer. 

I had actually been writing for years.  I started out writing short stories. I moved to screenplay writing. I had an agent out in L.A. for my screenplays. I finished "Absolute Power" and I knew that I needed an agent.  I compiled a list of agents from various people and found a few on my own.  I sent the book to about six or seven agents in New York and pretty much all of them called back and said, "We'd love to be your agent," which was very unusual for me.  I went up and interviewed the agents and picked the one that I still have today.  Monday night he sent it out and by Tuesday, it had been sold.  There was this big bidding war.  It hardly ever happens that way.  Or at least that has been my experience over the last fifteen years.  It was all those years of writing and getting better that when I finally came out with "Absolute Power," it was a fresh and new way of telling a story.  And it captured its readership.    

What do you like to read?  Do you read only mysteries? 

No, I read all across the board.  If David McCullough has a new piece of nonfiction out, I'll read that.  If John Irving has a book out, I'll read that, or Ann Tyler.  I've really been getting into books by Jasper Fforde.  He's very creative and fun.  If people recommend a new writer to me, I'll pick the book up and read it.    

Are you able to read when you write? 

I read when I write, certainly.  It's a pleasure for me and a lot of times, it's a great outlet. You've been writing all day and it's nice to go home and read someone else's stuff.    

In reading your book, it seems so much different than the Cold War era mystery-type drama. With the post 9/11 world, do you think it makes it much more complex? 

I think it makes it much more unpredictable.  Certainly with the situation that we're dealing with now, you have a variety of people and a situation where there is no mutually assured destruction any more. Somebody has a nuclear bomb.  They would be glad to detonate and kill themselves and everyone else.  They would have no problem with that.  The Cold War was different because both sides knew we had enough to wipe the other out, so nobody ever pushed the buttons.  It's different now. It's more random.  It's far less predictable.  I would love to trade what we have for the Cold War all over again, whether or not that makes sense.  With that said, the Cold War is not dead.  It may be flaming up again and actually we see the direction Russia has taken.  It's not exactly the direction we expected them to go.  So while people are worrying about the Osamas of the world and maybe they might get a suitcase bomb and detonate it somewhere, we lose sight of the fact that Russia has a few thousand nuclear warheads that they can deliver in a few seconds.  That's another scenario we may have to worry about down the road.  

And do you think about this kind of thing for your upcoming book? 

I'm actually working on it right now. I'm almost done with it and that very much plays into it.  

Insider information!  How long does it take you to write a book? I'm sure it's different every time. 

It is. For the last thirteen years, I've written a book a year.  This year I wrote two books. I had "Simple Genius" in the spring and "Stone Cold" in the fall.  And next year, I'll do the same thing.  So I've cut a year's worth of work down to six or seven months.  I guess I just have to work a little bit harder.    

I am personally a big fan of "Christmas Train" and that book came up a lot with Gather members.  People wanted to know if you plan on writing anything else like that.  It must be gratifying to be able to break out of a mold that you are known for.  Do you want to work on something like that again? 

Yes.  I had a lot of fun with "Christmas Train."  It was something totally different to write. I didn’t have to worry about murders or body counts.  I can't say that I won't write something like that again because I may very well if I ever stumble across a story I like, I'll certainly take off and do it.  

So that wasn't a preconceived "I need to write a Christmas story" kind of thing? 

No, I took a train trip across the United States while I was finishing another book "Last Man Standing."  I was three and a half days on the train, and by the time I got to L.A. to give my speech to the bar, I had 50 pages worth of notes about people who I had met and the places that I had seen.  And I thought to myself "I have to write this story."  It was inspiration on the rails.  

Is there anything that people would be surprised to know about you?  Do you have any hidden passions? 

I love the water. My family and I do a lot of water sports.  We sail, wakeboard and I drive a mean powerboat, let me tell you.  Laughs. If you ride with me, you've got to hold on with ten fingers and ten toes.    

Mr. Baldacci, thank you so much for your time.  I know how busy you must be.  It's been an absolute pleasure talking to you.   

Thank you very much.