“My family was all police and hard hats at the refineries; they didn't know what …” — Robert Crais

Everything we are is anchored in our childhoods. The drama comes in how we deal with it. Are we slaves to our past, or can we rise above it? This is the stuff of great stories.

I write characters and stories that move me, and I write from the heart.

I think every writer of detective fiction writing today has been influenced by Mr. Parker. I'm of a generation that followed Robert Parker, and it was impossible to read the genre and not be influenced by him.

I love the fact that you collaborate with your readers when you write a book.