Frequently asked:

Q: You wrote under your own name, rather than a pen name. Isn’t that risky? A: I decided that I would be the brand. This then ties in my career as a wine agent in with my career as a novelist. I think you have to take risks in life. That has always been my philosophy anyway. I thought it was important to stand behind what I wrote and I wanted for readers to know that the author is in fact, a wine professional. Fiction based in reality. And what’s wrong with notoriety, if it’s good for book sales? Q: Was it a rewarding experience? A: So far the whole process has been a lot of fun. One of the greatest parts of the experience was how much personal pleasure I got out of writing PRIVATE RESERVE. I got to entertain myself as I was going along. One idea would lead to another idea and I just couldn’t wait to get to my keyboard to see how the characters would come to life and how the story would unfold. Sometimes I knew ahead of time what I wanted to happen and sometimes things would happen as I was writing … and were a surprise even to me. Q: How did you go about bringing the characters to life and how did you move the story along? A: I would open up my computer and just start to read what I had written, and ideas would come to me. I used to say that I was going to see which character was going to talk to me that day … what they had to say and where they were going to take me. At the same time I’d edit and correct typos and grammar … Practical stuff. So it was doubly effective.