I don't just want my books to be about the '30s and '40s. I want them to read as if they had been written then. I think of them as '40s novels, written in the conservative narrative past.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
When I was turning 40, I felt that there were no books out there that hit the spot in terms of what I wanted to read.
One tends to overlook the fact that all during the 30's and actually during the late 40's I was a highly successful writer and a great many properties accumulated during that period of time.
I have been writing for 50 years and readers still read my first book from when I was in the Marine Corps.
With the 'Old Kingdom' trilogy, at least half the readers were older adults rather than younger adults. I wrote them for myself with no particular audience in mind.
I know many older writers who were very successful and whose books are now out of print, so you have to go to antiquarian booksellers to buy their fifth or eighth novel or whatever it is.
I try not to think about the trope or whether or not my books are like 'Fifty' or 'Crossfire' or any other series.
My first four books were not published because nobody wanted them. They were adult books, not kids' books.
There's more fiction in my life than in books, so I don't bother with them.
I began writing seriously in my mid-20s and didn't publish my first book until I was 41.
I just started to put texting and phones in my books. I want my books to be read 20 years from now; I don't want them to be dated.