What brought you to writing?

On one of my first assignments as a news reporter, I attended a a crowded news conference by the head of the transit workers union, whose strike had shut down New York’s subways and buses. I ended up standing behind the union boss and noticed him moving one of his aides so that he wouldn’t block the view of television cameras. He used just the tip of his little finger to exert pressure on his aide’s arm. No one but me noticed. I wrote a dry story about the event, but it was the gesture I wanted to write about. There was no place for a story like that in daily news reporting; there began my desire to write fiction.

Describe your path to what you’re doing now ….

…

Is passion important for you?

Writing has been a little like breathing—something I simply have to do.

Your thoughts about mastery and failure?

I don’t think about perfection and, therefore, not about failure. I just do the best I can.

Fears are …

I don’t have any.

Has there been a point in your life when you had any regrets?

No.

Money is important. … Or isn’t it?

It was nice to make a living writing nothing but my fiction. When I had to write journalism or fundraising pieces, I still kept writing my own work. So I’d say staying creative and keeping my self-respect were more important than money.

Tell us a bit about inspiration and creativity.

All my books and plays have started small: a face on the subway, an item in the back pages of a newspaper, something someone said, a movie, a song. Once I have the idea, it’s a simple matter to build a world around it.

What does a typical day in your life look like?

…I get up before dawn, read a few pages from some books that help me stay sober, eat breakfast (usually at a local café), read the newspaper, read from a book I’m in the middle of, study a little math (geometry and calculus), eat lunch, take a walk or ride my bike, cook dinner most weekdays for my wife and me, watch some television on my iPad (Danish and Swedish and Belgian crime dramas, American copies of the same), read a little more from my current book, lights out by 10 pm. You’ll notice I didn’t mention writing. These days I have nothing to say.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

As I said, from a face on the subway, an item in the back pages of a newspaper, something someone said, a movie, a song.

How important are media like newspapers, tv, the internet for your creative process?

If there were none of things, I could still write.

If you had to choose: Hammett, Chandler, Ambler, Simenon – who would be your favorite writer? If none of these just pick another one … And tell us why?

My favorite authors: Paul Scott, Lawrence Durrell, Alistair MacLeod, Ernest Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald. My favorite crime novelist, hands down, Raymond Chandler.

Is there any advice you could share with someone who wants to become a writer?

Find a time of day when you can write without interruption and make it your own. During that time, either write or do nothing, but don’t read or talk on the phone. Above all, stay off the Web and email.

Is there anything in the way of a legacy you hope to leave behind?

Is there something in the way of a legacy you hope to leave behind? I’ve written 23 (I think) novels, a full-length play and some short plays. I’ve also taken some care to write well in letters to friends and family. That’s my legacy.