About the Author

I started writing Einstein's Trunk while I was living in Zurich, Switzerland and working for an American computer company there. My previous job in the same company had required me to do a lot of writing, but my job in Switzerland less so. I found I missed it, and, so, started writing a book in my free time - oftentimes on planes and in airports during business trips.   

A bit strangely, I first came up with the title of the book and then developed the plot from there. I thought to myself that people love Da Vinci Code type mysteries and the name Einstein has lots of cache - so voila - Einstein's Trunk. From there, the plot just sort of unfolded itself naturally. 

My main character, Rulon Hurt, was a composite of Dan Blocker's character Hoss Cartwright in the TV series Bonanza, and Rulon Gardner, an Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler from Idaho.  I liked the name Rulon, though very few others who originally read my book did. My wonderful editor, Margaret Pattison, thought it sounded like the hero in a science fiction fantasy novel.! To me the name just fit - and one of the perks of writing a book is to be able to name the characters. To me the name suggests someone you might underestimate, but in the case of Hoss Cartwright, Rulon Gardner, and Rulon Hurt, that would be a big mistake.  

I admire great writers such as Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway, John Le Carré and Ken Kesey. It was For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway that first opened my eyes as to what great writing could achieve. 

In my genre, the thriller genre, I consider John Le Carré to be in a class by himself. But  I have been most influenced by Barry Eisler, the author of the John Rain assassin series. Mr Eisler moved me for two main reasons. 1. his books were authentic. Honestly, I have read a lot of thrillers and very, very few of them, even those written by ex-operatives, have struck me as authentic. Barry Eisler, in my opinion, is one of the rare exceptions. His books are not only technically accurate but also emotionally accurate. 

When I wrote my books, I wanted them to be authentic. There's no swearing or gratuitous sex or violence in my books, but I try to make them technically and emotionally accurate. My characters, except for the villains, are good people with principles, but they are nobody's fool - similar to many good people I have met in my life.  

The sub-stories in my books are also well researched. For example, many of the obscure details about Einstein and asteroids, even down to the exact date in Einstein's Trunk that a good-sized asteroid has a chance of hitting the earth (April 13, 2029) are true. In A Thousand Suns, details about tiger hunting and plastic guns, are based on actual published research. Places in Boise, Twin Falls, Idaho, and Zurich, Switzerland are all really there. In my latest book, Redfish, the geographical, historical, and technical details are likewise painstakingly researched.