Around this time my schedule worked like this. I would be editing one novel with Doug Grad at New American Library, writing another and thinking about and researching the outline for the next one to come. The old adage of publish or perish isn’t confined to academia. I was halfway through the first draft of Pandora’s Curse when I thought about the Panama Canal again. It stands as one of the greatest engineering marvels ever built and after reading a couple of books about its construction I knew it would make a fantastic location for a thriller -- thousand foot long locks with huge tunnels running beneath them, tight shipping channels, impenetrable jungles. What more could a writer ask for? I couldn’t believe Cussler or Clancy hadn’t beaten me to it. And with the Chinese ensconced on both ends of the canal I had a ready-made adversary.

One of the trickiest parts to crafting a story is to give Mercer a legitimate reason for getting involved in the plot. I don’t like relying on him being in the right place at the right time. I’d used it before and it is really a rather lazy plot device. I think this is why so many thriller heroes are either soldiers or spies. Their superiors can just order them into a situation and off they go to save the world.

With Mercer I need to develop plausible reason why he should put his life on the line again and again. Finding it was another example of research paying off. Long before the canal was cut across the isthmus, Panama was an important trade route dating back to the days of the Spanish treasure fleets. Treasure? H’mm? What if Mercer was in Panama looking for treasure, I thought and realized he’d never do it. It didn’t fit his personality. Looking for lost diamond mines, yes, but I don’t think he’d fall for the get-rich-quick hopes of a treasure hunter. On the other hand it is well within his personality to help a friend in trouble who is looking for Spanish gold.

With that in mind and a few action scenes already sketched out, the plot came together quickly This was the second time I had written a compete outline for one of my novels and my advice for aspiring authors is to use them. That doesn’t mean you can’t change the plot as you go but having a framework in place before you sit down at the computer helps you avoid a lot of pitfalls.

Most authors claim they don’t read internet feedback. I personally think they’re lying. I check Amazon and a few other places nearly every day. One of the comments I see quite a bit is that River of Ruin contains their favorite scene of any of the Mercer books. It occurs when Harry is at the helm of a freighter rocketing through the locks after the flood gates had been destroyed. He’s blowing the whistle and laughing like a maniac through the entire wild ride. People ask me what is the favorite of my books, a question I can’t possibly answer. It’s like asking which one of your kids you like best. But I will agree with so many others that this scene takes the cake. I laughed my butt off when I wrote it and still chuckle when I re-read it.