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Interview with Thriller Writer Peter Abrahams
Jennifer Minar

Peter Abrahams is the author of thirteen novels, including "The Tutor," (Ballantine Books) "A Perfect Crime," (Ballantine Books), "The Fan" (Fawcett Books), and most recently, "Their Wildest Dreams" (Ballantine Books).

Known for his sharp wit and incredible gift for keeping readers on the edge of their seats, Abrahams has been entertaining readers for more than two decades--spinning multi-layered tales involving ordinary people who find themselves in horrific situations. Nominated for the Edgar Award, and known for his memorable, unique characters, colorful writing style, and non-stop suspense, Peter Abrahams seems to have it all--even the praise of horror author Stephen King.

Here is what he had to tell Writer's Break.

The Interview

WB: What formal training did you have before becoming an author?

Peter: I had little formal training. My mother--who wrote television drama--taught me a lot about writing when I was very young. For example--don't use linking words between sentences (however, nevertheless, etc.), but use linked ideas, mood, rhythm.

WB: What's a typical writing day like for you?

Peter: Typical writing day--I drive my daughter to school, hit the gym, then breakfast and finally the office, where I work from about 10 to 5. Late in a book I sometimes do more after dinner.

WB: How long does it typically take for you to complete a novel?

Peter: The actual writing of a book takes me 5-6 months if everything is going well. I wouldn't call myself fast, just steady.

WB: What inspired you to write your latest novel, "Their Wildest Dreams"?

Peter: I don't know if inspired is the word. I've often got little ideas drifting around in my mind. In the case of "THEIR WILDEST DREAMS," I was thinking a struggling woman and a Russian immigrant and a heist gone bad. Then, on Don Imus's radio show, I heard Delbert McClinton singing a song called When Rita Leaves. Most of the story--Mackie, the southwest, the dude ranch, Buckaroo's--came to me in the next five minutes.

WB: How did you decide to become a full-time novelist? What were you doing before?

Peter: The short answer is that I finally started doing what I was designed to do. The long answer isn't that interesting. Earlier, I worked in radio. Before that, I was a spearfisherman in the Bahamas.

WB: What would you say is the "best" and "worst" aspects to this job?

Peter: The best is that hard-to-describe pleasure that comes with making something out of nothing. The worst? A toss-up between the business aspects and the solitary nature of the job.

WB: Who are some of your favorite authors?

Peter: Lots of dead favorites, and a few living ones, including Stephen King and Saul Bellow.

WB: What can fans expect from you next?

Peter: My next book, "OBLIVION," comes out next year. It's my first detective novel. I think I can safely say that the detective, Nick Petrov, faces challenges unlike any previous fictional detective. I'm also involved in another new thing for me--a young adult mystery series that I'm really excited about.

WB: Do you do a lot of research for your books?

Peter: Research--it depends what you mean. A lot of it just comes from living. But as for all the little facts, I do what I have to to get them right. I visit places I write about--some, like southern Arizona in "Their Wildest Dreams," have a deep effect on me.

WB: What would you like to do if you weren't a novelist?

Peter: If I wasn't a novelist, I'd like to be a musician.

WB: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Peter: My advice to writers, at least those of the narrative kind: Don't watch TV. There's nothing for you there.

Copyright © Jennifer Minar


Jennifer Minar is a freelance writer in the health & fitness and writing markets. She is also the founder & managing editor of Writer's Break, a web site and ezine for fiction and creative non-fiction writers. Jennifer can be contacted at jminar@writersbreak.com.

Source: ewriterplace.com


Analog and Digital
As a technology, analog is the process of taking an audio or video signal (the human voice) and translating it into electronic pulses. Digital on the other hand is breaking the signal into a binary format where the audio or video data is represented by a series of "1"s and "0"s. Simple enough when it's the deviceanalog or digital phone, fax, modem, or likewisethat does all the converting for you.

Digital versus analog can refer to method of input, data storage and transfer, the internal working of an instrument, and the kind of display. The word comes from the same source as the word digit and digitus.
The digital technology breaks your voice (or television) signal into binary code a series of 1s and 0s transfers it to the other end where another device (phone, modem or TV) takes all the numbers and reassembles them into the original signal. The beauty of digital is that it knows what it should be when it reaches the end of the transmission. That way, it can correct any errors that may have occurred in the data transfer. What does all that mean to you? Clarity. In most cases, you'll get distortion-free conversations and clearer TV pictures. The nature of digital technology allows it to cram lots of those 1s and 0s together into the same space an analog signal uses. Like your button-rich phone at work or your 200-plus digital cable service, that means more features can be crammed into the digital signal. Digital offers better clarity, but analog gives you richer quality. Digital like the VCR or the CD is coming down in cost and coming out in everything from cell phones to satellite dishes.

Phone lines

Digital lines are found in large, corporate phone systems. Though digital lines carry lower voltages than analog lines, they still pose a threat to your analog equipment.

Analog lines also referred to as POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service), support standard phones, fax machines, and modems. These are the lines typically found in your home or small office

There are digital-to-analog adapters that not only let you use analog equipment in a digital environment, but also safeguard against frying the internal circuitry of your phone, fax, modem, or laptop.

Cordless phone

The very nature of digital technologybreaking a signal into binary code and recreating it on the receiving endgives you clear, distortion-free cordless calls.

Cordless phones with digital technology are also able to encrypt all those 1s and 0s during transmission so your conversation is safe from eavesdroppers. Plus, more power can be applied to digital signals and thus, you'll enjoy longer range on your cordless phone conversations.

The advantage to analog cordless products? Well, they're a bit cheaper. And the sound quality is richer. So unless you need digital security, why not save a few bucks and go with an analog phone? After all, in home or small office environments where you may be the only cordless user, you won't have any interference issues.

Keep in mind, when talking about digital and analog cordless phones, you're talking about the signals being transferred between the handset and its base. The phones themselves are still analog devices that can only be used on analog lines. Also, the range of your cordless phoneanalog or digitalwill always depend on the environment.

Cellular Phones

Perhaps the most effective use of the digital versus analog technology is in the booming cellular market. With new phone activations increasing exponentially, the limits of analog are quickly being realized.

Digital cellular lets significantly more people use their phones within a single coverage area. More data can be sent and received simultaneously by each phone user. Plus, transmissions are more resistant to static and signal fading. And with the all-in-one phones out nowphone, pager, voice mail, internet accessdigital phones offer more features than their analog predecessors.

Analog's sound quality is still superioras some users with dual-transmission phones will manually switch to analog for better sound when they're not concerned with a crowded coverage areabut digital is quickly becoming the norm in the cellular market.

Better Sound Quality
Digital offers a better quality of sound. Proponents of digital claimed too that because digital scrambled up the signals into bursts, it was more secure than analog and can help thwart "cloning," an act of grabbing phone account information over the air in order to copy then resell that information for piracy purposes. By some industry estimates, close to $650 million in wireless services has been coveted by these big-eared crooks, which only adds onto the operator's bottom line a cost that is eventually passed on to the customer. Digital has stronger battery life than analog, and for the most part, better, more modern features on the phones.

Source: Articlesbase.com