Q: Why did you choose the name Chris Thorne?
A: Over a decade ago, suffering a bout of shingles, I had a strange fever-dream. It was very lucid and real, but as with most dreams, began to fade quickly as I woke up. What didn’t fade was the image of a military figure with THORNE written on his name tape and a less-than-impressed look on his face. The name Thorne to me has an everyman quality and is short and punchy, like Michael Connelly’s Bosch. I don’t mind having longer names for secondary characters, but for the hero I wanted something that didn’t take up a lot of real estate. I remembered my fever-dream and thought Thorne was perfect.
As for Chris, I just like the name.
Q: Is Thorne based on you?
A: In some ways, he’s the best and worst of me, magnified by a hundred. For example, although Thorne’s exact height is never mentioned, I made him tall because I am tall and it is how I am used to dealing with the world.
I do not have Thorne’s charm or movie star good looks, but his sense of humor is definitely mine.
Q: What is your approach to creating characters?
A: I think when you write the starting point for characters is always yourself. The heroes and the villains. You project your qualities or your fears and you build on that. My general approach is that if they are good or if they are bad, that on some level the reader should like them.
Thorne’s physicality is pretty important to the story, but I did not want it to dominate it. I did not want to create someone that was invincible, because that robs a story of its primary driving force: survival. I also didn’t want him to be perfect, or righteous, because those types of character are unbelievable or boring. In certain circles this is known as The Superman Problem.
I want my heroes to have a little darkness, and my villains to have a little light.
Q: Do you plan to develop the Mason Barnes character in future books?
A: It is something I have certainly thought about. At the end of Night Passenger, Barnes has gone off in a new direction, to join the FBI. Either he could return in another Thorne book down the line, or he could have a story of his own. He is more of a straight-arrow than the other characters in the book, but it’s hard to say if that would still be true after everything that happens in Night Passenger.
Q: What type of books do you like to read?
A: I like to read crime, thrillers, and literary fiction. In my teens, I read a lot of science fiction and I still occasionally go back to that when I need a break from the usual.
Q: I have written a book / I have an idea for a story, will you read it?
A: For legal reasons I cannot, sorry.
Q: How do I find out about future books?
A: Best answer is to join my newsletter and follow me on Facebook and on Amazon. On Amazon you select Follow Author on my Profile page.
This list will be updated as time goes on.