The Blog

Tell our readers about your background. Where are you from, and how did you start writing for a living?

I’ve been itching to get away from the NYC area my whole life but haven’t made it very far. Grew up in the city, college in Vermont, MBA from Columbia. Got involved in a bunch of sports apparel turnarounds until one of them didn’t quite turnaround. This hastened my writing career. I came up with a political conspiracy idea, begged my wife for a year, took two– and when my “terrific” novel didn’t quite connect (I had found a fancy agent and got it in front of two dozen publishers) I was sitting around wondering what my next move in life was when, of the blue, James Patterson called. He told me I had the goods, we met, started collaboration. Did a bunch of books together that all went to #1 and gave me the platform to launch my own career. The rest is history, as they say!

Other than Reckless (due out April 27, 2010) , what else have you written that may not be as well known?

Well, everything I’ve written has managed to hit the NYTimes bestseller list. Maybe not at the very top, like my stuff with Patterson, but I OWN the bottom of the list. Which is still a whole lot better than not being on it. But THE BLUE ZONE, my first, is about a twenty three year old Brown gal in the city, who’s father, the person she admires most in the world, turns out not to be the person she always thought he was.

Where did you get the idea for Reckless? Tell us about your favorite scene.

Well, book inspirations are usually two or three ideas linked together. A tragic home break-in and murder up in Cheshire, Connecticut started it rolling, where a mom and her two teenage daughters were killed. Coupled with the financial meltdown. And the “what-if” that high-flying investment manages could possibly be influenced to actually bring down their own firms got me thinking…There’s a great scene in London where a sympathetic bad guy and his family are being brought in as witnesses and it all goes tragically wrong. And a great sex scene– at least I think so!– in a wine cellar.

Tell us about your writing process: how do you write (paper, keyboard, voice recorder)? How do you approach a book (outline, mind-map, just write, begin at the end)? Where do you do your best writing (your office, curled up in bed, in public spaces)?

I outline heavily before I start a project. Learned it from Patterson. I think it gives me the best control over a plot intensive book. And anyway, I always break from it when a better idea comes along. But I write in the mornings– try to do one chapter a day since my chapters are generally three to five pages long. I work upstairs, in a nice loft. I’ve decided, after having jobs in Maryland and S NJ, and never moved down–the best thing about writing is the commute!

In what ways did your childhood influence you as a writer? As a person?

Too, too broad a question, sorry. Mostly, I grew up in a successful family with a larger than life patriarch, so it taught me that anything is possible in life– anything, if you truly want it badly enough. My new career confirms it!

Most writers are also avid readers. What authors did you read as a child? What authors do you read today? Do you have a favorite book or author?

Love Harlan Coben, Lee Child, Linwood Barclay, but my two favorite books are Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone and Robert Penn Warren’s All the Kings Men.

Now is YOUR opportunity to tell us what we missed! What question should we have asked, that we didn’t (and what’s the answer to it)?

You should have asked who actually did the writing on all those James Patterson books– but since you didn’t, I’ll never say!

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Andrew Gross’ novel, Reckless will be available tomorrow, April 27. Find Andrew on the web: Andrew’s Website | Andrew’s Facebook Fan Page | Andrew’s on Twitter

Posted by Deb in Arts: Books, Music & Movies, Book Talk, Men on Monday |

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