I admire a lot of people, from Raymond Chandler through John D MacDonald through the new generation like my friends Connelly, Coben, Lehane and Crais. But I don't totally enjoy anybody. I know that sounds bad, but I suspect we all feel the same. I think that's what drives writers to first try their hand. They want to write the exact book they want to read.
Most authors start out doing other things before getting published.
I worked briefly in the theater, then I was a television director for 18 years, in England. I love entertaining people, I guess, and I see my kind of commercial fiction as a branch of the industry. And I think that background really helped me, in that it taught me that my first, second and last responsibility is to the audience. I never want to let them down. Yes, I love meeting readers.