What does influence my writing is my experience with interrogation. I'm a litigator, which means I've often taken depositions. What this amounts to is sitting in a room for hours with a witness, asking question after question and trying to get information that the witness often doesn't want to give. Julian has picked up a good deal of technique from my experience. For example, he knows how effective it can be simply to gaze at a recalcitrant witness and say nothing.
Silence is very intimidating.
Nine times out of ten, the witness will rush into nervous speech. I'll speak from my own experience, which may not be typical. Publishers and agents seem to have less and less time to read the work of unpublished writers. It helps immeasurably to have some personal contact with an agent or editor that brings you to his or her notice. A lawyer at my firm who was a pal of mine commuted to work every day on a boat.