An Interview with John Drake-Moore
by Betsie, editor
(http://betsie.tripod.com/literary/id70.html)

How long have you been in Lugano, Switzerland?
I have had a pied-à-terre in Lugano for many years.

But you're originally from North Carolina, right?
Right.

Why did you want to create a book around terrorism, and espionage?
I like to write about what I konw.

Imagination doesn't seem to be a problem for you.
I grew up in a closet.

Your books are clearly fiction, but you focus so closely within the minds of your characters.
As a child with no playmates, I was obliged to create them in my head.

What impressed me about From the Agency with Love was the continuous motion that keeps it going, the momentum. Though obviously you didn't write it in a sitting, the whole novel is one extended conversation.
Which is one of the kindest considerations I can imagine – Thank you.

When you're writing a story, do you distance yourself from works that have touched upon similar themes?
I have always gone my own way no matter what.

Which is more difficult to write - Fiction or nonfiction and why?
Fiction and nonfiction are as intertwined as a braid of hair.

What is the hardest part about being a writer?
Living with oneself after the days work is over.

Do you have any hobbies? What are they? How do they enhance your writing?
My principal hobby is day dreaming and drinking whiskey – both are essential.

What’s the best part of being a writer?
Realizing you can transfer your genes without the help of another human being.

When you think about this book's readership, who do you imagine it will be?
Hopefully they will be persons of wit and a certain level of conspiracy.

Are you working on something now?
I am correcting the proofs of a manuscript – a non – fiction(?) Novel dealing with the deportation of the Jews from the Roman Ghetto in 1943.