Do you think the presidential contest is whetting the appetite of readers for a book like yours?

I hope so!  This is an important election, so it's a good time to think about how we choose our leaders and how perfect we expect them to be. It's also a good time to think about how slippery, and dirty, and even funny politics is. I think Eyes of the World is well-timed that way, a good read not just for political junkies but for anybody who watches the evening news or looks at the daily headlines -- anybody who expects to head for the polls in November.
 
We all know what happened when President Clinton's dalliance with a staffer became public. What if it had been a female president who was fooling around?

Double standard? Sure. Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky was an instant yuk, a punchline for all the late night monologues. If it were a woman president, I think we'd have more of a yuuuck, a collective queasiness, especially when we got into the details -- the thong, the stained dress.  A woman politician would have a very tough time living that down.
 
You live in the D.C. suburbs. There's a different view of the nation inside the Beltway, isn't there? How does living there affect you and your books?

There are a lot of bright people in Washington, but many of them have tunnel vision. They'll do most anything to make that next step on the career ladder. It can be comical, and it can be tragic. I do enjoy living in the suburbs, where I can get away from it all. One special benefit for me and my books is the diverse population here. Just on my block, there are families from France, Sweden, Columbia, Egypt, and all parts of the US. It's not a melting pot, it's more like (as they say in Canada) a tossed salad.
 
Like David Baldacci, Scott Turow, Michele Martinez, John Grisham, Joel Goldman, and Lisa Scottoline, you're an attorney.  What is it about practicing law that impels you all to write fiction?

For one thing, words matter to lawyers -- well-turned phrases, images, good back-and-forth arguments. Using language well is part of what lawyers are trained for and what we do every day. Beyond that, for me, writing and being a lawyer are both about problem solving, recognizing the issue at hand and figuring out a way to deal with it, elegantly and efficiently. Then there is the story aspect. Legal cases are stories of human struggle, and that's what good fiction is about, too.

What do you want readers to take away from Eyes of the World?

First, I want them just to enjoy the read, spending a few hours living and breathing with the characters I've created.  If there is a deeper message, it's that in politics the public never gets the real story. There are always layers in the lives of politicians that remain forever hidden.
 
Did you learn anything in writing your first book, No Time to Hide, that you've applied to Eyes of the World?

Keep the focus on the protagonist. In a thriller, the readers want to follow that main thread, the personal quest of the hero or heroine.
 
What do you teach in law school?  How does that influence what you write?

I've taught fourteen different law school courses, from Feminist Jurisprudence to International Taxation.  I enjoy trying new things. Right now, I teach Trusts & Estates and a course in Law & Anthropology. The anthropology course is a great tie-in with my writing. My novels have an international angle, so I'm always interested in cultural and political differences around the world.  Gypsy festivals in Romania, witchcraft in South Africa, naming rituals for babies in Iceland--these and thousands of other bits of background can be woven into good stories.

Let me see . . . you practice law, you teach law, and have a family as well. How do you get any writing done?

Like a lot of writers, I write every day, even if it's only a few paragraphs. One oddity for me is that I do quite a bit of writing in the car. I don't text and drive, but I can get whole scenes thought out and sections of dialogue planned while creeping through the miserable traffic jams in and around Washington. It beats road rage.

Rob Palmer grew up in the cold, cold reaches of northern New York State. Even before entering high school he vowed to find someplace warmer to live. That place is Virginia, in the Washington D.C. suburbs. In addition to writing, he's a lawyer and law professor. While novels are now his top writing priority, he has published numerous newspaper, magazine, and journal articles on topics ranging from the law to culture to politics to writing and teaching. He lives with his wife and teenage son.

Contributing editor Keith Raffel wrote DOT DEAD, "without question the most impressive mystery debut of the year" according to Bookreporter.com. Former counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee, he is currently finishing up TWO GRAVES, a political thriller set - where else? - in Washington, D.C.