As in all good historical novels, Wilson revels in historical accuracy and detail and loves research as much as writing. "It's pretty interesting. I try to find out what I can about specifics about the uniforms, the weapons, the personalities, the city itself-Washington, DC-which is a fascinating study of contrasts. You have shacks right across the street from magnificent houses, you have pigs running around on Pennsylvania Avenue-a typical 19th Century big city, so to speak."

Research about the Civil War era comes naturally, of course. In his job as curator of the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum, Wilson teaches history and works on the exhibits, which he describes as "a lot of fun." In addition to that, he writes regular columns for Military.com about historical military issues.

Wilson notes that his character, Fitz Dunaway, who will be back in at least one more novel to be published by Kensington, is a Union soldier spying on Confederates. "Washington, DC, during the Civil War was a city of conspiracies ... which it still is, I suppose. The only difference is ... I guess there is no difference. There were always conspiracies to do something-to steal medicine, smuggle people in, smuggle people out, everything you could possibly think of including. In this particular case, there's a conspiracy to kill Abraham Lincoln, but Dunaway is warned early on that he can trust no one."

Wilson describes himself as more of a burst writer than a same-time-of-day writer. "I've found it's better for me to kind of ease into it. If I force myself into a schedule, well, I guess I'm too cantankerous to do that. I know you should probably write every day, but I just can't force myself to do that."

Steve Wilson lives in Tennessee in a small town about two hours from the Smokey Mountains with his wife, Angela. PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S SPY will be released by Kensington in trade paperback on April 29, 2008.

Contributing editor Mark Terry is the author of the Derek Stillwater thriller series. His newest thriller, THE SERPENT'S KISS, is available in stores and online.