What sparked the idea for your new novel?

Six Seconds is a standalone that took shape by refining a number of unrelated scenes, dramas and events I had observed during my time as a reporter; such as the heart-wrenching anguish of interviewing a mother whose child had vanished.

Then there was the time I was on assignment in Nigeria, not long after the September 11 attacks. I was in the Abuja where I saw a boy in a slum wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with Osama bin Laden's picture and message calling him #1 Hero.

On that African trip I also visited Ethiopia where I watched old women, who lived in some of the harshest conditions on earth, weaving fabric on a loom in the slums of Addis Ababa.

Prior to that, I was in the Gulf where I talked to British aid workers, and at Kuwait's boarder with Iraq. I also talked to peacekeepers from Canada concerned about the toll land mines were taking on children who plucked them from the dunes.

And I'll never forget the big city homicide detective back home who confided that he was haunted by the case he couldn't clear. Then I remembered years back, when Pope John Paul II visited my city where I was attending university. I went out to see him and met an international student who joked about assassination as the papal entourage passed by our group near the campus.

It got me thinking.

What if I took these elements and twisted them into fictional threads that were all connected? What if ordinary people from different parts of the world became ensnared by extraordinary events that could alter history as a clock ticked down on them? Suppose it all came down to six seconds?

Why a standalone this time?

I was ready for it. After producing at total of 8 books for 2 series, I was ready to take a shot at a standalone with a story that had a global canvass. It seemed the perfect way to get things rolling with MIRA Books my new publisher.

What level of research did you do for a book that has such an international scope?

I drew upon my own travels, as mentioned earlier. I had visited Ethiopia's countryside, Addis Ababa slums and the market. I have been to Kuwait's border with Iraq and visited the tank graveyard in Kuwait City. At home I had the privilege of touring a police facility where bomb technicians showed me everyday objects that were actually bombs. It was chilling. I did a lot of online work on the psychology of suicide bombers, on nanotechnology and of course VIP security. And I was fortunate to have some help from people who'd actually been involved in security during a Papal tour. I read a lot of stuff on plots and attacks against the pope. Much of the stuff I used in Six Seonds is drawn from reality, and much is made up. I should mention that we've had some film interest already in Six Seconds. We'll have to seek how that goes. Talk about suspense!

Someone has finished reading Six Seconds and wants to pick up another one of your books.  Which one would you recommend?

Oh, goodness, you have to read all of my books. Seriously, I'd recommend starting with my first, If Angels Fall, as it launches my first series. Give it a try, then go to The Dying Hour, it launches my second series. By then you should catch up to Vengeance Road (to be released later in 2009). It launches my third series.

How has being a member of ITW been beneficial for you?

It has been great. I was at Phoenix, our Woodstock, and have attended ITW cons ever since. I was blessed to be nominated (The Dying Hour) for the ITW's first award for Best Paperback Original. I also served as a judge for Best First Novel.

ITW is a first-class group of some of the best writers on the planet. They've established a powerful marketing force and a magnanimous community, where wise and kind legends of the craft embrace eager newcomers.

ITW has taught me that we're all pursuing the art of telling (and reading) a good story; and when you come here, you're not only riding side-by-side with extremely talented people, you're riding with friends.

Vengeance Road is next?  Is it another standalone?

Later this year we hope to launch a third series, a new reporter series that will introduce Jack Gannon. In some ways, it will reflect the dramatic shift playing out now with the newspaper industry, as Gannon leaves a dying metro daily for an international wire service. He'll cover the world, a sort of Jason Bourne with a pen. I also hope to write another standalone.

And, for a change of pace, I'm working on a children's illustrated book with my daughter. It's a sweet little story called, The Girl Who LivedIn A Pumpkin. It's based on a story I used to tell her a bedtime. She's now studying art at university. I'm doing the words, she's doing the illustrations. So if there are any interested editor/publishers...

Contributing editor Jeff Ayers is the author of VOYAGES OF IMAGINATION: THE STAR TREK FICTION COMPANION Pocket Books-November 2006. He frequently reviews thrillers for Library Journal and regularly interviews authors for LJ, the Seattle Post-Intellgencer, and Writer Magazine.