What triggered the idea for Switch?

There was no specific incident. I tend to allow ideas to float around in my head like dandelion fluff until they bump into each other and form a clump that I can't ignore. Switch came from an amalgamation of ideas that, on the surface, don't seem to have anything to do with the finished novel. But I believe the bottom line is fear. I often write about things that terrify me.

You were born in Scotland, live in Canada, and write American fiction. What made you plunge your protagonist, Sam White, into the "labyrinthine underworld of Portland, Oregon, and the dark smuggling tunnels that run beneath the city"?

I love the West Coast. I find a lot of inspiration from living near the ocean and being able to go for walks along the beach or just stare at the waves. I live in a small seaside town, but I knew Switch had to be set in a mid-size city. Portland seemed to fit the bill, and when I discovered its colorful history as the infamous "Unheavenly City" where unsuspecting men were kidnapped and sold to sea captains as slave labor, it became a lock. The underground warren of "Shanghai Tunnels" used to transport these men went on to play an important role in Switch.

How has your background as a journalist brought realism to your thriller?

As a journalist you quickly come to the realization that no matter how dark or bizarre your imagination may be, fact will always be stranger. Working the late-night police desk at a big city tabloid certainly opened my eyes to the horrible things people do to each other. As a journalist whose job was simply to report the facts, I felt powerless. But with fiction, I could invoke more control and, if needed, create a better outcome than what reality did. Journalism also definitely comes into play with research. I'm one of those people who likes to gather all the facts, so that when I make up false ones, they ring equally true. That way, when my character gets into real trouble, the reader believes that, yep, he or she is in it deep.

What surprised you most about writing your first thriller?

This isn't the first thriller I wrote, but it is my first published thriller. So the biggest surprise was when my agent phoned me up and told me the fantastic news that Bantam had made a great offer for Switch and wanted to know if I was working on anything else. And, boy, was I. Shortly after that, my agent phoned again to say that Heyne had made an offer for the German translation rights, and I think that's when it finally hit home that there was a possibility it wasn't just my imagination, it was fact, I was going to be published.

You stated, "As a writer, every book [you] read is an influence. From the brilliant ones, [you] learn pacing, characterization, dialogue, etc. From the bad ones, [you] try to learn not to make the same mistakes." What books influenced your thriller writing the most and why?

I'm naturally a voracious reader, so I would say I'm more influenced by a library of authors rather than individual titles. Mickey Spillane taught me not to pull punches; Gregory Mcdonald taught me the art of dialogue; Andrew Vachss taught me to place my rage on the page; Robert McCammon showed me the beauty of imagery; Henri Charrière taught me that fiction needs truth; Isaac Asimov showed me the universe was limitless; and John Sandford taught me that a character's flaws can be as important as his strengths.

What's next for Grant McKenzie?

Naturally, I'm leaving lots of dead bodies in my wake. My second stand-alone thriller is sitting on my editor's desk awaiting her input. It's tentatively titled Speak the Dead and features a mortuary beautician who, on the same night a woman is murdered in the alley behind the funeral home, discovers cryptic messages written on the "guests" she's preparing for burial. The first message reads: Where Have You Been? The second reads: Do You Remember? And the third? Well, you'll need to read the book.

Contributing editor, Janice Gable Bashman, writes for leading publications, including "Novel & Short Story Writer's Market," "US Industry Today," "Food & Drink Quarterly," "The Wild River Review," "Bucks," and others. Her serial feature "Thrill Ride: The Dark World of Mysteries and Thrillers" (co-written with Jonathan Maberry for the "Wild River Review") includes interviews with Barry Eisler, Lawrence Block, Steve Hamilton, and other thriller and mystery writers. She is working on a thriller, "Vengeance," and her writing won multiple awards at the 2007 Philadelphia Writer's Conference.