Tom lives with his wife and sons in Los Angeles and has a background in Journalism and Entertainment media. And what made you choose to write fiction?

I'm inspired by big ideas, and that's what fiction is all about. The big idea of a story, and the biography of a character's life, which is always a big idea.  But writing fiction isn't the same thing as writing essays.  The characters and story demand to be true to themselves, and they pull me, the author, beyond myself the same way fiction pulls readers out of themselves.  I think there is an inherent purity and humanity in fiction that makes us all better people for walking in other people's shoes. And for all the CEOs and politicians I run into who claim they deal in facts and don't read fiction, I paraphrase Malcolm Forbes and say, sure they do:  they just need to re-read their old five-year projections.
 
I couldn't agree more. How has your background in Journalism and Entertainment media influenced and informed your novel writing?

Journalism trained me to dig a little deeper, connect the dots and see the headline of my "story." Hollywood showed me the profound shift from the traditional thrillers that fueled the likes of Warner Bros. for years to the "tentpole" movies studios now rely upon for profits.  You used to get away with billing a movie like Conspiracy Theory or Runaway Jury or Michael Clayton based on the promise of "twists and turns and suspense" and stellar A-list casts.  They got crushed at the box-office by the likes of big, high-concept action movies and lowbrow comedies.

I don't think it's the dumbing down of the American moviegoer--or reader--so much as the confusion of choices.  People want the "one sheet" or poster that shows them what the movie is about:  "Oh, there's a tidal wave wiping out New York in The Day After Tomorrow.  I'll see that.  Look there, the aliens in Independence are destroying LA. I'll see that."   The promise of thrills and suspense and good writing are no longer enough.  To know that a book even exists, today's book buyer has to "see" it ---mystery, for example, was built into the design of Da Vinci Code---or see the title on the bestseller lists.

This even gets back to journalism and why I never worked for USA Today.   People pick up USA Today because they already know what they're about to read.  What do I mean?   The mission of the newspaper at its conception was to run "second-day" stories.  Remember all those newsstands that looked like TVs?  The idea was that every headline you saw "above the fold" was a story you had already heard from radio or seen on TV.  USA Today at its conception was never about breaking their own scoops; it was about repackaging what people already knew and wanted to know more about.   If the motto of the New York Times was "all the news that's fit to print," then the motto of USA Today was "all the news that fits we print."

Finally, this explains why there were two sequels to Raising Atlantis with The Atlantis Prophecy and The Atlantis Revelation, and why series are such a big deal for publishers:  People are buying what they already know and are interested in. The difference for me is that I'm really not interested in writing series novels.  The Atlantis trilogy is story arc, with each book standing alone but building to the revelation of the bigger mystery behind the whole journey.  The Atlantis Revelation stands alone, but is also the culmination and reward for finishing the journey that for many readers began with the first book.
 
It looks like you've done a lot of research for this book. Want to share your writing/research process and any interesting surprises you might have encountered along the way?

A lot of trips over the years and some observations I made in diaries went into The Atlantis Revelation.  The trick was keeping that "single telling detail" for each set-piece and throwing out the rest to service the story and characters.  Much of the surprise is how much of what I depicted in the novel is already playing this summer---Bilderberg Group and EU defense meetings on the Greek island of Corfu, the fate of Jerusalem now front and center in the debate over world peace, the invasion of unseen technology into our water, food and bodies.

Then there are the mysterious calls I get from intelligence agencies who want their side of the story told through the novel.  My wife just hands me the phone with a perturbed "it's for you again," and I listen to the computer-scrambled voice on the other end asking if I can meet somewhere to discuss new information in a half hour.  I go for the meet, and there's usually some famous swimsuit model with us or some pillar of the intelligence community.  Then one of the three most powerful people in Washington, D.C. might call for advice.  You can't make this stuff up.  But it's just too surreal to be believable in a novel, so most of it never goes in.

For the record, nobody is passing along any national security secrets to me---I'm the one usually passing along something I may have found along my research that's publicly available and surprising.  Then the feds fix it, like they did to some underground tunnels in D.C. after my last novel, The Atlantis Prophecy.  A lot of writers like to play up their "network of insider sources," but my background as a journalist trained to suspect anything anybody is telling me.  All my sources know this, and we all know what I'm truly seeking in any meetings isn't information so much as perspective.  And that perspective is usually surprising.  It's certainly a reason why the early reviewers feel The Atlantis Revelation is so fresh.
 
And that early praise includes the words of bestselling authors like James Rollins ---
"Lightning-paced, dagger-sharp, and brilliantly executed, The Atlantis Revelation made me gasp out loud."
-- and Christopher Reich -- "A giddily paced, rollicking, globe-spanning tale of adventure, discovery and derring-do that pulled me in from the very first page. It's rare to find a tale as well-researched as it is entertaining, and this is it. Best of all, it is pure fun!"

 
You can see more at http://thomasgreanias.com. 

Allyson Roy is actually two people -- Alice and Roy LaPlante, new authors of the Saylor Oz mystery series and originators of a genre they call Madcap Noir. Alice has spent most of her adult life as a professional dancer, choreographer and teacher. The first book in the series won a Daphne Du Maurier Mystery/Suspense award. Book #2, BABYDOLL, will be out August 2009.