fiction – Now I've Heard Everything

Inside the Mind of Bestselling Author Vince Flynn

August 23, 2025Bill Thompson

Back in the mid ’90s a bartender in Minnesota, with a degree in economics and business, came up with an idea for a political thriller. That idea turned into Vince Flynn’s first book, Term Limits, published in 1998.

It became a bestseller and launched a career that saw Vince Flynn write over two dozen more books

The hero of most of those books is a professional assassin, a character that Flynn named Mitch Rapp.

I interviewed Vince for that first book, and many more afterwards, including his 2009 book Pursuit of Honor. It was a fast-paced book that picked up where his previous book Extreme Measures left off.

Vince and I talked about Pursuit of Honor one fall day in Washington, DC when he was on the book tour. And as you’re about to hear the conversation sometimes turned to topics more than just writing books.

So here now, from 2009, Vince Flynn.

This interview was the last of nearly a dozen interviews I did with Vince Flynn. He died in 2013 from prostate cancer. He was 47.

Author Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to An Incredible Literary Series

July 9, 2025Bill Thompson

As a writer and a radio and TV personality in the 1970s, Douglas Adams wasn’t having a great deal of success.

That is, until 1978 when he co-created a radio series called “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”

And when that series became a book, , well, as they say, the rest is history. Millions of people around the world now have a copy of that book and its sequels, which have made Douglas Adams one of the most popular authors of the second half of the 20th century.

I first met him in 1987, when we talked about his book Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. Another time we talked about his nonfiction book Last Chance to See, and then in 1992 we met once again to talk about Mostly Harmless, which was, at the time, the latest in the Hitchhiker’s series.

So here now, from 1992, Douglas Adams.

Douglas Adams died in 2001 from a heart attack. He was 49.

This Is Where ‘Bones’ Was Born: Kathy Reichs, On Her Debut Novel

June 27, 2025Bill Thompson

Were you a fan of the TV series “Bones” ?

The series followed the professional, and sometimes personal, experiences of forensic pathologist Dr. Temperance Brennan, played by Emily Deschanel.

The character Tempe Brennan was based on her creator, author Kathy Reichs, who, like Tempe, is a prominent forensic anthropologist

I met Kathy when that book was first published and as she was still absorbing the idea of being a best-selling author.

So here now, from 1997, Kathy Reichs.

Tempe Brennan made her debut in Kathy Reichs’s very first book, a 1997 thriller called Deja Dead.

Kathy Reichs Will be 77 in a couple of weeks. She is the author of 24 Tempe Brennan novels. The newest will be out in November.

Forrest Gump’s Alter Ego: Author Winston Groom

November 18, 2024November 16, 2024Bill Thompson

Only a handful of novels ever become major motion pictures And of those only a tiny number produce a character who lives on in our imaginations for years to come.

The author of one such book was Winston Groom. He enjoyed modest success as a writer — and then a novel he wrote in 1986 was made into a movie.

Since its release in 1994 “Forrest Gump” has become one of the most popular movies of all time. It has contributed phrases that are now part of our everyday lexicon.

IN 1995 Groom continued Forrest;s story in a book called Gump & Co. Being a big Forrest fan, I jumped at the chance to talk with him about it.

So here now, from 1995, Winston Groom.

Winston Groom died in 2020. He was 77.

Brad Meltzer Once Imagined a Leaky Supreme Court

October 7, 2024October 6, 2024Bill Thompson

It’s the first Monday in October, the day that traditionally the United States Supreme Court returns to work after its summer recess.

Behind the scenes at the high court are a few dozen law clerks, the young lawyers who do much of the work that ultimately is reflected in Supreme Court rulings.

It was his fascination with the largely unrecognized power of those clerks that inspired thriller writer Brad Meltzer’s first novel, published 27 years ago, a book he called The Tenth Justice.

Building on that simple premise of “what if?” Meltzer imagined what could happen if a Supreme Court clerk inadvertently leaked a decision before its official release.

This was the first of many interviews I’ve had with Brad as his popularity has exploded,

So h3ere now, from 1997, Brad Meltzer.

Brad Meltzer is 54 now. He lives in Florida.

How ‘Term Limits’ Launched Vince Flynn’s Thrilling Career

August 5, 2024August 3, 2024Bill Thompson

Fed up with business as usual in Washington, DC?

This election cycle may feel like a new phenomenon, but that voter frustration has been around for decades.

Back in 1997 a young dyslexic sales and marketing executive, temporarily employed as a bartender, turned his own frustration into his first book, a self-published political thriller called Term Limits

It got only lukewarm reviews – some even hated it. But readers ate it up. and Vince Flynn’s professional writing career was launched.

His second book introduced us to a counterterrorism specialist named Mitch Rapp, who was then featured in a bestselling series of Flynn thrillers.

Vince was a popular speaker on book tours, so I had the chance to interview him several times over the years. But today let’s go back to where it all started, our conversation about Term Limits.

So here now, from 1998, Vince Flynn.

Vince Flynn died from cancer in 2013. He was 47.

From Murder Scene to Murde3r Scene: Crime Writer Edna Buchanan

July 17, 2024July 13, 2024Bill Thompson

Edna Buchanan joined the Miami Herald in 1973, working the police beat. And she was good at it. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for her reporting.

By the late 1980s, she had turned to fiction writing, The real life stories she had covered became the raw material for her fiction.

And it turned out she was really good at that, too. Many of her books became best sellers, and a couple were turned into movies.

But she also wrote several nonfiction books, including one in 1992 called Never Let Them See You Cry. That’s when she and I had one of our several conversations over the years.

So here now, from 1992, Edna Buchanan

Edna Buchanan is 85 now, and still lives in Florida.

Rita Mae Brown: Bestselling Author and Pioneering LGBTQ 0Advocate

June 28, 2024June 22, 2024Bill Thompson

Since her college days in the early 1960s Rita Mae Brown has been an advocate for the LGBTQ community. Long before it was known by that shorthand descriptor..

She was also active in the anti-war movement, the feminist cause, and the lesbian liberation effort.

She holds two doctorates, in literature and political science.

But she is also widely known for her fiction, her “cozy” mysteries as well as her standalone novels. Her book Rubyfruit Jungle, published in 1973, has become a literary classic.

I met her in 1993, when we had the first of what would be many conversations in the years that followed. We talked about her novel Venus Envy, the story of a young woman who makes one of those life choices that changes everything – and not always for the better,

So here now, from 1993. Rita Mae Brown.

Rita Mae Brown Is 79. She lives in Virginia.

From Insider to Author: Susan Ford’s White House Thriller

May 22, 2024May 19, 2024Bill Thompson

Susan Ford was 17 when her father, Gerald Ford, became the nation’s 38th president, and she moved into the White House.

The youngest of the Fords’ children, and the only daughter, Susan acclimated to her new surroundings, absorbing details about the history and protocols of the First Family’s home.

And years later, she drew upon that intimate insider’s knowledge to write fiction, a mystery set in the White House, complete with scandal and intrigue. .

In a nod to her real life profession, and that of her book’s main character, Ford called her book Double Exposure.

And alongside all the elements of a good, page-turning mystery Ford gave her readers some delectable tidbits about the White House and its mysteries.

So here now, from 2002, Susan Ford.

Susan Ford will be 67 in July. She lives in Texas.

Dean Koontz: Suspense, Horror, and 500 Million Book Sales

March 4, 2024March 3, 2024Bill Thompson

Most authors would be very, very happy if their books sold half a million copies.
Most would be thrilled if their books sold one or two million or five million or ten.

But Dean Koontz has sold 500 million books since his first one was published in 1968.

A master of suspense thrillers, with some horror thrown in, Koontz never fails to satisfy readers. His books routinely appear on major bestseller lists.

I’ve interviewed him several times, including our 2004 conversation about his thriller Life Get your copy of Dean Koontz’s bookExpectancy. What’s terrifying about the storyline is how ordinary his protagonist is, except for the deadly things that could happen to him

So here now from 2004 http://Get your copy of Dean Koontz’s bookDean Koontz.

Dean Koontz will be 79 years old in July.Get your copy of Dean Koontz’s book