What is it about the Catholic church and Catholic history that makes for such compelling story fodder?
We’re Eurocentric when it comes to our history, and the guiding force for a lot of European history is the Catholic church. When you have human nature trying to find balance with religion—that’s high drama. Reviewers have compared Map of Bones to The Da Vinci Code. What was your initial reaction to that comparison? I knew when I was writing Map of Bones that it would be compared to The Da Vinci Code. And what author wouldn’t want to have a book with that success? But I don’t like the idea of getting dumped into a category, like I’m trying to glom onto The Da Vinci Code appeal. I want to be my own voice, not get lost in that shadow. My books have always contained history, science and theology. My first novel dealing with Catholicism, Excavation, was released in 2000. Is it difficult moving between the fantasy and suspense genres? Do you write them concurrently? I tried doing that once but didn’t like it—it’s too hard. The writing styles are very different. I found myself losing producti
