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Q: Hmmmm, I see you used to work at Amazon. Did you write your novel out of spite, and is the dotcom in DTG supposed to be Amazon?

A: No, believe it or not, despite the layoff my memories of Amazon are generally fond. It did get kind of stressful towards the end, but it was still the best job I ever had: management treated us like adults, the people there were very cool, and there was almost no office politics.

Certain details, such as locations (with the building titles changed, of course), are based loosely on Amazon. But Tunes.com is NOT Amazon. Nor are any of the employees 'real-life people'.

Q: Your tagline is 'a novel of exotica, cough syrup, and the dotcom meltdown'. I see the dotcom connection, but what the hell do the first two have to do with anything?

A: A major character, Carmen, is very into the whole exotica scene; she has a print of Martin Denny's "Quiet Village" in her living room, and listens to plenty of exotica. There's also the whole exotic dancer subplot...
As far as cough syrup, it figures into the plot, believe me, especially in a scene involving an exotic dancer and her roommate that all the male readers seemed to especially enjoy.

Q: I saw that new book, "21 Dog Years: Doing time at Amazon.com" by Mike Daisey, another dude who worked at Amazon. How is DTG different?

A: Well, Mr. Daisey's book is generally classified as non-fiction, a memoir of coming of age in the workplace (hey, it says that in the promo materials). This is fiction, and the dotcom is mainly the backdrop for the story. The actual style is closer to Waiting to Exhale and Tales From the City. His book is great, DTG is just different. You'll see...

Q: What does Pam Grier have to do with the book?

A: Not much, really (though she is mentioned), I just think it's a great photo.

Q: Any publication date set yet?

A: I'm workin' on it!