As a former CIA covert agent do you have any thoughts on what happened to Valerie Plame?

Classic case of the cover-up being worse than the crime. In fact, here there was no underlying crime. When Plame's husband, Joe Wilson, published his New York Times op-ed to the effect that Saddam Hussein had no nukes, Cheney and company decided to respond not substantively, but by undermining his credibility. They leaked that Wilson had no nuclear expertise, and in fact owed his mission to nepotism — a wife at the CIA.

Afterward, someone said, "Oops, were we allowed to mention his wife's employment? Is she covert?" At that point, they could have owned up and apologized, and the story would have been over then and there. Instead, they decided to lie and stonewall. A common reaction among politicians.

You crossed my radar screen when you sent a message to me via my MySpace page. How have you used the Internet and sites like MySpace to market and publicize your books?

On MySpace, I try to find people who like books like mine. For example, people who like Lee Child's Jack Reacher series tend to like John Rain, and vice versa. Now I've got a discussion forum on my website, where people I've met on MySpace and elsewhere can talk to each other, rather than just talking to me. It's a lot of fun.

What kind of work did you do before becoming a novelist?

I had a covert position in the CIA; then was an associate in a 600-lawyer law firm; then was an executive in a four-person Silicon Valley start-up; then finally found a way to work for myself.

What is the biggest misconception people have about you?

If they've read the books and haven't met me, they're sometimes surprised that I'm so friendly. They expect me to be more like John Rain.

About the CIA?

That all covert operatives are assassins and once you're in, you can never get out.

What is the hardest part about writing the books about Rain?

Finding time amidst all the promotion...