Double Daggers is a fascinating story about a cursed coin and the four men who are affected by it across the ages.

Welcome to Blogcritics, James. Why don’t you start by telling us a bit about your book, and what inspired you to write such a story?

Double Daggers is a story about a curse that spans the ages. The curse begins with the assassination of Julius Caesar on the Ides of March. The chief conspirator in the assassination is Marcus Brutus, a man long rumored to be Caesar's illegitimate son. Immediately after Caesar's murder, Brutus mints a coin celebrating his role in the heinous plot. Today, that coin is known as the Eids of March or Double Dagger Denarius, and it is the most famous coin in all of ancient antiquity. Double Daggers is the story of four men's unrelenting obsession to acquire the coin, and what befalls them once they finally have it in their possession.

The four men are: Marcus Brutus, a knight traveling on the Crusades, an SS lieutenant under Hitler, and a modern day Wall Street trader. But these men have something more in common than just their obsession to possess the famous coin — and that is the true mystery and curse of the Double Daggers.

My inspiration for this story came from the fact that I collect ancient coins, especially ones that have historical importance. Double Daggers originally was published as a short story set in the present. Then I got the idea that it would be neat to go back in time and write a novel that begins with the assassination of Caesar and follows four men through very different time-periods throughout history.

How would you describe your creative process while writing this novel? Was it stream-of-consciousness writing, or did you first write an outline? How long did it take you to write it?

I would describe it as haphazard. Double Daggers was a challenge to write because it is set in four different time periods: the Roman Empire, The Crusades, World War II and New York City in the present. But the characters in each time period are similar, at least in their motivations, flaws, and obsessions.

The book took about three years to finish but that includes many stops and starts and even months of not working on it at all. Double Daggers took me a little longer to write than others because of the research that was necessary do to the different time periods in history.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? What seems to work for unleashing your creativity?

No, I really haven’t. I’m just happy to find any time to write which seems to be my biggest problem. So when I do find some time to work on a story, I’m generally so excited the words just come out without much difficulty. Like many writers today it is a difficult balancing act — pursuing the literary endeavors while working a full-time job, promoting your book, and keeping the family happy.