I have just completed the manuscript for my first novel, which focuses on the life of a successful woman in her 50s who is forced into fighting Jihadist terrorism. The book describes her rise on the Washington, D.C. police force, how she foils three international attacks by Al Qaeda, and the terrible retribution excacted by terrorists. The book's settings include Washington, D.C., New York, London, Paris, Palm Beach and Bentonville, Arkansas, the small town in which the heroine grew up and which is the headquaarters of Wal-Mart.
In terms of reading, I am partial to fiction focusing on the interwar period of the 1930s and early 1940s, and authors such as Alan Furst. I also enjoy literary thrillers, such as Child 44, works by Henning Mankell, and similar writers. I occasionally read history and biography.