RBN: Can you walk us through this world you created? The political landscape, the zone, razors, mechs, The Mountain, Praetorians and the Throne...Conceptualizing this world must have taken a lot of time and research.

DW: Plus it meant I had no life. There's a lot of geopolitical and military data up on my website, www.autumnrain2110.com, but here's a quick glossary of terms:

The United States: The western superpower.

The Eurasian Coalition: The eastern superpower.

The Second Cold War: what the superpowers have been locked in since the middle of the 21st century.

The Zone: The future internet. Which has been divided along geopolitical lines to forestall viral incursions; i.e., there's no more world wide net. There's an Eastern net and a Western net, with totally separate operating protocols and hardware.

Runners: Espionage agents/cover operatives. There are two types:

Mechs: Short for mechanic, i.e., assassin. They kick down doors and smash in heads.

Razors: Hackers. Razors and mechs tend to work in pairs; what they don't tend to do, though, is trust each other.

The Mountain: The future New York.

The Commands: What the U.S. armed forces are divided into. As of 2110, there are five: Space, Info, Navy, Army and CounterIntelligence. And by the way, they hate each other.

Praetorians: The military/intelligence infrastructure that protects the U.S. president.

The Throne: Intel slang for the U.S. president.

The Elevator: the space elevator that's the joint construction of the superpowers and the living symbol of the détente that they've embarked upon. Until it gets blasted from the sky by. . .

Autumn Rain: The mysterious terrorist group that nukes the Elevator and that makes no demands whatsoever—but instead threatens the superpowers with total destruction. The race is on to stop the Rain before they can strike again . .

RBN: Talk a little bit about the major characters in The Mirrored Heavens, Claire Haskell, Jason Marlowe, The Operative, Spencer...

DW: Haskell: Razor. Works for CICom. (CounterIntelligenceCommand)

Marlowe: Mech. Works for CICom. He and Haskell used to be romantically linked, but they discover early in the book that their handlers are #$# with their memories, so . . it's complicated.

Carson (aka the Operative): Mech. Praetorian assigned to search for Autumn Rain base(s) on the Moon.

Lynx: Razor. Praetorian. Paired with Carson. No love lost between them.

Spencer: Razor. Works for the Priam Combine, a gang of Euro data thieves. He's infiltrated a U.S. defense contractor, and is living the paranoid life when someone shows up on his doorstep . .

Linehan: Mech. Blackmails Spencer into smuggling him out of the country. Claims he has vital data on Autumn Rain, but Spencer's wondering if all he's got is a big mouth (and the ability to kick serious ass).

Control: Spencer's AI handler, sequestered in an unmarked data tank in New York, and less than thrilled to hear about Linehan . . .

RBN: A lot of your characters are augmented in one way or another, either for electronic intrusion such as wirelessly connecting to The Zone in their heads or combat enhancement. Did you just let your imagination run wild or did you try to base a lot of their internal gear in reality?

DW: Both. On the wireless-brain interface, for example: there's no question that this is where it's all going, that ultimately the Web is going to get right inside us. The real question is the extent to which such mechanisms end up being vulnerable to abuse by governments, etc. (Obviously, in THE MIRRORED HEAVENS, that vulnerability is near total.)

RBN:Right from the get go the book has three fast paced storylines running with one over the top action scene after another, like the spaceplane crash landing in Hong Kong. Were you trying to outdo yourself constantly?

DW: Absolutely. The story-lines took over. They got very competitive with one another. Plus, they knew if they could step it up enough, they could take this all the way.

RBN: As a first time author can you talk a bit about the process for writing The Mirrored Heavens? Was it a difficult process?

DW: It was exhilarating and terrifying and I thought I'd never pull it off. There was endless toggling back and forth among plot, characters, and the world itself. This went on for years. And years. And years.

RBN: How did working in videogames help you with writing the book, if at all?

DW: With videogames, you're a participant. I wanted to try to recreate that experience in narrative. Part of this involved my resolution to make the book deliver combat scenes crazier than any you've ever seen. And part of it was more subtle: it became a play around what we know vs. what we don't. Specifically, the characters in the different plot-threads have different information. Sometimes they lack information. Sometimes their information conflicts. Meaning the reader isn't given easy answers—and they have to get involved if they want to keep up.

RBN: One of the most sexy tech items in Mirrored Heavens is the power armor both Marlowe and the Operative wear throughout. Where did that come from?

DW: From the realization that science fiction without powered armor is like beef stew without the beef.

RBN: I want to delve into the plot a bit if we can. It's pretty obvious early on that things might not be quite what they seem. What was it like layering the different levels in the story, figuring out all the twists and turns?

DW: I owe a big debt to John LeCarre, frankly: I've always loved his books for their twists—and for the twists piled upon twists. But building up that kind of intricate plot is a function of the world one creates. In THE MIRRORED HEAVENS, you've got two superpowers, each of which is divided into scores of factions. And then there's those who want nothing better than to seriously damage one or both of those superpowers. So the opportunity for intricate plots and backstabs is almost limitless.

RBN: You've decided to forgo chapter breaks and instead use character icons to differentiate between sections of the book. Why did you go that route?

DW:To make the book move faster. Chapters are borrrrrrring.

RBN:. The Mirrored Heavens ends on a pretty stark note. I understand that this is just the first part of a trilogy. Can you talk about books two and three and when readers might expect them?

DW: Well, this is probably a good point to assure your readers that they'll get narrative payoff at the end of THE MIRRORED HEAVENS. It ends with a bang, not a cliffhanger. But it definitely leaves the door open for more to come. As to what happens next: all I'll say is that LEVIATHAN'S PROGENY will make the first book look like a particularly civilized tea-party.

RBN: And here's a silly one...
Who wins in a fight between Linehan, the Operative and Marlowe?

DW: That's a tough one. If I was a betting man, I'd probably go with Linehan, because he's the champ at fighting dirty.

RBN: What's next for you Dave?

DW:Well, across the next several days, I'm publishing my legendary, never-before-seen essay "Notes Toward a Theory of Space-Centric Warfare" on my website: www.autumnrain2110.com. If you want to understand the nuts n' bolts of strategy/warfare in the 22nd century, you won't want to miss it.