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Video Q&A

The author has done three sit-down Q&A sessions with his son, Roswell Camp, who asks questions sent in by fans on Facebook. Each session is about forty minutes long, but broken into four parts due to YouTube upload limits.
Below are the videos (and you can view them on YouTube in a larger window, if you wish to see them in High-Definition), along with the questions that are asked of the author in each segment. The answers (and the banter) is completely unscripted, and the only edits were to remove long silences (or in once case, to redo a part when someone in the background dropped a bunch of pots and pans).

Interview 1, Part 1


  1. I'd be very interested to hear about his character development. Where does he see Lucas going? Is Virgil going to 'take the mantel'? Or is it going to be Letty? Are Shrake and Jenkins just made up characters, or are they real guys he knows?
  2. I would like to know how Lucas began... where did the first idea come from? Who does he picture in his head when he writes about Lucas... Del... Weather?
  3. How long did you stare blankly at the keyboard before saying, "screw it!" and naming Lucas' friend Del Capslock?
  4. A few years back, Lucas got a gift of a digital music player and 100 free songs. He saw it as a challenge and filled it with the 100 Best Rock Songs of All Time. Was that something you shared with Lucas? Did it happen to you first? What other subplots and interests have you shared with him over the years?
  5. Lucas has appeared to mellow out in the last few books. He doesn't have as active a part in the actual capture / killing of the bad guys. I know he's getting older, but why did he have to lose his edge? Will he get it back in future books. He's at his best when he's super-involved in the action.
  6. Will Lucas ever figure out who Kidd really is? Will he finally understand that 'mental bump' he gets when around Kidd?

Interview 1, Part 2


  1. I'm curious as to Lucas's nun friend... I know they are fast friends, but could you expand on how that friendship formed? Also, are you going to bring her back? Haven't seen her in a long time.
  2. If you are going to talk about the characters and their quirks, I would like to know about Lucas's fear of flying. I think that the situations that you put him into where he has to fly and your commentary about his fear is funny because I feel the exact same thing.
  3. I miss Clara Rinker and have never quite gotten over the fact that I cried when a hit-woman died. Was she intentionally developed as a sympathetic character? If so, what was the motivation behind making a character who was one of the 'bad guys' so likable? If not, at what point did you realize that some readers would be rooting for her?
  4. I would love to know how much time is spent in research. Is it less now that Lucas is such an established character? And where and how does research begin? After the entire plotline is thought out, or as the book is written.
  5. I'd be interested to know if he ever suffers from writers' block — and if so, how he gets past it (which he clearly must)!

Interview 1, Part 3


  1. When did you know you wanted to become a writer? Who inspired you to write?
  2. What is your experience with police work? Do you have friends in the business, personal experience in the business, etc.?
  3. The criminals in the Prey series: How do you come up with their M.O.'s? Are they based on real crimes, are they created to serve the larger plot that you design first, do they just come to mind late at night?
  4. I see many authors post saying they don't make much money. One lady puts out 3 or 4 books a year but she claims not to make a lot of money. Is this possible? If so, why would you have writing as your sole source of income?

Interview 1, Part 4


  1. What was your first book, published or unpublished, and what do you think about it now?
  2. I remember reading someplace that you were once a reporter for the Pioneer Press. Is that what influenced you to become a writer, or have you always had the desire to write?

Interview 2, Part 1


  1. Letty is a great character. Can we expect any future books based on her?
  2. Which authors do you read as soon as they come out?
  3. Are you a muskie fisherman? If so, what's your favorite lake?
  4. As Lucas has evolved over time, have you ever regretted something from an earlier book you had him do or say? Are there parts of his personality that don't gel?
  5. How did you come up with the idea of the name Weather?
  6. Technology has changed much over the years. Have you found it a challenge to incorporate new technology for Lucas in his crime solving abilities since the launch of the Prey series?

Interview 2, Part 2


  1. Why do so many of the characters' children seem to go missing over the years? Sarah is rarely mentioned; Marcy's new husband and baby made an appearance and were then forgotten; and more recently, Cheryl took off for El Paso apparently without a thought to their new baby.
  2. Would you consider writing a book with another author? I always thought it would be great if Lucas came up to Aurora to help Cork O'Conner.
  3. What does a typical writing day look like for you?
  4. If you could live life either as Lucas or Flowers, who would you choose (and why)?
  5. If Lucas becomes a US Marshal, will Del get to work with Virgil as to Jenkins and Shrake?

Interview 2, Part 3


  1. I kind of miss the early days when Lucas was involved in game development. Any chance of him getting back into that?
  2. How do you feel your writing has changed between the first Prey novel and your most recent Prey novel?
  3. As a middle school teacher, I very much appreciate the effort that best selling authors have given to YA novels. How does your process differ when writing for younger readers?

Interview 2, Part 4


  1. Would you consider killing Lucas when you feel the Prey series is done?
  2. What clicked in your head to start writing, and what goes on in your brain to come up with the characters?
  3. What are the pros and cons of collaborating with friends on the Flowers novels versus the more solitary approach to writing the Prey novels?
  4. I'm still upset that you killed off Marcy! Why, oh why?

Interview 3, Part 1


  1. For a scene where characters are located in different places (like buildings), shooting at each other, and you need to describe all that, do you draw a sketch of it first?
  2. Several books have included Letty but nothing about his first daughter, Sarah. Will she ever show up again?
  3. Why didn't you stick with real cities and counties in the UP of Michigan when writing "Gathering Prey"? Aside from Sault Ste. Marie, Munising, and Traverse City, all the other places were fictionalized. Why?
  4. I'd like to know about the science fiction book. I know you said you wrote one that wasn't very good. Why science fiction?

Interview 3, Part 2


  1. Do you prefer to write in the perspective of Lucas or the criminal(s)?
  2. Davenport and Weather are quite well off financially. Yet, there has not been a trip to Europe or Asia, or anywhere outside of North America yet. Will he / they travel and maybe get involved in some sort of a mess?
  3. I really enjoyed the short story "Rhymes With Prey" which you co-authored with Jeffrey Deaver. Any chance of you teaming up with Deaver (or, say, Lee Child) for a longer piece?
  4. I cheer when Lucas "pushes the line" a bit, breaking into a suspect's house or beating one up. I cheer because we KNOW that Lucas is the good guy, and we know who the bad guy is. And we know that he will do the right thing. But when I see some of the same kinds of procedures in the news, I feel a bit ashamed. Would you like to comment on the recent police abuse charges? Can our literature and our police procedure shows that show the good guys crossing the line be a factor in how we react to these cases?

Interview 3, Part 3


  1. If you were starting your novel writing career nowadays would you pursue traditional print publication, self-publishing, or a hybrid approach, and why?
  2. Will Shrake and Jenkins ever get their own book? They deserve it and are so much more than just the muscle for the BCA.
  3. Do you use a computer to type your out your novels or an old-school typewriter?
  4. Throughout many of the Prey novels, Lucas hints at knowing what it's like to have a history of depression, though the references are often cryptic, it seems to me. This interests me as a registered therapist; were your references to depression deliberately vague, and if so, why?

Interview 3, Part 4


  1. Do you still experience joy in writing for Lucas, or is it becoming harder for you?
  2. Uncaged and now Gathering Prey have centered around teen/young adult homelessness and runaways. Has something led to this interest?
  3. Which of your Lucas/ Virgil books would you say deviated the most from the usual "accepted" formulas?
  4. Why dont you like the Beatles?