Author and literary agent Deidre Knight on rethinking good decisions, tossing curveballs at plots and shifting temporal reality in one's own sweet time. Read on …

MB: What or who inspired your novel?

DK: I'm so fortunate that I'm writing an ongoing world which gives me a sweeping and epic canvas. I would compare writing a book series to all that's best in television series shows like "Lost" or "Battlestar Galactica" -- and in the same way, it's deeply satisfying to play with my own characters on a long arc. You don't have to rush things, and you have the time to truly build a world. I would say that's my favorite aspect of writing the "Parallel" series.

As for my latest book, this series began with "Parallel Attraction" and now continues with "Parallel Heat." Usually, I tend to think of my books in pairs -- I enjoy the way one book tends to answer another, and that's especially true with the way my latest book in this series responds to my first novel.

In "Parallel Attraction," we played with time itself, using an alien device called the mitres that allowed the protagonists to change their destiny, altering what should have happened otherwise. That first book played havoc with fate, and now in this new book we see how that time-traveling gambit plays out.

In other words, imagine your own life; imagine if you made a particular choice last week. You drove too fast and got a ticket or you lost your job or you won the lottery. Now imagine that you were able to trek back in time by a few hours and change all of that. You drove slow … you got to work on time or you didn't buy the lottery ticket.

That's what "Parallel Heat" is all about. It turns time on its head, imagining how the first book in the series might have played out completely differently. The truly bad guys have the potential to become good, and the bad ones just might turn evil.

After all, that's what life is all about -- single choices and how they impact the rest of our lives. Sometimes we make good decisions; sometimes we don't, but usually we don't see that play out in fiction.

MB: What do you like most about your novel?

DK: This book was great fun to write because it took me to new levels with suspense. I interviewed five FBI agents, learned a great deal about the USAF and how they might respond to aliens.

I'm most proud of the way the action hits a huge level in the second half of the book; it pushed me as a writer, forced me to really dig in and create a tautly paced action adventure novel. Usually, I'm more of a relationship writer -- and that's definitely there in spades -- but it was fun to have a lot of guns and weapons against an epic emotional backdrop.

Also, I think there are some huge curveballs in this book, things that readers of "Parallel Attraction" definitely aren't expecting. It's exciting to think how fans will respond to all the unexpected revelations in this new book! I'm definitely proud of the higher stakes.

MB: Who is the most heroic person you know?

DK: This question is definitely tough because there are so many people I admire in this world. But one person kept coming up in my mind, and that would be Cecil Murphey.

He's a friend, a fellow author and probably the most generous person I know. He mentors hundreds of writers, always gives -- even when nobody asks anything of him -- and lives in a very healthy, amazing way. I want to be a vegetarian, run five miles a day when I'm a "senior" and find time to help as many people as he does.

Of anyone I know he's probably changed more lives than anyone else so he's got my vote for most heroic.

MB: Who's your romance hero: dark, brooding bad boy or white knight in shining armor?

DK: I am a "bad boy" girl all the way. And what does that say about me?

The white knight is boring because he has everything figured out, and probably I relate a lot more to the tortured character who is still muddling his way through the battles.

Real life isn't about having all the answers -- at least not usually -- and much more often about wrestling with your demons. I am always struggling, fighting those things that might hold me down, and I relate to a romantic hero who is still on a similar journey. A guy who is dark and beleaguered, but has a glint of goodness -- he just makes me want to get my silver polish and shine him right up.

MB: Answer the question you wish an interviewer would ask.

DK: Well, if I no longer had a publishing contract tomorrow, I would still write and never stop. (Hint: The question would be, "What would you do if you were no longer being published?")

I've entertained myself with stories since I was about 6 years old, and started writing them down at age 11, but it was really only in adulthood that the process came full-circle for me. I finally figured out exactly how I could -- and should -- translate the stories always happening in my head onto paper.

But would I still write? Without a publishing contract or even without readers?

Absolutely, although I think that writing is a relational process -- in other words, without having readers, there's a horrible vacuum. I think it's that give and take, the act of being heard that makes writing worthwhile. Otherwise it's just far too lonely and I never feel complete.

Even if it's only my family, I think I have to be read, but I would always write just for me.