Sid Rich, author (Austin, Texas)

"A novel is the hardest thing there is to write; you've got character development and dialog, and that's not easy. But in retrospect, I'm kind of glad that I just jumped right into it, because it comes so easy now."

When asked about his recent foray into writing for the mass market, Sid remarks, "In the basic sense, I knew that I could write; I had written articles, position papers and client testimony for years. But authoring a book is quite another matter.

When I would tell about things that happened at the Capitol, people couldn't get enough of it; they would tell me that I must write a book some day. I laughed it off for many years. However, I think that there is a time for everything -- and in the summer of 1999, I decided that it was time to give it a try. I began writing a novel about my legislative experiences.

A novel is the hardest thing there is to write; you've got character development and dialog and that's not easy. But in retrospect, I'm kind of glad that I just jumped right into it, because it comes so easy now."