Below are my usual answers to a number of frequently asked questions. At right are some links to additional information about me and my novels. If you still have a question for me, please feel free to e-mail me.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION: Are you Jewish?

MY USUAL ANSWER: Yes. This question is the one I am most frequently asked. I figured I should answer it first.

FAQ: Why do you write historical fiction?

MUA: It just sort of happened that way. I started working on my first novel, A Conspiracy of Paper, while I was writing my doctoral dissertation on 18th century British literature and culture. I knew the period very well, and I thought it would be fun to write about it. But I don’t have any particular commitment to historical fiction.

FAQ: Did you finish your dissertation?

MUA: This question is the one I am probably asked most frequently after the Jewish question. No, I didn’t finish. I started writing my first novel more or less as a way of dealing with the fact that I felt the dissertation wasn’t going anywhere. In the process I discovered that I like writing fiction a lot more than I liked academic writing.

FAQ: But don’t you feel kind of, you know, bad about that?

MUA: Not at all. I’d quit again if I could.

FAQ: But you did all that work. I don’t understand.

MUA: I think this maybe is your issue.

FAQ: Okay, moving on. Why do you live in San Antonio?

MUA: My wife is a university professor in San Antonio.

FAQ: Fine. Enough of the touchy feely stuff. How can I become a published novelist?

MUA: Write a novel. Once that is done, you have to get an agent. I recommend picking up a book that’s published each year called The Guide to Literary Agents. It lists all the agents in the country, their submission guidelines, etc. It also has lots of good advice on how to approach, and so forth. Follow this advice, for it is good.

FAQ: I don’t want to write a novel, but I have a really great idea for one. Would you like to hear it?

MUA: It is very kind of you to offer, but no thank you. Novelists are always asked where they get their ideas, but the truth is that ideas are cheap. It is the rare day that goes by, and the non-existent week, in which I don’t have an idea for a new book. The hard part about a novel is not the original idea, but the plot, the characters, the tone, the voice, the pacing and all those other little things that make it come together.

FAQ: But it’s a really good idea, and I’m sure in my case you’d like to make an exception.

MUA: I think you ought to write that book yourself, since you're so enthusiastic about the idea and all.

FAQ: I have written a book, smart guy. Will you show it to your agent or your editor for me?

MUA: I would like to be able to help everyone who needs help, but the truth is that I can’t recommend a book I haven’t read, and if I were to read all the manuscripts people ask me to read, I’d have no time for writing, research and, dare I even mention it, pleasure reading.

FAQ: Your latest novel isn't historical fiction, right?

MUA: Yes, The Ethical Assassin is my first non-historical novel. At least it is not seriously historical. It is set in the mid-1980s, set in and around a Florida trailer park, and concerns the animal rights movement and Marxian political philosophy.

FAQ: Are you a vegetarian?

MUA: Actually, I’m a vegan. I don’t eat any animal products. I’ve made this decision on ethical grounds. Animals may be delicious, but I find it hard to participate in the kind of torture that happens on an industrial level. I strongly urge all of my meat-eating readers to learn more about factory farms and the ways in which animals are treated and to make decisions about what to eat based on this knowledge rather than on habit and taste.

FAQ: You sound so preachy. Isn’t what people eat a matter of personal choice?

MUA: No, boxers or briefs is a choice. Whether or not to participate in unspeakable cruelty, environmental catastrophe and a brewing health crisis of unspeakable proportions is a bit more serious.

FAQ: I don’t know. . .

MUA: If you wish to discuss this matter further, feel free to e-mail me with your questions.

FAQ: I understand you grew up in Florida.

MUA: That’s right. You are very well informed.

FAQ: How did you like it?

MUA: It was hot, and there were too many beaches. It is, however, populated by numerous species of poisonous reptiles, and even some poisonous amphibians, and that keeps life interesting.

FAQ: What are you working on now?

MUA: Right now I’m writing a novel set in Philadelphia and New York in the early 1790s. It centers around the financial panic of 1792 and is set against the early days of the rivalry between Hamilton and Jefferson. It also has a lot of whiskey drinking in it. Also, some swearing and tobacco chewing/spitting. I don’t necessarily endorse these behaviors, however.

FAQ: When will this book be published?

MUA: If a hit my deadline, early 2008.

FAQ: Will there be another Benjamin Weaver novel?

MUA: Yes. It will be published the following year. It’s called The Devil’s Company and is about the British East India Company. It has no whiskey, and most of the tobacco in the book is either smoked or snorted. It’s a very different project.

FAQ: That seems an awfully long time to wait for another Benjamin Weaver novel.

MUA: That’s not really a question, is it? More like a statement.

FAQ: Excuse me. Isn’t that an awfully long time to wait for another Benjamin Weaver novel?

MUA: I am but a leaf adrift upon the untamed waves of the publishing industry. Do not judge me. Only wish me well. Also, for those of you who can’t wait so long, you can read a new Benjamin Weaver short story, The Double Dealer, just published in the James Patterson anthology Thriller.

FAQ: I want to thank you for taking the time to talk with me.

MUA: That’s also not a question.

FAQ: You’re tough.