Describe your latest book.
Napoleon's Pyramids is historical adventure written to give readers an e-ticket ride of war, romance, escapes, pyramid mysteries, and a little self-deprecating humor by its hero, all based on fact. Ethan Gage is an American merchant, gambler, sharpshooter, and former apprentice to the late Benjamin Franklin, trying to enjoy Paris in the wake of the French Revolution. When he wins an Egyptian medallion in a card game, he soon finds himself unjustly accused of a prostitute's murder and on the run. His relationship with Freemasons and his reputation as an "electrician" wins him shelter in the 1798 expedition of 29-year-old general Napoleon Bonaparte, who is invading Egypt. There he encounters the lovely and enigmatic priestess Astiza and finds himself — between battles — trying to decipher the meaning of the Great Pyramid before its secret falls into the wrong hands. The story deals with themes of belief, purpose, and the double-edged use of knowledge, and has a great deal of information about the pyramids, Revolutionary France, Egypt, and a star-crossed expedition that in some ways parallels the American experience in Iraq.

What's the strangest or most interesting job you've ever had?
As a journalist I've had the opportunity to be in odd places: a mosquito-slapping contest in the Arctic, an Indian sweat lodge, the crater of Mount St. Helens, or upside down with the Blue Angels — which I don't recommend. One episode was a ten-hour B-52 training mission roaring over Dakota wheat fields a few hundred feet above the ground, aiming at wheat silos meant to represent Soviet missile emplacements. The wings shook like rubber. As Tom Clancy remarked, the difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense.

Introduce one other author you think people should read, and suggest a good book from which to start.
As a science reporter, I learned there are a lot of popular science books as gripping as a good novel. Try David Bodanis's The Secret Garden, or Secret House, which talk about the bugs and bacteria we can't see. I remain boggled by how big and small the Universe really is.

How do you relax?
As a middle-age male, I've become ever more adept at napping. The trouble with the world is that nobody takes naps anymore, not even kindergartners. When I am President, this will change.

Have you ever made a literary pilgrimage?
My wife and I visited the Oxford pub where J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and the other "Inklings" hung out. I tried their beer to see if it would help.

Describe the best breakfast of your life.
I had an oddly-timed opportunity to go to Antarctica shortly after battling cancer. On the way down I managed to catch a cold, the airline lost my luggage — no clothes for the coldest place on earth — and I was so tired I fell asleep at the first science lecture. When they fed us in the cafeteria the next day, it was reassurance they wouldn't really let me die.

Fahrenheit, Celsius, or Kelvin?
Fahrenheit, don't you think? Hard to spell, but the bigger numbers are more dramatic.

Who are your favorite characters in history? Have they influenced your writing?
Driven strivers — Alexander, Leonardo, Attila, Cleopatra — make interesting writing or reading for meek moderates like me. Napoleon fascinates because he came up from nothing, imposed his will, but was filled with flaws. No novelist could invent him.

In the For-All-Eternity category, what will be your final thought?
What was that all about?

Recommend five or more books on a single subject of personal interest or expertise.
Five Books To Go Sailing With (I'm a recreational sailor):

1. Into the Light by Dave and Jaja Martin.
A family sails to Iceland.

2. Life of Pi by Yann Martel.
A tiger in a lifeboat.

3. Ghost Sea by Ferenc Mate.
A Heart of Darkness voyage in 1920 British Columbia.

4. Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson.
Deep-diving for a wrecked U-Boat.

5. In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick.
Moby Dick for real.