I'm fascinated by seemingly unimportant bits of history that changed the future in unforeseen ways. Marble Creek is my third historical novel, following The Wolf's Sun and A Devil Singing Small. I served as an Army JAGC captain (attorney) for seven years and later was a civilian attorney with the Department of Defense. I live and write on the 66 wooded acres in north Idaho where I grew up. My novels tend to be long with interwoven plots and are intended for adults. When not writing, I sell used and rare books, and odds and ends found at charity shops, on eBay. Why this novel, Marble Creek? I began researching the Industrial Workers of the World (the Wobblies); one discovery led to another. I was born in Spokane, Washington, but didn't know it was under martial law during World War I for being a hotbed of Wobbly activity in the I.W.W.'s fight for better working conditions, pay, and the 8-hour day in the timber industry. I didn't know that Butte, Montana, had the largest Irish immigrant population west of New York City and was opposed to the U.S. joining Ireland's suppressor, Great Britain, against the Germans; that federal troops patrolled its streets, fearing an "uprising" or sabotage of the copper mines. I didn't know about the American Protective League - a secret organization that spread across the country, sponsored by the Justice Department, its members spying on fellow citizens, seeking out German sympathizers, anti-war rhetoric, or failure to buy liberty bonds. I didn't know why the federal government systematically destroyed the Industrial Workers of the World, accusing its members of treason for attempting to organize laborers. The World War I era was a dangerous time for America's freedoms, but a great background for Marble Creek.