Tom Fleming is the author of more than forty books of fiction and non-fiction. His most recent novel, When This Cruel War Is Over is set during the American Civil War. Published by Tor and due out in March, it has been hailed by Publishers' Weekly as "a moving evocation of the Civil War's emotional tragedy." Fleming, a former President of PEN, is a frequent guest and contributor to NPR, PBS, A&E, The History Channel and The Today Show. He received wide acclaim for his revisionist book, 1776: Year of Illusions, and The New York Times declared his history of West Point the best book ever written about the U.S. Military Academy.

Derek Alger: Congratulations on your upcoming novel, When This Cruel War Is Over. It's one thing to be an accomplished writer, but you've succeeded in both fiction and non-fiction. Is that unusual?

Tom Fleming: I remember when I was very active with PEN in the early '70s, and I was having lunch one day with the short story writer Donald Barthelme, who was also involved with PEN. He turned to me and said that he was concerned about the way my career was shaping up because I was writing both fiction and non-fiction. "They won't let you do that," Barthelme said. "Who are they?" I asked. "I don't know, but they won't let you," he said.

DA: Whoever they are, they apparently didn't succeed. You mention PEN — why did you get involved with it?

TF: I got into PEN for only one reason — because it is a force for free expression, in America and around the world. Every writer should contribute to and, if possible, participate in the struggle, which is never-ending. I have defended black power spokespersons in America and an imprisoned woman poet in Cuba. Currently, PEN is the only hope of free expression in Iran and other parts of the Moslem world. PEN also gives prizes for translation and new fiction, but these are subsidiary to its central purpose. I also helped found PEN's Writers in Prison program, which is another expression of its faith in the power of the word.

DA: How would you say your involvement benefited other writers, known and unknown?

TF: I was President of PEN from 1971 to 1973, and I tried to set up a fund for published writers who were struggling, those who had a first novel published but didn't make a great deal of money. These are people, even writers with two of three novels published, who need as much help as the beginning writer and are in danger of running out of gas.

DA: I know beginning writers need encouragement and help. I don't think people usually think about what happens to a writer after a novel is published.

TF: There's a huge fall off between the number of first novelists and the number of second novelists, and I think that's something important for young writers to understand. I think it's something like 50% of first novelists don't publish a second novel, and 50% of second novelists don't publish a third, and the drop off is the same after that. It keeps going down.

DA: What advice would you give the beginning novelist, for both the first and hopefully the second novel?

TF: I was fortunate. Early on, I worked for Fulton Oursler, a big religious writer and, in his heyday, the editor of Liberty, the second biggest weekly at the time behind The Saturday Evening Post. I remember seeing something like 37 books by him on his shelf. 'How do you write a book?' I thought. Fulton told me it was like seeing all the food you ate in one year in one place. You'd get sick if you tried to eat it all, but you eat it one day at a time. Just like you write, one day at a time. It's great advice. It's almost common sense, but it's a good saying for young writers; it's almost like shock treatment.