I wanted to say first that I adored your Grand Illusion series and bought each new volume as soon as they came out. I’m trying to write my own political fantasy series myself, and I was wondering if you had any advice for how you kept track of all the factions and alliances and whatnot as you wrote?

With lots of charts and notes, but nearly twenty years in the political arena helped a great deal. One of the important things to remember/plan is the overall political base of each councilor/candidate — beyond just party identity. While for a period of time, support for a charismatic figure, such as Hitler or Trump, can overshadow individual politicians’ political bases, that’s usually not the case. Also, a politician’s style and approach is influenced by his or her strengths and weaknesses. One who isn’t the strongest of speakers will likely use different strategies, such as developing a strong grassroots organization.