What happened to the sequel? From the last paragraph of The Election, it sure seemed like there was going to be a follow-up?

Yes, a number of readers noticed the not-so-subtle hint of a sequel to The Election. . . The Administration. I have the emails to prove it! Believe me, the project was underway. I had researched the subject, digesting books about the Clinton Administration, the George H. W. Bush Administration, the modern Congress, and the Secret Service. I had studied Washington D.C. for possible action sequences. I had some basic plot ideas of skeletons rattling and dancing out of closets, of juicy scandals dripping with shame and disgrace.

Then, September 11, 2001 arrived. I didn’t immediately abandon The Administration project, but I had trouble getting on track. Chase scenes through the capital and internal conflicts within the United States government involving a fictional President seemed out of step with our nation’s new concerns. As I continued to have trouble moving forward on the project, I realized I wanted to work on something that addressed Nine-Eleven. I toyed with some thriller ideas. I even played with some scenarios, to see how they might plot in a full-length book. But I had a sinking feeling that there would be ten or twenty books formed around the ideas I was considering. (In fact, there is a superb post Nine-Eleven thriller out now – Memorial Day, by Vince Flynn.)

I dusted off an old project idea, Richard and Saladin (now called The Swords of Faith). I suddenly realized, here was a relevant project that would provide some historical context to current events. And as I got further into it, I realized the stories from this era could provide some entertaining insights about the present day. During the “Middle Ages,” during the time of the “Crusades,” Islam was not the enemy of science and technology. Islam was not a blood-thirsty religion calling for the deaths of innocents. Christians, Muslims and Jews interacted in surprising ways, revealing that we of the 21^st Century are not prisoners of history. Here was the project I wanted to work on. The Adminstration would have to wait.

The research for Richard and Saladin (The Swords of Faith) took some time, but both the research and writing is now completed. This initial project has now grown into a trilogy, with The Ghosts of Baghdad, and The Sultan and the Khan added to the group. They both will contribute their own additional historical perspectives on our present-day world, while telling fresh, exciting stories.

Keep watching this website for additional information on when these books will be available.

Richard Warren Field
May, 2005