Interview, page 1
Dead In 5 Heartbeats has that same edginess as your autobiography, Hell’s Angel. Why write a thriller and stretch out into fiction?
	I decided to write Dead In 5 Heartbeats because I could only write one autobiography. But after Hell’s Angel became a bestseller, the people wanted more. Ridin’ High, Livin’ Free was a collection of open road motorcycle tales and it did very well, too. Dead In 5 Heartbeats is raw fiction that reads like real life. I’m very happy with the new book. My current fans will really enjoy it because of its realism. Plus we’ll also draw in many more readers who enjoy thrillers like I do.
Patch Kinkade is the bike-riding protagonist in Dead In 5 Heartbeats. How closely is he based on you?
	I would say he’s more of a composite of myself and other bike-riders I’ve known over the years. Some of Patch Kinkade’s character is based on things I’ve done in my life. For instance, I moved to Arizona from California, and he moved to Arizona from California. He was president of a motorcycle club in Oakland and so was I. He’s still an active member of a club. So am I. He rides a Harley-Davidson Road King. So do I. We’ve copied a few of the things I’ve done to make him a strong, believable character. But he’s off on his own in other ways. That’s what fiction is all about.
Do you enjoy writing thriller novels that resemble real life?
	That’s what’s so cool about fiction. I can draw on all sorts of different experiences and then change them to create the tale I want to tell. In the end, it won’t even resemble any actual event. But you got your start from reality, from the kind of life that you lived. Hell’s Angel was a lot of work to write, but in many ways, it was even harder to create a novel with a realistic, fast-paced story line and a cast of interesting characters.