Steven Saylor — American Author born on March 23, 1956,

Steven Saylor is an American author of historical novels. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied history and classics... (wikipedia)

Even the crudest, most derivative novel is an expression of the author's hopes and fears and ideas about good and evil.
I'm like the painter with his nose to the canvas, fussing over details. Gazing from a distance, the reader sees the big picture.
All writing is an act of self-exploration. Even a grocery list says something about you; how much more does a novel say?
I can't say I had an ideal father, and I'm not a father myself.