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INTROSPECTION, LOTS OF RESEARCH PRODUCED CHINA CONNECTION

All writers and would-be writers are familiar with the maxim, Write about what you know about.

Savvy writers know that this valuable bit of advice has an important corollary: If you don't know much about something, find out about it!

When Tony Sacco began following the news stories in the mid-'90s about illegal campaign contributions made to gain Chinese access to American satellite and missile technology, he thought it could form the basis for a whopping good story.

That he knew no more about "Chinagate" than the average schmuck did not hold him back. He immersed himself in coverage of the story by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, relying most heavily, however, on Bill Gertz's excellent reporting in the Washington Times.

He also combed the Internet and found some valuable websites including, to his surprise, one for the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

"It took a year of research before I started to write, and then, as I wrote, the research was ongoing," says Sacco.

But the character of the protagonist, Matt Dawson, required no research at all.

"His marriage, divorce, his problems with his children are pretty much based on me," Sacco admits.

Matt's love interest, Karen, however, "is loosely based on my wife, Carol!" he emphasizes.

Tony's ten years of experience operating Mutual Investigative Services, which specializes in locating missing persons, gave him expertise in search techniques.

And his background as a 1st Lieutenant in the Maryland Air National Guard equipped him with a useful knowledge of weapons.

The China Connection took two and a half years to complete. Tony wrote at night and on weekends. Toward the end, as his writing became more intense, he also wrote for two hours in the morning.

This is his first published novel, but his second attempt at novel writing.

"I wrote the first novel in '92-'94 as therapy; I'd been going through some rough times," he says. "I wrote about an investigation I did in 1990--it wasn't very good."

But the writing bug had bit him, and what he learned from his mistakes helped him to master the complex skills needed to meld plot, characterization, dialog and narrative into an entertaining and thought-provoking--and published--second novel.

Since the mid-1980s Tony has also employed his writing skills to compose pro-life letters to the editor in The Sun, the Towson Times and the Catholic Review.

The August 21 Catholic Review carries his "My Turn" opinion piece, "Partial birth ban delay is ridiculous."

The China Connection is Immaculate Conception Book Club's book-of-the-month selection for November.

A graduate of Loyola College and the University of Maryland Law School, Tony lives and works in Towson.

The China Connection is available on Amazon.com.