"Guns, Gangs, and Terrorism - The Joy of Writing Narrative Nonfiction and How the Ugliest Painting I Ever Saw Still Inspires Me" with author Tom Diaz.

A discussion of the challenges, joys, and frustrations of writing nonfiction books about some of the modern world’s grimmest realities. Lots of people have good ideas about books that could be written. But translating even the greatest of ideas into a finished product takes years of work. Diaz uses examples from his six published nonfiction books to illustrate the process of building a well-crafted book from inspiration through research, writing, and publication.

TOM DIAZ is a retired lawyer and former journalist. He has written six non-fiction books, a number of monographs and articles about crime, terrorism, and firearms, and several self-published novels that he calls his “worst sellers.” He is a graduate of the University of Florida and the Georgetown University Law Center.

Diaz practiced a variety of civil and criminal law in his legal career. As a journalist, he reported on the Supreme Court and national security at The Washington Times newspaper. He then became an assistant managing editor from 1985 to 1991.

From 1991 to 1993 Diaz worked at the National Strategy Information Center, where he focused on the study of terrorism and international organized crime. From 1993 to 1997 he was Democratic counsel on the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice. His subject matter specialties were counterterrorism and firearms legislation.

Diaz was senior policy analyst at a gun violence reduction organization from 1997 until his retirement in 2012.