A conversation with author Stuart Woods, who will be featured in Edmond as his latest book launches Tuesday

Stuart Woods may be the luckiest guy in the book world. I realized that about two minutes into a telephone interview with him.

For decades, Woods has been knocking out one best-selling mystery/crime novel after another — and doing it with such ease that it's almost beyond comprehension.

His newest novel, “Family Jewels,” will launch nationwide Tuesday. He will be featured at two events that day at Best of Books in Edmond.

Woods, now 78, is an accomplished pilot and sailor. After graduating from the University of Georgia in 1959, he dashed into one adventure after another: joining the Air National Guard, becoming an ad man, moving to London and living in an old barn on the grounds of an Irish castle. He became a yachtsman, competing in races in a small craft until an inheritance from his grandfather allowed him to purchase a finer boat.

His experiences on the water inspired his first book, “Blue Water, Green Skipper,” which was published in 1977. His first crime novel, “Chiefs,” was released four years later.

Woods spoke briefly with The Oklahoman by telephone.

Q: How do you write so many novels?

A: I write improvisationally. I sit down, I begin, I write a chapter, a scene, and the next day I read it over and make changes. I keep doing this until I'm about 50 chapters in, then I try to paint myself out of whatever corner I've put myself in.

Q: How similar are you and Stone Barrington (protagonist of “Family Jewels”)?

A: This is the 38th Stone novel. It's the 63rd novel overall. With a little luck it will be the 49th straight New York Times best-seller. But we (Woods and Stone) are not that similar. People ask me sometimes which character in the books I'm most like, and that would be Will Lee, who's on his way out because he's served his second term as (U.S.) president and his wife is president now.

He was in my first novel, “Chiefs,” and was in six books, but he still makes appearances regularly. We're both Democrats, moderate to liberal; we both come from the same part of the world, same county, same town. We have similar outlooks on life. All my characters have some of me in them. They say that the first novel is the most autobiographical, but it is based on my hometown and family and hometown history.

Q: From what I've seen in your bio, you've had a life almost as interesting as Stone's. What's the short version of how a public school student from Manchester, Ga., ended up a prolific, beloved mystery novelist?

A: Two fundamental things made that all possible. My mother taught me to read a year before I went to school, and I became a voracious reader. The other thing is I didn't marry for the first time until I was 47, which as it turns out was too early. … My life wasn't all that glamorous. In advertising, I was never that far from being broke, but I managed. I think I made $30,000 my best year.

Toward the end of my time in advertising, I inherited some money from my grandfather, just enough to get myself in debt. I bought a yacht, which was nothing near as lofty as that word makes it sound. It cost about 12,000 pounds, which today would be about $40,000. ...

It took me eight years to finish my first novel, and if I had it to do over, I would've finished it a lot sooner. Got an advance of $200, and that made me go faster. I needed someone to believe in me.

Q: What's your favorite novel of the ones you've written, and why?

A: “Chiefs.” It was my first one and was tied up in my hometown and experience as well.

Q: “Family Jewels” is the first of your books that I've read, and something really jumped out at me. You use a lot of dialogue, but you don't add many signifiers like “he said” and “she said.” Is that intentional, trying to write snappy dialogue like you might find in pulp fiction?

A: I try to throw in enough “he said” and “she said” to keep the reader aware of who's talking. … I don't think it's based on noir. I've never tried to write in noir fashion, although I'm a big fan of it, especially Raymond Chandler.

Q: Do you get much feedback from readers?

A: The email seems to come from everywhere. A very high percentage of them are complimentary, a few are less so and a tiny few are extremely less so. Republican readers, some of them, seem to deeply resent my attitude toward the GOP. … The Republicans tend to live in that bubble where there's only Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. They don't get much fresh air. A lot of hot air, but not much fresh air.

Q: So you'll be in town for a couple events in the Oklahoma City area on Tuesday. Have you been here before? Does Oklahoma appear in any of your books?

A: I've done a book signing in Oklahoma City. I was given the tour of where the bombing took place. I don't remember where I signed books. It was quite some time ago. I think that's been my only visit to Oklahoma except to refuel (my plane). I have a Citation M2. Its predecessor was something called the Mustang, which was my first jet. I have a range of about 1,300 miles, depending on wind. I typically fly from Santa Fe to Key West nonstop. (He and his wife live part-time in Santa Fe, N.M., and Key West, Fla.)

Q: You've been doing this a long time. Have you given any thought to

retiring?

A: My life is the next best thing to retirement, anyway. I work one hour a day, and I write four books a year. In the beginning it was four hours a day. Took me that long to write just over five pages. Over the years it got faster. … Once you know how to write, sit down and write 1,000 or 1,500 words, then there's no reason you can't do it quickly. ... I throw out very little of my work, and I don't get heavily edited. I do the edits in the same one-hour time frame. I seem to have a gift for keeping a novel in my head.