Dan Brown’s next move

Want to meet Dan Brown? Attendees of the May 18th event who purchase a book through the box office can hang with him backstage.Courter Photography

I can tell you there is another book in progress. I am having a great time with it. I cannot share with you the subject matter or the location, but it’s another ROBERT LANGDON THRILLER in the world of symbols and codes. It opens in a much different way than my other books, and Langdon is in a very different situation than he’s ever been in and has to use a different set of tools to extricate himself.

Once I pick a topic and location, I have to read a lot to educate myself. I have to meet with specialists, travel to these locations, and gather mountains of information. Once I have all the information I need, I start outlining. I’m an early riser. I WRITE FROM 4 O’CLOCK UNTIL MAYBE NOON, I get a little exercise, then deal with business in the afternoon. I do that seven days a week.

The work that I do, as any writer knows, is fairly time-consuming and labor-intensive and focus-intensive. If I am answering fan mail or going to give speeches or doing movies, it’s very, very hard for me to write. It really seems RESPECTFUL TO MY FANS who are waiting for a book to stay focused on that.

This event in Portsmouth [a benefit Friday for Writers on a New England Stage, a live event and public radio show] is an anomaly for me. I am still in the writing process and normally would never accept a speaking engagement. But I’m A HUGE FAN OF THE MUSIC HALL and this community, and I was happy and honored to be a part of that. The Music Hall is a treasure because it enables those of us who prefer to live outside of cities to have access to BIG-CITY ENTERTAINMENT and really cosmopolitan culture.

— As told to Joel Brown

Interview has been edited and condensed.

<i>The Da Vinci Code</i> author and New Hampshire resident, appearing at Portsmouth’s Music Hall on Friday, talks about his new thriller.