Courtesy photo

David Baldacci

Smith Mountain Lake has its share of celebrity gossip. Ever heard the one about Tom Cruise owning a house there?

But this one is true: New York Times best-selling author David Baldacci, 47, owns a waterfront home on the Bedford side of the lake with his wife, Michelle, and two children, ages 12 and 15.

Baldacci, who describes himself as "a Virginia native through and through," practiced law for nine years before becoming a full-time author. When not enjoying their lake home, he and his family live in Reston.

We caught up with him between promotional stops for his new book "The Whole Truth," which will hit bookshelves on Tuesday.

Q: What brought you to Smith Mountain Lake?

My wife and I wanted a home on a lake as opposed to the ocean. We had been down to North Carolina, which was nice, but there's a bad riptide, there's jellyfish. I have yet to find a shark at Smith Mountain Lake.

We just liked the idea of the fresh water, and we didn't want to have to worry about hurricanes coming through and taking our house down.

[Michelle] saw an ad for SML. Being from Virginia, I'd heard of SML but never been there. As soon as we saw the water and the mountains, we were hooked.

Q: Did you vacation here first or was it love at first sight?

It was love at first sight.

The house we bought was the second house we looked at. We played a little coy; we used my wife's maiden name. We said we wanted to look at some cottage-style houses. We figured we'd get a smaller house, see if we liked it and then buy a lot and build a house.

The realtor showed us a cottage and then she pointed out this house that was for sale, and said, "It's not a cottage, but we can pop in and take a quick look."

We popped in, and we said this is a place we could bring friends and family. And the owner had several of my books on his shelf, so that was probably several points in his favor.

Q: How much of the year are you and your family at the lake?

We routinely come down and spend the bulk of the summer there. We come down throughout the year for long weekends. We've been down there for Christmas and Thanksgiving.

Q: Do you ever work on your novels while at the lake?

Yes, but it's hard ... I'm a putterer. I love to putter outside, and it's a great property to putter on. I have an office down there as well, and I do write a lot while I'm down there. I've written a good chunk of a lot of my books down at the lake.

Q: How long did you practice law before becoming an author and how does the knowledge you gained in and out of the courtroom translate into your novels?

Almost 10 years as a trial lawyer in D.C. Lawyers are paid to tell persuasive stories. So are novelists. Sometimes I think some of the best fiction I ever wrote was when I was a lawyer.

I guess what I mean by that is: In a typical court case, each side has the same set of facts. You take those facts and you sort of write it or speak it in a way that's best to what the client wants to achieve. You bend them in a way that represents your clients best, and what's most ethical.

It's something you believe is right; you believe what the facts represent. But you can't change the facts; you work within them.

Q: Describe the circumstances around your first acceptance letter.

It was for "Absolute Power," and I thought it was a joke.

I got a call from my agent in New York. He had sent the manuscript out Monday night to the top publishers. Tuesday morning, he called me at my law office and he told me the book had sold overnight. It was crazy because my experience up to that point was abysmal failure. It was quite a day for me.

Q: How many rejection letters did you receive before being published?

Well "Absolute Power" never was rejected. I had written screenplays, I had written short stories. I got hundreds of rejections over the years, some of them cruelly so. They said: "We hope one day you will be published, but rest assured it will never be here." And: "We only represent talent."

I tell people who want to be writers: It's going to be a tough road with a lot of blows to your ego. If you don't love doing it, don't write. People love to trash other people's writing. It's one of those professions where a lot of people feel like anybody can do it.

Q: How much input did you have in the screen adaptation of "Absolute Power"? (It opened in 1997 and was directed by Clint Eastwood.) And were you pleased with the way it turned out?

Not much. It deviated a lot from the book, but if the worst thing that ever happens to me is that Clint Eastwood makes a movie out of one of my novels, well, I've been blessed by the pope.

Q: How much research do you have to do to write your novels, and what inspires you?

Three to four months of research on each novel. I do all the research myself, particularly the one-on-one interviews.

It's important for me to see the people and see how they're answering my questions. You can tell more from how someone says something than what they actually say. I look at the world a little differently. I see exactly what is there, but then I think about adding a few fictional elements here and there to fully realize the potential of a particular thing.

I write because I can't not write. I see stories everywhere. I'm innately curious about everything.

Q: Your novel "Simple Genius" includes a transcript of the Beale Cipher. Growing up in Virginia, did you ever try to decipher the letters or hunt for the Beale Treasure?

Tried and failed. Many times. Alas, someone else will have to find the treasure -- unless of course it's buried on my property.

Q: Are there other regional references within your novels that our readers might recognize?

Camp Peary. UVa. Virginia Tech. Cardinal Lake referenced in the "King and Maxwell" novels is SML in thin disguise. William and Mary and VCU. Washington, Va., where I set a secret CIA training facility called Murder Mountain.

In my novel "Wish You Well," set in Southwest Virginia, there are numerous plays on words and names like Tremont, McClure River, Dickens for Dickenson County.

Q: What has been more lucrative for you -- law or literature?

Literature, by far. I think the sum total I made in 10 years of practicing law is what I paid in the first quarter of taxes the year "Absolute Power" came out in 1996. It's just a whole other level.

Q: Why do you think you've been so successful as an author?

I feel like I have a very distinctive understanding of how a story should be put together and how to grab the reader's attention right away.

I'm really big into character development. The books I've loved, I can't tell you a lot about plot lines, but I can tell you about the characters. I build great characters and put them into interesting stories.

I paid my dues over the years. And every book I write, I'm scared to death I won't be able to do it again. Fear is a great way to combat complacency. Readers can tell that I'm not a factory. I'm different -- out of the box -- every time. It's hard to pigeonhole what I write about.

Q: Can you give us a sneak peek of your next novel?

It'll be out in November. I'll probably be done with it in about a month or so. I'm bringing back a set of recurring characters, and it takes me to a different place that I haven't written about before. That's kind of what drives me -- the challenge.

Q: Do you see the lake as a permanent home one day?

Very possibly. At least one permanent home.

Q: Do you have any favorite lake restaurants or entertainment locales?

We love going to the restaurants, particularly if we can get there by boat. We always have to go to the arcade every summer. The kids rack up millions of tickets and at the end of the summer, they always have five garbage bags full. They go down there and clean the place out. We love Vieira's ... The Blackwater Cafe. And we'll go over to Mariners Landing for lunch.

Q: When do you plan to retire?

Mine is a difficult profession to retire from. It's not really a job; it's simply something that's a part of you.

We love it up here [in Reston], too. I could definitely see us sort of shuttling between places a few months at a time.

The lake has a strong draw. My wife and I have been down there in the off-season, and it's so pristine and nobody's there. It's like you have the lake to yourself. When the kids are in college, I think we'll be spending a lot more time down there, particularly in the off-season.

Q: Do people recognize you at the lake?

Yes, they do, and the stories I could tell you! I've been sitting in Moosie's having a sandwich, and people will come over and I autograph their napkins. It happens a lot down there. I think we're on some sort of unofficial tour down there. Lots of people ride by on their boats yelling out: "I love your books!"

My father-in-law told me how he was out on the perimeter of the property fishing one morning. He's a big guy and he's fishing and a boat comes by ... people don't know how their voices carry over water ... this guy was driving by and somebody said, "Is that the author?" And someone else said, "If it is, it must be a really old picture of him in the back of his book."

[The recognition] is very nice. I don't mind it at all. I love it when people come up and say, "I really enjoy your books" or "Your books got me reading again." They're never intrusive. They're always very pleasant and friendly. It's a pleasant experience.

I'm a celebrity really in name only. Authors are the greatest sort of celebrity of all time because most people really have no idea what they look like.