“Write what you know” is stereotypical advice writing coaches serve up. It’s complete bullshit, of course! In the collection Howling at the Moon where my short story “Gamin” appears, I write about a copper and urchin fighting crime on the moon. Obviously I’ve never been to the moon, so I can’t know what it’s like. That story sprung from my imagination!

I’ve never been to China either (and until that country becomes a democracy, I refuse to go!). But in Aristocrats and Assassins, NYPD Detective D...