JUNGLE OF STEEL AND STONE, the second in the 'Veil' series, was based on a true story, an incident reported in The New York Times about a tribe in the Kalahari desert that was disintegrating, physically and morally, as a result of its idol/god being stolen. Religious belief has always fascinated me, and the style in which the Veil books are written gave me a chance to explore one particular belief system 'from the inside out', in a matter of speaking - - from the point of view of one particularly courageous individual whose faith in a block of wood is the key to his survival.