"Sex on the Moon," by Ben Mezrich

Jeff Glor talks to Ben Mezrich about "Sex on the Moon," the story of Thad Roberts, the true story of a former NASA intern who pulled off one of the wildest heists in American history, stealing millions of dollars worth of moon rocks from the Johnson Space Center.

Jeff Glor: What inspired you to write the book?

Ben Mezrich: I've always been fascinated by NASA and wanted to write something about what NASA is like in modern times, and then coincidentally friends of Thad contacted me after he got out of prison. I get a lot of crazy stories sent to me all the time but this was the wildest I'd heard in a while! I had to write it.

JG: What surprised you the most during the writing process?

BM: This one took a year to get to all the sources and to get the FBI files on the case which were about 1,000 pages long. The story itself has a lot of surprising twists and turns, but most of all I was intrigued by Thad's complex motivations and by Axel Emmerman as a bizarrely likable character.

JG: What would you be doing if you weren't a writer?

BM: I'd be unemployed. Sleeping a lot. Probably living in a van down by the river. I've wanted to be a writer since I was 12.

JG: What else are you reading right now?

BM: "Game of Thrones," isn't it awesome??? And "Robopocalypse."

JG: What's next for you?

BM: I'm working on a TV show where I go inside these crazy stories every week. And waiting for the next college kid who pulls off a heist to call me!

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Ben Mezrich talks to Jeff Glor about which actors he would like to see in the film version of his book, "Sex on the Moon."

For more on "Sex on the Moon," visit the Random House website.