This post is a guest blog entry for The Big Thrill’s Thriller Roundtable (Oct 23-29) WHICH COMES FIRST, THE READER OR THE STORY? In a word, both. This is not a cop-out. I start with a story in mind that I suspect readers like me would like to experience. I want readers to be as engaged with the story as I am in writing it. That informs … Continue reading CHICKEN OR THE EGG?
This is a guest blog entry that originally appeared in The Big Thrill’s Thriller Roundtable (Oct 16-22) IS IT A GOOD IDEA TO SET THRILLERS IN THE FALL? I’m not a big fan of the fall, but I enjoy setting stories during that time of year. The metaphor is obvious. Things die. Blue skies of spring and summer turn gray. Days are shorter; darkness encroaches. Goblins hide … Continue reading The Dying Season
I told a writer friend of mine that I was on a tear this week, racing through the outline for my next book in record time, creating a fast and furious roadmap with enough twists and turns to make the average passenger carsick. She asked, “What’s your inspiration and can you give me some of that?” And I said, “I don’t know that I actually … Continue reading INSPIRATION, MY ASS
Mother Nature must love a good book. What else can explain a Labor Day weekend of perfect weather, clear skies and just enough of a breeze to turn the pages? Before I bury the lead along with some of the characters in my next book, let me simply say it was a profoundly beautiful weekend for the Decatur Book Festival. Billed as the largest independent … Continue reading I WENT TO A BOOK FESTIVAL AND MY PROTAGONIST SURRENDERED
I spent the early days of my television career covering a lot of crime. Heinous crime, as they say. Gruesome, grisly, shit-you-see-in-movies, kind of crime. I’m particularly fond of the words “gruesome” and “grisly” because you can always depend on some chiseled, blown-dried anchorman or exquisitely coiffed, high fashioned and bejeweled anchorwoman to utter those morbid expressions whenever the lead story is murder. And the … Continue reading Psycho-Analyzing
Steven Cooper 