Top Ten From Thrillerfest
“The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies.” Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, (83) Wikiquote Top Ten The top ten ideas I took Read More …
David Morrell on Creating Vivid Settings
Setting: How to Make Your Novel Go Places David Morrell, (Thrillerfest, July 11, 2013) Introduced himself as “Rambo’s Daddy” and then told us about his academic studies (Hemingway scholar) he’s also the co-founder of the International Thriller Writers association About Read More …
Michael Connolly Says There's No "One Way"…
The Series Character: How to Do It Right Michael Connelly (Thrillerfest, July 10, 2013, New York) “There’s no one way to do it right.” If you want to write a series book forget it’s part of a series and write Read More …
T. Jefferson Parker on Outlining
Off on the Right Foot: When to Outline and When to Write T. Jefferson Parker (Thrillerfest Lecture, July 10, 2013) Written 20 books Writes one a year and focuses on it – like a 365 day road trip with a Read More …
John Sandford's Advice on How to Polish Your Manuscript
Small Things: Techniques and Ideas to Burnish Your Text John Sandford (Thrillerfest, July 10, 2013) About to release his 23rd Prey novel – Silk and Prey Publishers want to see completed manuscripts Avoid echoes (i.e., word repetitions) and Do a Read More …
Steve Berry's Advice on Story Structure
The 6 C’s of Story Structure: It’s Not Everything – It’s Absolutely Everything notes from a lecture given by Steve Berry at the 2013 Thrillerfest July 10, New York City Stories must have structure the number one problem in stories Read More …
Last Post from NYC
I’ve journeyed up the Empire State building, around the Statue of Liberty and down into the bowels of the smelly New York City subway. I’ve been dazzled by the lights of Time Square, blown away by drama of The Phantom Read More …
My "Thrillefest" Agentfest Experience
While it’s hard to squish my three and half hour experience with four rooms filled with agents into a blog post, I know that many people are curious about it. So here goes: First the short stories: Yes, it is Read More …
Getting Ready for the Red Eye to New York
Well this is it. I leave tonight on the red eye. I’ve squished as much of me as I can into my small rolling carry-on and computer bag/purse. I’ve gone through my lists over and over again, and my passport’s Read More …
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