Every other Tuesday marks our new Murder HE Writes feature, starting on March 19th–we’re already booked with male thriller writers through May! I’m very excited about this new feature, because we all love our male counterparts. I could tell you who’s joining us … but I won’t 🙂 We’ll make it a surprise. So you get me (again) today, and I’m going to talk about books. Everyone here loves books, or you probably wouldn’t be reading our blog. Sure, many of us like television, and movies, and sewing, and cooking, and sports, and a host of other things, but the… Read More

Story is Character. That’s the famous quote from Robert McKee. Story is character. Character is story. Meaning, without character, you have no story. Your character drives the story, your character makes the reader invested in the story. Without a character the reader can relate to, at least on some level, or sympathize with, or care about, the reader will be dissatisfied. Yes, you can certainly write a fabulous bestseller without characters you care about (I can think of at least one thriller I read this year where I hated the characters and hated the ending, yet couldn’t put the book down),… Read More

This weekend, I was a speaker at WANACon, put on by the tireless and inspiring Kristen Lamb. WANACon is unlike any writers conference I’ve been to! I didn’t exactly know what I was getting into when Kristen first asked me to participate. I just said yes, sure, whatever you want! I thought initially it would be a digital classroom — like a big chat — where I’d post my lecture and then have chat-like discussions. Wow, was I wrong — and in a good way! The conference was live with speakers. The set up was audio (and video if the… Read More

It takes courage to try anything new. The fear of failure, the fear of change, the fear that if you show part of your true self to a stranger that they’ll stomp all over you. I know many writers who fear sending their work into the world. They fear rejection, they fear success, they fear criticism. They fear a lot — and let their work sit on their computer or under their bed and keep writing and keep filing until they’re so full of fear they’ll never share their writing. Source: piccsy.com via Allison on Pinterest It’s not just writers… Read More

Five days until STALKED is finally out! It should be available wherever books are sold. I’m excited because every book feels like a gift. Like kids. Hard work, painful at times, but hugely rewarding. I’m currently writing a Lucy Kincaid novella, “Reckless,” which will be out in March. And I’m waiting for my editorial notes for the revisions of STOLEN, my 20th book. It’s also the first book that is mostly in the hero’s head. It’s Sean Rogan’s story, where his past affects his present and he has to make some very difficult choices. For me, writing the hero’s POV… Read More