Food Trucks and Hoarding

Guest Blogger: Lisa McMann I admit it. I love reality TV. I love the thrill of SURVIVOR, all the cooking shows, especially THE GREAT FOOD TRUCK RACE, and I am strangely fascinated by shows about people’s obsessions, addictions, and dark secrets. I’ve even been on a reality show called SEARCHING FOR …

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How Characters Change With Real Life

Guest Blogger: Eric Van Lustbader When I created the character of Jack McClure for FIRST DAUGHTER, I made him very much like me. He was a dyslexic. My dyslexia is far less severe than Jack’s is, but nonetheless it created both challenges and advantages for me. I kept exchanging letters …

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What is smart?

Guest Blogger: Kathleen George Sometimes a panel—even one you’re on—makes you think about it a whole year later.  That was the case for me long ago, after the 2011 Thrillerfest. Joseph Finder took a lot of abuse for coming up with our panel title, “Can a Thriller Be Both Exciting and …

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Researching the Amish

Guest Blogger: Julie Kramer For my latest thriller, I decided to go Amish. At that time, I didn’t realize that Amish fiction was on an upswing. I just needed another Minnesota-based adventure for Riley Spartz, the reporter/heroine in my series set in the desperate world of  TV news. Minnesota has …

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Caitlin Strong: Action Hero!

Guest Blogger: Jon Land Female action hero.  For many thriller fans, that’s an oxymoron.  And you can’t really blame them.  A woman capable of mixing it up with the likes of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher?  Come on, no way, right? Wrong.  Caitlin Strong, who returns this month in STRONG VENGEANCE, …

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A Long Journey To Publication For A Story About Immortal Love

Guest Blogger: Alma Katsu Even though my first novel, THE TAKER, wasn’t published until last year, I’ve been writing on and off my entire life. However, my career in intelligence (yes, I worked for CIA) made it hard to pursue publication and I stopped writing for a long time. Then …

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Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones … The Power of Words

Guest Blogger: Jaime Rush Okay, it may be the writer in me, but I love the idea that words have real power. That old kid’s saying was wrong—“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” Words can hurt. How many times have we been hurt …

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Go Ahead, Watch TV and Movies

Guest Blogger: Martha Brockenbrough When I was growing up, my mom would let us know when—in her view—we’d had too much fun. My brothers and sisters and I jokingly called it TMF or “exceeding the fun quotient.” Mom used to feel the TV for telltale signs of warmth when she …

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4 Points to a Successful Writing Collaboration

Guest Bloggers: Angie Brenner and Joy E. Stocke A good companion shortens the longest road. — Turkish proverb “Why Turkey?” is the first question we’re often asked when we talk about our travels and collaborative memoir ANATOLIAN DAYS & NIGHTS. What seems obvious to us after visiting the four corners of …

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The Deep Zone Proves It: Reality Is Fantastic Enough

Guest Blogger: James M. Tabor I know that vampires and werewolves and zombies—oh my!—are all the rage now, but I’ve never felt the need to step over the line from reality to fantasy, or wherever those things live. Reality is plenty fantastic in its own right, as the real events …

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