Please give MSW guest author Brenda Novak a round of applause! (Sorry I’m late today, I completely spaced last night because I wasn’t on-line while I read page-proofs.) I’ve known Brenda for nearly 20 years. On New Years Eve in 1992, I was at Brenda’s house for a party with my then-fiance Dan (now my husband) and mutual friends. Fast-forward 13 years and I met Brenda through our local RWA chapter, the Sacramento Valley Rose, at my first meeting in January of 2003. She didn’t remember me, but I definitely remembered her! She was speaking on the panel, and I… Read More

I’m the keynote speaker for the upcoming Moonlight & Magnolia conference in Atlanta the first weekend in October. I like writing speeches about as much as I like plotting—which is to say, I’d rather walk over hot coals in bare feet being chased by a pack of hungry, man-eating arachnids. Rocki, of course, thought I was insane two years ago when I told her I wasn’t going to write a speech for the Emerald City conference. For those of you who have had the privilege of hearing Rocki speak, you know she’s an amazing public speaker. She’s poised, polished, professional,… Read More

I’m in New York and was gone all day, so this is a short blog, but should be fun! I usually don’t like doing those meme things, but while I was waiting for my flight @popculturenerd on Twitter posted this link and challenged us to come up with answers. Using 2009 books read is not cheating, I’ve been told, and because I’m having a hard time answering these with the books I’ve read in the last 18 months (I swear, I used to read 4 books A WEEK; I’m lucky to read 2 books a month now) it can be… Read More

I love going to conference workshops, but unfortunately rarely have the time to do so. I went to two-and-a-half this year, other than presenting my own on “Rule Breaking.” I always learn something new, and this year was no exception. The workshop was Fire in Fiction presented by Donald Maass. I wasn’t planning on staying–I thought it was a rehash of the workshop he gave last year (which I had to leave at the midpoint)–but fortunately, the topic was “scenes” (last year was character.) Near the beginning, he said one thing that ignited the lightbulb in my brain about the… Read More

The International Thriller Writers (ITW) hosts Thrillerfest in NYC the second week of every July. On Sunday, I returned from the Thrillerfest V, elated and excited and a bit apprehensive. First, a little about the organization. ITW was originally for published thriller writers of all sub-genres, as well as the lofty goal of being a “readers” group. I think the organization has moved solidly into the thriller writers camp, but with one big exception: the organization makes a concerted effort to reach readers, librarians, booksellers and other industry folks and does an amazing job promoting not only thriller writers, but… Read More

I’m moderating a workshop at Thrillerfest next week about social networking: Is Social Networking a Waste of Time? My panelists include a prolific non-fiction author, a popular fiction author, a publicist, and two industry professionals and to say I’m a little intimidated to be leading such an esteemed panel is an understatement (and one of my favorite authors is on a panel opposite mine, Ted Dekker, a fabulous scary and talented thriller author with a Christian bent–I hesitate to lump him into Christian thrillers ala Frank Peretti, because it’s not really the same thing, but there is usually a spiritual… Read More

. . . I’m not talking about your children! There’s a phrase writers use in the revision process: Kill Your Darlings. That a descriptive paragraph or scene, no matter how well-written or poignant or suspenseful or romantic or just plain stunning . . . if it doesn’t fit in the story . . . if it can be taken out without changing anything . . . has to go. Kill it. It’s the hardest thing a writer can do. Because killing your darlings goes well beyond a well-turned phrase that may be repetitive, or a scene that is unnecessary. Sometimes… Read More

In December of 2005, I received my box of author copies of THE PREY, my first book. There is nothing as exciting–except maybe holding your child after birth–than holding your first book. Months, sometimes years, of work to create a story that someone loved enough to published . . . and there it is, right in your hand. A story that started with an intangible idea, a spark of an idea, now a real book. Long ago, a multi-published author–I can’t remember who–told me to savor each moment of publication, not just for the first book or the second, but… Read More

Last Friday, I was lucky enough to tour Folsom State Prison with alumni from the FBI Citizens Academy. At least, a small part of it. They call it the “Toughest Beat in the State” and after walking it, I would have to agree. Every cop puts his life on the line when he puts on a uniform, but putting on the uniform within the walls of a maximum security facility with 4,000 felons carries additional risks. The prison itself is huge, split between “new” (1986) and “old” (1880) Folsom. Both are still fully operational. We were at New Folsom Prison,… Read More

Stephen King has said that the short story is a lost art. King is the master of the short story; in fact, my favorite King movies originally came from his short stories. (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION was originally “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption; there was also ‘1408’ and ‘The Langoliers’, both of which translated well to film, and others.) But as the magazine market has collapsed and fewer anthologies are published, the short story has become rare. My mom says she doesn’t like short stories and novellas because she doesn’t feel like there is a completely story; other people enjoy… Read More