On Incorporating Traditional Fairytale Elements By J. H. Bográn Three years after her smash hit The Marsh King’s Daughter, internationally bestselling author Karen Dionne returns to familiar ground in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula…
Between The Lines
Playing the Long Game By Dawn Ius Joe Clifford knows better than most that publishing—like life sometimes—is a tough grind. “This is interesting work,” he says, with a touch of irony. “You…
Charting Unfamiliar Territory with a Familiar Character By Dawn Ius Almost 30 years have passed since Sara Paretsky’s V. I. Warshawski burst onto the literary scene, quickly establishing herself as one of…
The Extraordinary Life of a Legend By Dawn Ius It’s difficult to adequately describe the impact of a literary legend—even more so when that icon is Clive Cussler, the undisputed “Grandmaster of…
Dexter Creator Dreams up a New Antihero By April Snellings When faced with the dreaded question to which every novelist must submit—“Where did you get the idea for this book?”—Jeff Lindsay had…
Accidental Spies (and Spy Novelists) By April Snellings If you want proof of the thriller genre’s remarkable elasticity, look no further than the world of spy fiction. There’s an entire vein of…
Refuelling the Creative Well By Dawn Ius Patricia Cornwell has spent almost a quarter century in a literary morgue, carving out 24 page-turning forensic thrillers featuring her fierce protagonist, Dr. Kay Scarpetta.…
Tackling a Story That’s a Little Too Timely By April Snellings [Note: The following piece contains spoilers for the Grant County series, which concluded in 2007 with Beyond Reach.] It’s been 13…
The Fine Line Between Psychological Thriller and Horror By April Snellings In Riley Sager’s LOCK EVERY DOOR, a young woman, struggling with grief after a tragic loss, accepts a rare opportunity to…
Mastering the Thriller Craft By Dawn Ius In the opening scene of John Sandford’s new thriller NEON PREY, Deese—a thin, ropy-muscled “aggressive orangutan” of a man—lightly brushes extra virgin olive oil on…
An Overnight Success, 13 Years in the Making By April Snellings Considering that few readers had heard of Liv Constantine before the stunning success of 2017’s The Last Mrs. Parrish, you’d be…
Weaving the Hidden History of a Girl Most Likely By Alex Segura If you’re a fan of hardboiled fiction or comics, the name Max Allan Collins is a familiar one. His CV…
The Jack and Jill You’re Looking For By Allison Brennan I have a rule: I read every book I blurb. The problem is that I write three books a year and have…
Darkness in a Town of Sunshine By E. M. Powell Fall is an easy season to love—but if you’re not quite ready for the shorter days and lower temperatures, you can grab…
Discovering the Secrets of a Legend By Nancy Bilyeau While it may seem that the vampire novel has been drained of every conceivable drop of blood, the truth is, the Undead can…
Exploring the State Between Asleep and Awake By Dawn Ius “Between the dreams of night and day, there is not so great a difference.” The great philosopher Carl Jung may not have…
Finding Trust in the Truth By Josie Brown If you’re a novelist, the best way to make lemonade from a lemon of a non-fiction book deal gone awry is to re-purpose it…
A Dangerous Search for the Truth By J. H. Bográn A popular plotting device among authors is to ask, “What if…?” and then follow the rabbit down the hole. So, what if…
Discovery of the “Real” Lolita By Nancy Bilyeau When discussing a novel, many an author will be only too happy to cite the real person who inspires a character or the news…
An Artful Pairing By Dawn Ius New York Times bestselling authors Steve Berry and M.J. Rose turn up the heat with a new novella featuring a character that will be familiar to…
The Secrets to Humanizing a Detective By Dawn Ius Fresh off the promotion trail of his first literary thriller, The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, Robert Dugoni once again launched into full…
Into the Wild By Dawn Ius Jenny Milchman doesn’t write to formula, but admits that each of her novels share commonalities—ordinary women with believable flaws, husbands that suck, the fictional town of…
Trying to Understand the World By Nancy Bilyeau Someone might assume that when Walter Mosley sits down to write a novel—after publishing more than 50 books and winning awards and fame for…
Setting the Bar High By April Snellings It’s a scenario that has played out again and again in recent months: a prominent man is accused of sexual misconduct, and the floodgates open to reveal years or even decades…