 Rule one: Write about settings you're familiar with. |
| To answer that I have to describe what I think is my responsibility as a thriller writer: To give my readers the most exciting roller coaster ride of a suspense story I can possibly think of. |
| The best way to learn about writing is to study the work of other writers you admire. |
| I also try very hard to create characters - both heroes and villains - with psychological depth. |
| So I work hard to present the human side of my characters while not neglecting the plot. |
| You think publishing is tough but the music world is ten times tougher. |
| In suspense novels even subplots about relationships have to have conflict. |
| Of course, I write crime stories, and I have to describe violence and the aftermath of violence. |
| The recent fascination, I think, reflects the shift in approach by law enforcement officials to embrace technology as wholeheartedly as the rest of the world. |
| I write pretty much anywhere - on planes, in hotel rooms, anywhere in my house. |
| Ideally, I like to integrate the human issues into the suspense story itself. |
| I liked the challenge of writing in a very concise structure in which both meaning and form are important. |
| I spend eight months outlining and researching the novel before I begin to write a single word of the prose. |
| Hardcover books are fairly expensive these days and to read one requires a significant commitment of time in our busy society. So I want to make sure that when readers buy one of my books they get something they're familiar with. |
