Thriller 101

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I'm sharing the 3 most important lessons I learned about storytelling while listening to a True Crime Podcast!

My wife and I took our two kids to visit my sister over Thanksgiving. And like any parent knows on a long trip, the kiss of death when traveling with young kids is talking too much once they’ve fallen asleep.

So we queued up a podcast, and as soon as we heard snoring from the backseat, we started listening to Up and Vanished, a true crime podcast about a 10 year old cold case of a missing woman.

While I listened, it made me think a lot about how we write fiction (and specifically suspense, thriller, mystery, horror, and crime fiction). 

Interview with Katherine Ramsland
Interview with Rob Hart
Interview with Josh Stallings

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5 Minute Writer
Author: Bianca Marais Interview
Literary Agent: Kimberly Brower Interview 

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5 Minute Writer
Article
Connect with Katherine via Facebook

Last week on the interview series I talked to author, Emmy Nordstrom Higdon. They shared how to write diversity into our stories.

First Interview with Jessica Payne. (Be sure to subscribe for new Jessica Payne interview in the coming weeks!)

3 BIG TAKEAWAYS 

1. Turning real life ideas into fiction
2. Trusting your narrative voice
3. Studying great writing

BIO
Katherine Ramsland has played chess with serial killers, dug up the dead, worked with profilers, and camped out in haunted crime scenes. As a professor of forensic psychology and an investigative consultant (like her main character, Annie Hunter), she’s always vigilant for unique angles and intriguing characters. She spent five years working with “BTK” serial killer Dennis Rader to write his autobiography, Confession of a Serial Killer , and has been featured as an expert in over 200 true crime documentaries. The author of 69 books, she’s been a forensic consultant for CSI, Bones  and The Alienist , an executive producer on Murder House  Flip and A&E’s Confession of a Serial Killer , and a commentator on 48 Hours, 20/20, The Today Show, Dr. Oz, Nightline, Larry King Live, Nancy Grace  and other shows. She blogs regularly for Psychology Today  and once wrote extensively for CourtTV’s Crime Library. She’s become the go-to expert for the most extreme, deviant and bizarre forms of criminal behavior, which offers great background for her Nut Cracker Investigations series. I Scream Man  is the first novel in the series.

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Article
Emmy's Manuscript Wish List
Connect with Emmy on Twitter!
Connect with David on Twitter

Last week on the interview series I talked to author, Josh Stallings. He shared how to write unique and three-dimensional characters by avoiding cliche's.

Interview with Christopher Golden.

3 BIG TAKEAWAYS 

1. Writing real characters
2. Finding people you trust to work with
3. How our life experiences can drive our fiction

BIO
emmy (they/them) holds a PhD in justice-oriented social work with a focus on critical animal studies. They are a member of the planning team for the Festival of Literary Diversity, a faculty member at the Manuscript Academy, and a literary agent at Westwood Creative Artists. They are a queer, trans, and non-binary colonizer based in Tkaronto (Toronto, Ontario). emmy lives with their partner, a Deaf Dalmatian named Pavot, two formerly feral Maine coon cats, Whisper and Willow, and their collection of plants, informally nicknamed The Leafy Bois. They keep busy with vegan cooking, thread painting embroidery, crochet, wholesome video games, snail mail, their sticker collection, and… obviously, reading.

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5 Minute Writer
Article
Josh's Website
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Last week on the interview series I talked to Rob Hart, author of six novels. He shared how he develops suspense early in a novel to keep readers engaged. 

3 BIG TAKEAWAYS 

1. Writing real characters
2. Finding people you trust to work with
3. How our life experiences can drive our fiction

BIO
Josh Stallings’ latest book TRICKY, was listed by Library Journal as one of the ten best crime books of 2021. YOUNG AMERICANS, a disco heist novel was nominated for the Lefty and Anthony awards. Born in Los Angeles, and raised by counter-culture activists in Northern California, he grew up an undiagnosed dyslexic and spent some time as a petty criminal and failed actor before becoming a movie trailer editor. He, his wife, and two wonderful mutts now live in Idyllwild. TRICKY, was written in honor of his son Dylan, who is intellectually disabled. 

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5 Minute Writer
Rob Hart Full Interview
Lee Childs Article

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5 Minute Writer
Article
Rob Hart's Website
Connect with Rob on Twitter!
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Last week on the interview series I talked to Bianca Marias, author of the new release The Witches of Moonshyne Manor and host of the popular podcast, The Shit No One Tells You About Writing. She shared how she developed unique character voices in her novel

3 BIG TAKEAWAYS 

1. Use a variety of ways to develop character voice
2. The importance of a great agent-author relationship
3. Where The Shit Noone Tells You About Writing podcast is headed

Today's interview will help anyone who feels like their writing needs a little boost. Rob shares some really important and practical writing tips while giving a behind the scenes look at how he creates his fascinating and suspenseful novels. Let’s get to the interview!

BIO

Rob Hart  is the author of six novels, including The Paradox Hotel  and The Warehouse , as well as the short story collection Take-Out , Scott Free  with James Patterson, and a Star Wars short story. The Warehouse , sold in more than 20 countries and was optioned for film by Ron Howard!

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5 Minute Writer
Article
Bianca Marais Website
Connect with Bianca on Twitter!
The Shit No One Tells You About Writing Podcast
Connect with David on Twitter

3 BIG TAKEAWAYS 

1. Use a variety of ways to develop character voice
2. The importance of a great agent-author relationship
3. Where The Shit Noone Tells You About Writing podcast is headed

BIO
In this week's author interview, I'll be talking to Bianca Marais. She is the author of Hum If You Don't Know the Words and If You Want to Make God Laugh and most recently The Witches of Moonshyne Manor. She teaches at the University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies where she was awarded an Excellence in Teaching Award for Creative Writing in 2021. 

She is the co-host of the popular podcast, The Shit No One Tells You About Writing, which is aimed at helping emerging writers become published. 

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5 Minute Writer
Christopher Golden: Full Interview
Dwyer Murphy's article

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5 Minute Writer Newsletter (Grab Your 1st Edition Here)
Article
Brower Literary & Management
Connect with Kimberly on Twitter!
Connect with David on Twitter

3 BIG TAKEAWAYS

1. How to edit your book
2. Intangibles that will help you find an agent
3. What agents are looking for in debut authors

EPISODE INFO:
In today's episode, Kimberly and I discuss finding the RIGHT literary agent for you. What agents are looking for in a writer. Plus, she shares some of the editing advice she gives her own clients.
Last time on the interview series I talked to book coach, Megan Clancy about how to edit your own work. Don't miss it! 

BIO:
Kimberly fell in love with reading when she picked up her first Babysitter’s Club book at the age of seven (Super Special editions were her favorites) and hasn’t been able to get her nose out of a book since. She holds a BS in Business Administration from California State University, Northridge and received her JD from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. After spending a decade in the business world, it was kismet that she found herself in publishing. She previously worked for over two years at a boutique literary agency before starting her own. When not providing individual attention to her clients, Kimberly manages all of the day-to-day operations of the agency. This includes overseeing the management of the foreign, audio and all other subsidiary rights for all the authors in the agency. 

Get the list of 125+ Literary Agents who rep Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, and Crime Fiction

Study the Opening Paragraphs of the Top Authors Writing Thrillers Right Now