The Ten Premises of Storytelling     We are all storytellers.  We live in a sea of stories—gossip, news articles, anecdotes, parables, jokes, fairy tales, and, of course, books.   Having published many books and hoping to write a few more, I have been studying what role storytelling plays in our lives.  Also, teaching writing […]

The big lesson I learned teaching creative writing Recently I was asked by a friend if I’d teach a corporate creative writing class for her employer. Teaching isn’t something I do. The thought of standing up in front of a room and speaking brought me out into a cold sweat but it was exactly that […]

You can never have too much research Hi all, happy to be back here and chatting with you. I’m working on a little project where I’m trying to come up with great ideas about research. I’ve decided that it’s quite a beast of a project so I’m narrowing it down a bit. Here are the […]

  What I learned about writing by traveling the world   I was sitting in the back of a minibus in Istanbul recently and started thinking about how too often a tourist only sees the shiny facade presented to them. I love to travel and have not only done so extensively, but have also lived […]

  Does it take a tribe to write a book?   There are plenty of writers who will tell you this job is perfect for the introvert and while that is mostly true I’ve learned it takes a tribe to write, polish, and publish a book. I’m not just talking about the editors and publishers—though […]

The big lesson I learned teaching creative writing Recently I was asked by a friend if I’d teach a corporate creative writing class for her employer. Teaching isn’t something I do. The thought of standing up in front of a room and speaking brought me out into a cold sweat but it was exactly that […]

Top 10 Rules About the CIA Every Spy Novel Writer Must Know Stories of men and women operating in the shadows from each corner of the world, while the rest of us mere mortals go on about our lives, have captured our imagination and helped build a multi-billion book and movie industry. Year after year, […]

5 Things to Know About Writing as a Business   Commercial publishing is a business.  You can be a wonderful person who is kind to animals and always pays your bills on time, and still not get any traction.  Don’t take it personally. Persevere. There are writers who have great success by following exactly none […]

THE TEN BEST WAYS TO FIND AND DEVELOP STORY IDEAS FOR MYSTERIES   Let me start with a disclaimer. None of these methods are full proof. All I can really say is that they work for me. And in my decades long career as a working, professional writer, I have found out, either by discussions […]

The Art of Collaboration As we prepare for the release of our tenth book together, we realize that, by necessity, we’ve learned a lot about the art of collaboration.  Although we’d each been writing individually for over twenty years before embarking on this new chapter of our careers, nothing quite prepared us for the give-and-take […]

Writing Tips: 5 Tips for Building a Page-Turner   Recently I was a panelist at a conference for writers and readers. The four authors on stage were supposed to share, with a hotel conference room full of fans and aspiring writers, tips for keeping readers turning the pages. How does an author construct a plot […]