As I dive more fully into my next book, I savor the chance to do more research. Y’all have no idea how much fun it can be to write a book. Ride-alongs with police, going out to the country to shoot an AK-47, figuring out just what it feels like to come back from a coma. While most authors tend to base our work in … Continue reading Imagination and research
“I’ll be so annoyed if our speaker talks about ‘voice,’” said a writer-friend. Sort of amazed me. At the same time, I understand how frustrating hearing about voice can be. It’s like saying a romantic interest has that certain je ne sais quoi. Turn on a radio. If you’re lucky, an old-school dj will be playing a rockin’ tune. If you’ve heard that artist before, … Continue reading On Voice
Sticky post
Writing for me boils down to one thing: passion, the drive to tell my stories. To stay authentic, to keep being myself, that passion has to drive all my writing decisions. With my boys gone, I’m devoting most of my free time to writing–and savoring every moment of living in this story world. Perhaps not being able to write for a while made me appreciate … Continue reading A Passion for Story
Crime, contacts . . . CRAFT! Killer Nashville was amazing. Above, see the featured image with Max Allan Collins, the master writer behind Road to Perdition and about a million other projects, plus now Quarry. The workshops were just . . . well—like POISONS, State Department protocols, Noir, Police Procedures, Contracts and Humorous Thrillers. Because you NEED humor when you figure out what this contract … Continue reading Unreal
Always curious about new ways of seeing, I’ve been exploring 3D shadows in my next book. I used to experience them in downtown Houston between skyscrapers at night. They most often appeared like the image above (look past the lights into the shadows). Sometimes they seemed to suspend spectral shapes in midair. More recently I enjoyed them in the Chihuly exhibit at the Oklahoma City … Continue reading In Faceted Shadows
Lucie Smoker 