Crime & Thriller stars

Crime and Thriller Writing is my how-to book—or, about half mine. Crime-and-Thriller-WritingCrime-and-Thriller-Writing9781472523938_p0_v1_s300x

(And it’s now available as an ebook.) I co-wrote this exploration of the mysteries of crime writing with Michelle Spring, who unlike me (an Organic Writer) is an Organized Writer down to her bones. But one of the best parts of the book is the series of essays from twenty-six other fabulous, bestselling crime & thriller writers. Such as the inimitable Lee Child, whose essay on Thrillers as the original form of storytelling I adored so much, I want to see the phrase “the boat on which other genres ride” emblazoned on a banner to fly proudly over BoucherCon and the ITW conference.

… as a thriller writer, I smile to myself when critics imply that popular fiction is a recent and trashy invention. No, I think, so-called literature is the recent invention. And it was invented only because my story-telling ancestors helped the species stick around long enough to invent it. Thriller fiction is the genre. The original form, the essential form, the vital form, the boat on which other genres ride like barnacles. That’s why readers enjoy it so much.

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Lee Child. I mean honestly, would you argue with this man?

Crime and Thriller Writing, by Michelle Spring and Laurie R. King, in paperback (which I’ll sign, if you like, at Bookshop Santa Cruz) or from Barnes & Noble/Nook, or from Amazon/Kindle.

Twenty-eight experts for the price of one.

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