Each year, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, the many intriguing individuals that collectively make up the International Thriller Writers organization meet to determine which among their cohort shall be honored for their works in the past year, and to learn about the up-and-coming writers ready to join their ranks and expand their beloved genre. They are not merely at the conference to fete the deserving, however—there’s a strong educational and craft component to the annual gathering of Thrillerfest, with workshops led by authors and law enforcement agencies, and plenty of opportunities to hone one’s craft with the help of both formal and informal mentors. Ahead of the conference, which kicks off tonight, we caught up with some of nominees for the International Thriller Awards, and asked them to weigh in on the genre’s ever-present concerns. You can see the full list of nominees here; scroll to the bottom of the interview for a full list of those who participated in the round table discussion.
__________________________________
WHAT MAKES A BOOK A “THRILLER”?
__________________________________
Kirk Russell (nominated for Best Paperback Original – Gone Dark): A thriller is a lit fuse that promises bad will only get worse if the protagonist isn’t good enough. The protagonist doesn’t have to be anyone’s hero but needs to be compelling and believable. if not likable at least capable, and the right person for the moment though not necessarily by choice. A thriller needs twists and turns, highs and lows, and time running out. Because it is going to run out and by then, it may be too late.
Helen Smith (nominated for Best Short Story – “Nana”, included in the anthology Killer Women): I write mysteries usually, though I have also written a dystopian thriller. I think the difference between mysteries and thrillers is that a mystery will have a puzzle at the heart of it while a thriller is driven by suspense. There can be elements of each in both, of course. But with a mystery you’re asking how someone got into this mess. With a thriller you’re asking whether they will ever get out of it.
Lou Berney (nominated for Best Hardcover Novel – November Road): A thriller forces you to turn the page because you HAVE to find out—not just WANT to find out—what happens next.
Karin Slaughter (nominated for Best Hardcover Novel – Pieces of Her): Well, I guess what you are really asking is what makes a thriller, thrilling, right? There are so many ways to do it, and I’m often impressed by the techniques that other writers think to use to create that tension. For me, I take my characters and immediately put them into the most danger imaginable, and then have them work their way out of the situation.
Gillian French (nominated for Best Young Adult Novel – The Lies They Tell): I’d classify a thriller as any story that grips the reader with its immediacy, whether from fast-paced action or characters so well drawn that the reader absolutely must know how it all turns out in the end. Nothing more thrilling that a rewarding emotional payoff.
Jennifer Hillier (nominated for Best Hardcover Novel – Jar of Hearts): I think all thrillers need two things: good pacing and high stakes. Which doesn’t mean the story has to move at breakneck speed, or that the survival of the world’s population must rest in the hands of a single person (though both those things work, of course). The story just can’t lag. It’s hard to call a novel a thriller if it moves too slowly, or if the entire middle of the book sags. And there must always be stakes, though they don’t always have to be life and death. Stakes can be smaller and more intimate, and still be thrilling as long as they’re important to the central characters—the fate of a marriage, for instance, or the well-being of a loved one.
T.S. Nichols (nominated for Best E-Book Original Novel – The Memory Detective): It would be a cop-out to say that the essential feature of a “thriller” is that it is thrilling. Lots of books that I would not consider to be thrillers are thrilling (e.g., For Whom the Bell Tolls or The Lord of the Rings). To me, a thriller not only needs to be exciting, but it also must have an air of mystery to it; it needs to have twists, turns and surprises. Finally, a thriller needs to be intensely personal. The key distinction between horror and action novels and a good thriller is that, in a good thriller, the reader needs to feel incredibly close to the characters, so close that they almost feel like they’re in the book themselves.
__________________________________
WHICH BOOKS FIRST MADE YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH THE GENRE?
__________________________________
Jack Carr (nominated for Best First Novel – The Terminal List): David Morrell’s The Brotherhood of the Rose, The Fraternity of the Stone, and The League of Night and Fog. I grew up in the 80s reading David Morrell, Louis L’Amour, Nelson DeMille, Mark Olden, Tom Clancy, J.C. Pollock, and A.J. Quinnell. All of them had a lasting impact on me. They were my early professors in the art of storytelling.
Peter Stone (nominated for Best Young Adult Novel – The Perfect Candidate): The Firm and The Pelican Brief by John Grisham. When I was in elementary school, I stole my older brother’s copy of The Firm and wrote a book report on it. The combination of everyday characters caught in extraordinary circumstances is a hallmark of Grisham’s writing, and I have been a loyal fan ever since that childhood book theft!
Paul Tremblay (nominated for Best Hardcover Novel – The Cabin at the End of the World): I think I read Thomas Harris’ Hannibal novels first, which are wonderful, but Martin Cruz Smith’s Gorky Park and Polar Star remain the thriller gold standards for me. Both novels are so well written, full of the kind of forward momentum that makes the pages turn themselves. I recently re-read or re-experienced Gorky Park via audiobook. One of its marvels is that it evokes its particular setting and time so brilliantly, yet it manages to be universal and timeless in the ineffable way all the best books are.
Karin Slaughter: I was a kid the first time that I read Gone with the Wind, so of course knew nothing of the toxic Lost Cause narrative/hysteria. As a little girl living in a small town where nothing much was expected of women, I was immediately drawn in by the remarkably complex and engaging female anti-hero. And of course, delightfully surprised to find that it had the pacing of a thriller with a violent murder at the center of the story. It changed my ideas about what crime novels could be and informs my writing to this day.
Gillian French: Growing up, the novels of John Bellairs (The House with a Clock in Its Walls, etc.) as well as the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series by Alvin Schwartz and Stephen Gammell proved to me that a story can be aimed at a younger audience but still be thoroughly dark and disturbing. Those authors pulled no punches and pandered to no one; I still love rereading them. As I grew older, the early works of Stephen King inspired me; they stand as testaments to overwhelmingly skilled literary writing still firmly seated within the genre.
Kirk Russell: This will date me. Fail Safe, Red Dragon, Alas Babylon, and Earth Abides, which might not meet the thriller definition but begins with “…and the government of the United States is hereby suspended….”
Jennifer Hillier: Oh wow, so many. I’ve been reading thrillers for a long time, and my first discoveries were straight from my mom’s bookshelves. Jeffery Deaver’s Lincoln Rhymes series. Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series. Thomas Harris’s Hannibal Lecter novels. Later, Chelsea Cain’s Archie Sheridan/Gretchen Lowell series, and Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter books.
Ellison Cooper (nominated for Best First Novel – Caged): Not long after I turned sixteen, I informed my local librarian that I was done reading books for kids and asked what she would recommend if I wanted something ‘exciting.’ I’m not sure what the hell she was thinking, but her suggestions were Silence of the Lambs, The Eight (by Katherine Neville), and The Hunt for Red October. I took all three home, read all three books over the next two days and, needless to say, never looked back.
__________________________________
WHAT’S THE KEY IN KEEPING A LONG-RUNNING SERIES FRESH AND INTERESTING?
__________________________________
Jack Carr: I think a likable character is of vital importance. This was something at the forefront of my mind as I created James Reece, the protagonist of The Terminal List and True Believer. I wanted to create someone the reader would want to have a beer with but who could flip a switch and use the skills he’d acquired in close to two decades at war with lethal efficiency.
Helen Smith: You have to be fascinated by the characters and want to spend time with them. And even when you know them well enough to predict how they would react in any given situation, you need to be surprised by them sometimes, too. I think it helps if they can say or do things that you (as writer or reader) would never say or do. It’s wonderful to be able to adopt a character as an alter ego. When that happens, being a writer feels like being a superhero.
Karin Slaughter: I think readers care about a series when they feel like the characters are real people they know. When you are reading the story, you are there with the characters, seeing their flaws, their insecurities, their quirks. It feels very intimate. And, in order to keep that feeling there has to be a constant evolution to the characters understanding of themselves in the world.
Kirk Russell: Returning characters must grow and evolve. Prior experiences have changed them and that becomes evident in the current novel as a reality and not just lip service to prior novels. Those don’t need to be night and day changes but they have to feel real.
Ellison Cooper: Considering that I just finished the third book in my series, I’m still figuring this out as a writer. I will say that I absolutely love my characters. Every time someone asks who my favorite character is, I have no idea what to say because I enjoy writing them all. Based on the reviews for my first two books, I think that genuine enjoyment translates to the reader. I hope that, as long as I can’t wait to write the next book in the series (because I’m excited about the concept and look forward to hanging out with my characters), then readers will also look forward to spending more time in that world. Also, lots of explosions.
__________________________________
WHICH CLASSIC BOOK SHOULD MORE PEOPLE REALIZE IS ACTUALLY A THRILLER?
__________________________________
Jack Carr: The Bible certainly has stories that fit the thriller construct.
Karin Slaughter: On first blush many people don’t consider To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, a crime novel. They think of it as classic literature (or a book they were forced to read in high school). But think about it again. The entire story revolves around whether or not Tom Robinson is guilty of raping Mayelle Ewell. The crime is right at the very heart of the novel and drives not only the action, but also every single character’s motivation. From a writing perspective, it reminds me that there are many different angles from which to tell a story. In Lee’s case, she uses the POV of a child to tell a very dark and controversial story, which somehow allows the reader to enter the story in a softer way. I admire this book and it has a permanent spot on my shelf.
Lou Berney: I think Homer’s Odyssey is the first great thriller. You’ve got a main character on the run from a ruthless and powerful antagonist (a god!), lots of hair-raising obstacles, and a ticking clock since Penelope won’t be able to hold off the suitors back home much longer.
Paul Tremblay: Watership Down by Richard Adams. Granted, the pace of the novel isn’t typical to what is considered a thriller. But I like to imagine genres as wide, welcoming, with porous, overlapping borders. Anyway, Watership Down has action, suspense, political intrigue, espionage, a climatic battle between hero(s) and villain. Best of all, while the good rabbits (did I mention almost all the characters are rabbits?) win in the end, they do not emerge unscathed or unchanged. There isn’t a simple restoration of the status quo and happily ever after, which is a large reason why the novel and fabulous 1978 film adaption are enduring classics.
T.S. Nichols: To Kill a Mockingbird isn’t just a book that more people should realize is a thriller, it is multiple amazing thrillers all wrapped into one. It’s a legal thriller, a political thriller and a coming of age thriller. Boo Radley is one of the great red herring thriller characters of all time.
__________________________________
WHAT’S THE KEY TO BUILDING SUSPENSE AND CREATING TENSION?
__________________________________
Jack Carr: Each chapter has to be as good as the first. I love reading well crafted hints that make me think something I just read might become important later on. The last sentence in each chapter has to be thoughtful, powerful and intriguing. The reader has to want to start the next chapter as soon as they are done with the last.
Jane Harper (nominated for Best Paperback Original – The Lost Man): For me, planning is key. I work out the base storyline, so I know exactly whodunnit and why, then I start to add layers and red herrings. I think carefully about each chapter—what it will add to the story, what the reader will learn and what will remain concealed, how the chapter will start in order to draw the reader in immediately, and how it will end so they’re left wanting to turn the page. It’s about weaving in lots of threads that you can pull to create suspense at different moments, and I plan intensely to get that right.
Gillian French: For me, as a reader, the key is strong characterization and crackling, authentic dialogue. As a writer, I think that invading the reader’s senses from every receptor—sight, smell, touch—seems to infuse a suspenseful moment with intensity. If the stars have aligned and your reader is also invested in the fate of your protagonist and supporting cast, then you’ve got all the necessary elements to keep those pages flying.
“As a writer, I think that invading the reader’s senses from every receptor—sight, smell, touch—seems to infuse a suspenseful moment with intensity.” – Gillian French
Paul Tremblay: One of the keys is to hang the story on the scaffolding of character. The reader doesn’t need to like the characters but they have to care about what happens to them, or want to know what will happen to them.
Have those real, complex characters working in tandem with Hitchcock’s famous “ticking bomb under a table” scenario/description of suspense. I typically let my readers know that something big/awful is going to happen well before it happens, but I don’t telegraph how it’s going to happen. Hopefully the anticipation of the event builds the suspense. If the characters are interesting enough, you’ll have suspense after too, as the consequences of the aftermath typically lead to, well, more bombs under tables.
Karen Cleveland (nominated for Best First Novel – Need to Know): I think that scenes are more interesting to read when they’re interesting to write. When I have a hard time pulling myself away from the computer screen, I feel like I’m on to something. But if I get bored with what I’m writing, I take that as a sign it’s time to head in a different direction!
Lou Berney: For me, as writer and reader, what matters most are characters worth caring about. A novel can have meticulously-designed twists, but they won’t do much for me if I’m not invested in the character getting twisted around.
Peter Stone: Relatability. I think tension and suspense are most impactful when they reflect stressful moments that we have all been through. Running away from a threatening adversary is intense. But what makes it worse? Running away from an enemy while having to appear calm and going through a security checkpoint with a faulty metal detector that detains you minute after excruciating minute—even as the threat gets closer and closer.
T.S. Nichols: There are lots of ways to build suspense and create tension. Most are character and plot driven. The easiest way to build suspense and create tension is to make your readers fall in love a character and then place them in precarious situations. However, an author can also use their writing style to build suspense and create tension in more subliminal ways. I’ve always found that a great way to do this is to play with the reader’s reading pace. As the suspense and tension build, I often try to progressively use shorter sentences and shorter words so that, even without the reader realizing it, they pace increase with, hopefully, their heart rate.
__________________________________
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MOST PRESSING ISSUES FACING THRILLER WRITERS TODAY?
__________________________________
Jack Carr: Social media can be confusing, especially for those of us who did not grow up with it; if you should use it, how you should use it, what you should post, when you should post, what you should share and how you should share it, are questions that can be quite daunting. I am introverted by nature so sharing so publicly is not something that comes naturally to me. I made the decision to explore the medium and learn the options associated with different platforms as a way to connect with readers. I do enjoy being able to thank everyone who reaches out as they are the reason The Terminal List has been such a success. Also, most of us do this because we love to write. I never thought about the business side of things; marketing, agents, contracts, branding, advertising, social platforms, or interviews. Navigating everything that isn’t writing was a surprise as I never put an ounce of thought into it until I had a book deal and learned that being an author has demands associated separate from sitting down to write.
John Marrs (nominated for Best Paperback Original – The Good Samaritan): Originality, as thrillers live in a very crowded market. Trying to come up with that one angle, character or storyline that sets you apart from the rest is the biggest challenge. But when you hit upon it and it’s later reflected by a positive response from readers, it’s a wonderful feeling.
Kirk Russell: Netflix, Amazon, and others are now moving stories along faster, with more flashbacks and flash forwards, and shorter episodes. This is both great and challenging for thriller writers. Story has migrated to these platforms and it might be time for thriller writers to reinvent the genre.
__________________________________
SHOULD THRILLERS TACKLE REAL-LIFE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ISSUES, OR SHOULD THEY EXIST AS AN ESCAPE FROM THOSE VERY CONCERNS?
__________________________________
Jack Carr: I think thrillers can explore whatever the author thinks will make for an intriguing read. All topics and the different perspectives surrounding those subjects can be explored through the medium of the fictional narrative.
Karen Cleveland: Both! I love that there’s a mix of thrillers out there. Sometimes I’m in the mood to read about social and political issues, and sometimes I just want to avoid them entirely. It’s nice to have a selection of great thrillers to choose from either way.
“Thrillers can tackle real-life issues but can’t answer them. Plenty of thrillers ride with the zeitgeist and draw on collective fears. Yet one of the things they’re also best at is giving us a sense that despite the odds it can come out right.” – Kirk Russell
T.S. Nichols: I don’t believe in pure escapism. The best genre books, thrillers especially because they are so personal in nature, must tackle real-life social and political issues but should do so in a manner that doesn’t ruin all the fun. I simply can’t imagine even wanting to read (or write) a book that didn’t tackle real-life issues in some way. The Memory Detective deals with the issues of wealth and class in a way that I hope stays with readers after they’ve finished reading it, but I also hope that they can simply enjoy the roller coaster ride while they’re on it. To paraphrase Warren Zeon, “I’ll escape when I’m dead.”
Kirk Russell: Thrillers can tackle real-life issues but can’t answer them. Plenty of thrillers ride with the zeitgeist and draw on collective fears. Yet one of the things they’re also best at is giving us a sense that despite the odds it can come out right.
__________________________________
ARE ALL THRILLERS INHERENTLY POLITICAL?
__________________________________
Jack Carr: Not necessarily in the sense that politics are right or left, liberal or conservative, but in the sense that all relationships are “political.”
Ellison Cooper: All fiction is political. Even the most cozy mystery, alien science fiction, or abstract literary novel includes assumptions about social values and relationships. I’m an anthropologist which means that I don’t believe it’s possible to extricate those assumptions from larger politics. When we view a book as non-political, all that means is that the politics of that book agree closely enough with our own that we can ignore the underlying assumptions being presented. That said, I do think it’s possible for thrillers to overtly engage with political issues more or less directly.
__________________________________
WHICH IS HARDER TO WRITE, SEX OR VIOLENCE?
__________________________________
Paul Tremblay: Both are difficult to write as both can (and have) been treated so poorly by so many. It depends on the story you’re trying to write, and thus far I’ve written smaller cast kinds of novels, so when violence happens it’s usually quite personal (the act occurring among characters the reader will know well). I try to treat the violence in a way that respects the experience of the victim, the witnesses, and even the perpetrator. None of them will go unchanged by the act.
For me, sex is harder to write. So much so I usually avoid it or have it happen off page. Can I admit to a deep-seated fear of appearing on one of the many ‘bad sex writing’ lists?
John Marrs: For me, it’s sex scenes which is why I barely scratch the surface if I’m writing a scene that requires such a moment. If handled incorrectly, a jarring sex scene can distract your reader from the story or the point you are trying to make. Or worse, it can make them laugh. Plus I just find violence easier to write than sex. Which I guess is kind of worrying….
T.S. Nichols: Sex is far harder to write than violence. Nothing is harder to write than a good sex scene because one person’s titillation is another person’s cheese and a third person’s pornography. They solution that I’ve found is simply to make sure that the sex has a character-driven purpose. It needs to tell the reader something. Each of the sex scenes in The Memory Detective serve a specific purpose within the story. They aren’t simply there to titillate (though I hope that they do that as well). All that being said, even poorly written sex scenes are often fun to read.
__________________________________
WHAT’S THE QUESTION YOU WISH YOU WERE ASKED MORE?
__________________________________
Helen Smith: Where can I buy your books?
Karin Slaughter: “How can someone so youthful be working on their 20th book. Was your first book published when you were 10?”
Jane Harper: I think anything that gives aspiring writers a true sense of the work that’s involved in writing a book. Budding authors are often very hard on themselves, and it’s such a shame when people give up almost before they start. Writing is a skill, and like every other skill, you can improve with practice and consistency. It’s absolutely okay to have to work at it. Your first draft is never going to be your best draft. You don’t necessarily lack talent or creativity, maybe you just need to write a few more drafts!
__________________________________
WHAT IS SOME WRITING ADVICE YOU’D LIKE TO PASS ALONG TO THOSE WHO ARE JUST STARTING OUT IN THE THRILLER BIZ?
__________________________________
Jack Carr: I’ll pass along what Brad Thor told me the first time we spoke. (1) Make every chapter as good as the first. (2) Write it for your bedside table. (3) The only difference between a published author and an unpublished author is that the published author never quit.
Helen Smith: Just keep going. You can do it!
Jane Harper: Write a book that you would enjoy reading yourself. Create a story that interests you, develop a main character that you believe in and want to follow, have some fun with a setting that inspires you. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed by the task ahead of you, so focus on the basics. Write something that you feel you would pick up in a bookshop and enjoy, and hopefully other people will too.
“The only difference between a published author and an unpublished author is that the published author never quit.”—Jack Carr
John Marrs: First and foremost, decide why you want to write a book. Is it just for your own satisfaction, or do you want a lot of people to read it? If it’s the latter, then choose a genre you are familiar with, research what kind of books are popular right now, and write with that audience in mind. Thrillers are one of – if not the – most popular genre of novels, so there is much competition. Think about how to make your story unique, how to make it stand above everyone else’s and how you might offer the reader something they can’t get anywhere else other than from you.
Karen Cleveland: Write whenever you can! I think it can sometimes feel daunting to find the time to write a novel, but every little bit counts. I wrote Need to Know during maternity leave with my second child— mostly in short bursts when the baby was napping and my older child was at preschool, or after they’d both gone to bed at night. You can’t always wait for the perfect time and perfect conditions to write!
Peter Stone: Write when you’re inspired (rare and special from my experience), but more importantly: it’s okay to write when you’re not inspired. Write when it’s not convenient (it rarely will be), when you don’t want to (amazing how the distractions pile up!), and when you think you’ve run out of words (they’ll come back, don’t worry). Every time I write feels like taking a leap of faith – and almost every time there is a stepping stone to land on. Words become sentences, which become pages – and what seemed scary before writing that first word turns into something magical and thrilling.
Jennifer Hillier: Most of what happens in publishing, you can’t control. So when you’re dealing with an agent rejection, or a pass from a publisher, or a bad review, try to remember the most important thing you can control: your writing. Always be working on your craft. Always be working on the next book. It’s where all your magic lies, and it’s always the most valuable thing you have to offer. Fiercely protect your writing time. When it’s time to write, write. Turn off the TV, shut the door, go to the coffee shop, whatever you need to do. And for the love of all that’s holy, get off Twitter and everything else that might not serve your creative process.
Ellison Cooper: Here’s my advice for any writer starting out:
- Be nice to everyone along the way. Publishing is a small world!
- Find a good community of writers. This took me a while but it made all the difference.
- Trust your instincts but also keep learning. Listen to feedback and interrogate your own perspective on things.
- Find your own process. Mess around. Take chances. Change things up. See what works best for you even if it’s totally weird.
- Be true to yourself in your writing. What is it you want to say? Who are you and what is your story to tell?
- Work your ass off and expect to fail. A lot. Failure is good because it helps you get better. Say that over and over to yourself as your ego is bruised by the many, many rejections you will receive.
- Believe in yourself and have fun! The process of getting published is a rough one so a (perhaps delusional) belief in your own future success is essential.
T.S. Nichols: It’s a bit of a cliché but the publishing business is a tough business and there are no guarantees of commercial success, therefore, write the books that you would want to read that nobody else has written. If you follow that advice, you’ll be successful no matter how many books you ultimately sell.
__________________________________
WHAT’S ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND?
__________________________________
Jack Carr: An ARC of Brad Thor’s Backlash is sitting right here but I have to wait until I am done with the rough draft of my third novel before I dive in.
Gillian French: I tend to go back and forth between dark adult literature and young adult/middle grade: I’m currently reading The Phantom Killer: Unlocking the Mystery of the Texarkana Serial Murders by James Presley and The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor. Both are fantastic.
Paul Tremblay: I am currently reading Blake Crouch’s Recursion, an absorbing, fun/frightening tech thriller. I just finished Riots I Have Known by Ryan Chapman and had an early look at the wonderful Sarah Langan’s new novel. Aside from a stack of ARCs, I’m looking forward to reading Voices of Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich and Orange World by Karen Russell.
Helen Smith: The Poison Garden by Alex Marwood.
John Marrs: I usually have three books on the go at any one time. Last night, I finished Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce, which I thoroughly recommend. A couple of days ago, I started The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley and when I walk the dog, I always have an audiobook at the ready to listen to. This month’s choice is Blake Crouch’s Recursion. What I wouldn’t do just to have a tiny piece of that writer’s incredible imagination.
Karen Cleveland: Right now I’m reading Tell Me Everything by Cambria Brockman (which is excellent!). And I’m also listening to my oldest child read the Harry Potter series—we’re on the fourth book, and I love seeing his excitement at these magical stories.
Peter Stone: The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley. Contemporary Agatha Christie with realistic characters, claustrophobic atmosphere, and plot twists that are both astonishing and earned.
Jennifer Hillier: I just finished Gretchen by Shannon Kirk, Here To Stay by Mark Edwards, and Lock Every Door by Riley Sager – all fantastic. I’m about to start an ARC of L.C. Shaw’s The Network, which I’m looking forward to (Shaw is one half of the powerhouse sister author duo Liv Constantine). In between thrillers, I’ve been reading Roxane’s Gay Difficult Women. I love Gay’s writing, and this book of essays is both painful and mesmerizing.
__________________________________
WHAT’S THE MOST BIZARRE PIECE OF RESEARCH YOU EVER DID?
__________________________________
Jack Carr: I’m about to head to the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia to research a part of book 3. Not necessarily bizarre, but certainly interesting.
Jane Harper: For my third novel, The Lost Man, I went on a 600-mile road trip across the Australian outback with a retired police officer called Neale McShane. Neale had lived and worked in a tiny outback town for more than a decade, single-handedly policing an area the size of England. He generously agreed to drive me across the desert to visit this town, and answer all my questions along the way. It was an eye-opening journey across a very isolated part of Australia. We were on the road for 11 hours, and in that whole time only saw 15 other cars.
John Marrs: I once had my husband stand at the top of the staircase in our house and pretend to fall down them. It was for a character I was writing who was tumbling down a set and I needed to know which limbs might hit the bannisters first, where his head would be, how he might try and protect himself, his landing position, etcetera. We decided to stop after the final attempt in which he lost his footing and almost fell for real. My character had been stabbed, but I didn’t ask my husband to go that far.
Peter Stone: The most bizarre research I ever did was when I didn’t think I was doing research at all. The summer after I graduated from high school, I moved from my rural hometown to Washington, D.C., where I did an internship for my congressman, Gary Condit. Soon after, he was embroiled in the scandalous murder of staffer Chandra Levy. The sights and smells, excitement and disillusionment—the constant exposure to new things—all left a huge impression on me. Those indelible memories were the basis for my debut novel The Perfect Candidate.
Jennifer Hillier: I once asked an inmate at Folsom State Prison to photograph (with the cell phone he wasn’t supposed to have) his commissary order form, so I could see what options there were for… snacks. Hey now, it’s often the little things that make a story realistic.
Ellison Cooper: I’ve done so much fun research it’s difficult for me to choose. I once spent many months interviewing sex workers in strip clubs and a dominatrix dungeon. I’ve also lived in a tent in the jungles of Belize while scouting for lost Maya ruins. Then I spent a year in London delving into old letters in the archives at the British Library and Public Records Office. For my latest book, my research was much less exciting (but no less fun) as I spent a week in my garage with a pile of old transistor radios, a soldering iron, and a few dozen online videos trying to figure out if it is possible to turn a radio into a transmitter (turns out, it is!).
__________________________________
Lou Berney (nominated for Best Hardcover Novel – November Road)
Jack Carr (nominated for Best First Novel – The Terminal List)
Ellison Cooper (nominated for Best First Novel – Caged)
Karen Cleveland (nominated for Best First Novel – Need to Know)
Gillian French (nominated for Best Young Adult Novel – The Lies They Tell)
Jane Harper (nominated for Best Paperback Original – The Lost Man)
Jennifer Hillier (nominated for Best Hardcover Novel – Jar of Hearts)
John Marrs (nominated for Best Paperback Original – The Good Samaritan)
T.S. Nichols (nominated for Best E-Book Original Novel – The Memory Detective)
Kirk Russell (nominated for Best Paperback Original – Gone Dark)
Helen Smith (nominated for Best Short Story – “Nana”, included in the anthology Killer Women)
Karin Slaughter (nominated for Best Hardcover Novel – Pieces of Her)
Peter Stone (nominated for Best Young Adult Novel – The Perfect Candidate)
Paul Tremblay (nominated for Best Hardcover Novel – The Cabin at the End of the World)
