When I was writing my feminist noir debut novel, The Lady Upstairs, I turned to other noir novels (and films!) for inspiration on crafting a character that I wanted to be both a throwback to the genre I love and also, her own creation. I
When I set out to write my latest thriller A WOMAN ALONE, I found myself facing a unique challenge. I was absolutely stoked about the premise: a futuristic SmartHome that may or may not have killed its previous inhabitants. But it also meant that I had to incorporate the elements of sci-fi into my psychological suspense
Normally thought of as a fly-over state, my home state of Iowa has been a wonderful place to grow up and then raise our three children. I love it so much that all of my novels are set here and include a mix of real and fictionalized Iowa locales. In celebration of...
Trying to write an original serial killer story is a nightmare. Thomas Harris’s novels of the eighties are a touchstone for this thriller sub-genre, and hundreds of authors have attempted to replicate his gothic formula of gruesome murders by deviant,...
When I’m looking for writing inspiration, first and foremost I’ll turn to my bookshelf. But second? I’ll turn to my television. Movies and prose fiction are close relatives, in my opinion, and there’s much that writers can learn from their silver-screen...
