By Matt Witten. Here I was, two thirds of the way through the first draft of my mystery thriller Killer Story, and doubt held me in its iron grip. Had I chosen the wrong murderer?
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Author: Emilya Naymark
Emilya Naymark is the author of the novels Hide in Place Behind the Lie.
Her short stories appear in A Stranger Comes to Town, edited by Michael Koryta, Secrets in the Water, After Midnight: Tales from the Graveyard Shift, River River Journal, Snowbound: Best New England Crime Stories 2017, and 1+30: THE BEST OF MYSTORY.
She lives and writes in the Hudson Valley
To Launch a Sequel
And then my publisher said something that took me completely off guard, “When can we expect the sequel?”
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My 5 Favorite Books of 2022
Yes, I’m making lists. Aren’t we all? I read a lot this year, as I always do. Most of the books I read were digital and at least half of everything I consumed was an audio book. Not all were released in 2022. These are just the ones that made my life better because they exist.
So here, in no specific order, are 5 books I loved the most:
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Last day of NaNoWriMo
Who Wrote a Novel This Month? According to various statistics, between 350,000 and 450,000 writers banged out a draft for NaNoWriMo.
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Why Readers Care: The Mystery of a Flawed Yet Redeemable Character
Why do readers fall in love with flawed characters? Is there something about the ones readers love that is a common denominator?
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The Mystery of Desire
Why character motivations can be more important than plot, and how desire drives both. Read on for a handy chart to help if you’re stuck.
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Make Them Suffer
It is a truth universally acknowledged that characters in novels, especially in mysteries, thrillers, crime and horror MUST SUFFER. I[…]
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The Physical Act of Writing
Writing can be exorbitantly taxing on the body. From magnetic keyboards to stretching, there are ways to alleviate the aches and pains that accompany regular hours spent at a desk. Read on to find out how.
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Why Writing is Like Acting
The key to writing enduring stories is to create real characters who feel real emotions in real situations–that you’ve imagined. Next time you’re not sure how to write a scene from the inside out, try one of these 5 acting exercises and get in character.
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A Genre by Any Other Name
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m constantly having to look up genre conventions. Traditional mystery? High concept? Thriller? Suspense? Domestic Suspense? Cozy? We’re told we need to stick to the rules of our genre, and read widely in it so we know what to do. But there are so many sub genres! I’m ALWAYS getting lost.
A Handy, and Hopefully Less Mysterious, List
(this is not inclusive, and I’m sure I missed some. But I tried)
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