Hi, everybody!
Just wanted to drop in and let you know I'll be going out of town this afternoon (Friday) but I'll be back on the forum and answering your questions on Sunday. I hope you all have a terrific weekend, and I look forward to any more questions you might have!
Trish

Have fun, be careful, travelling mercies, *see* you when you get back.

Thanks, Unique!
It was a whirlwind trip but very enjoyable. What a difference a couple of hundred miles can make... from folks in shorts and t-shirts to snow. I see the forum has been quiet. I hope everyone has had an enjoyable and relaxing weekend.

Trish, I'm playing "catch up" with your comments, having jumped in late in the game. You've given some wonderful examples of how you build suspense, set a scene, and develop a character. You mentioned "Building Believable Characters" (I think that was the name of it) as a book you'd recommend. What other books would you recommend to a fiction author who wants to write suspense?

Hi, Vicki!
Thanks for dropping by. I have a long list of books I recommend for mystery/ suspense authors...

Anything by James Frey; he wrote "The Key", "How to Write a Damn Good Novel", and "How to Write a Damn Good Mystery";
"Writing the Thriller" by T. MacDonald Skillman; this explores the various subgenres - technothrillers, legal thrillers, medical thrillers, cozies, etc;
Something in addition to "Building Believable Characters" that I can't live without is the Writer's Digest Flip Dictionary; when you just can't remember that specific word, or you need to know the parts of something, like a gun...
Generic books I think are invaluable for anyone trying to get published are "The Publishing Game" books - How To Find an Agent, How to Publish a Book, and How to Have a Best Seller. At the end of each subtitle is the phrase "is less than 30 days" -- forget that, but they still have great advice.
And of course, I always keep a baby name book close by;
And believe it or not, I use Linda Goodman's Sun Signs, Moon Signs, or Love Signs. I don't really believe in astrology but they are terrific at building personalities in your characters, especially when you have two people in conflict, like a married couple or boss/subordinate, siblings, etc. Lots of great ideas in those books!
I hope this helps... I have literally about 100 books just used for reference here in my office, but those are the main ones I'd recommend.

I'd add David Morrell's book "Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing" Fantastic!

Great suggestion, Dian! In fact, I was fortunate enough to purchase an autographed copy of this book at last year's Book 'Em event. I love it, too. It is easy for writers to become discouraged when doing the book tour... we think of the best selling authors and the lines out the door, when very few authors get that kind of a reception. David Morrell's book gave me some great laughs, especially reading about the book store employees who drew straws to see who would have to buy his book, because they felt sorry for him sitting there all alone... and the entire tour where all of his books had been destroyed by a flood and never made it to the stores... It gives us all the hope that even though we may not be household names now, things can change mighty fast!
He also has some great information about taking books and making them into movies, and the entire process involved in that.

trish, I want to hear more about the son in the story. How did you come up with his plight as the plot thickened? I always found myself feeling sorry for him.

Hi, Dotsie!

Thanks for dropping in and asking about Tim.
I saw Kit as a "reluctant hero", someone who really preferred not to get involved unless she absolutely had no other choice. And the one way to get a woman involved in ANYTHING is to threaten her child. That's how Tim became embroiled in the story.
I enlisted the aid of a 16-year-old boy, the son of some book store owners, to help me with Tim. I'd written several chapters involving Tim and gave them to Robert to tell me if that was truly how a 16-year-old boy would react to a kidnapping, the media frenzy, and all that was happening with his parents. Robert gave me some great information, which I incorporated into the book. It really helped round out Tim's character.
I'm told that Tim evolved more than any of the other characters... he went from being very distant from his parents and frightened because of his ordeal, to rising to the challenge and helping to outwit the kidnappers.
I've been asked more than once to write an entire book from Tim's point of view. I might just do that some day.

Trish, I just ordered my book and left you a message on your phone that sounded like a Southerner on drugs...I'm sorry but I was in a hurry and wanted to make sure I got an autographed copy sent to me. Zat possible?

Hugs, and I can't wait to read it!

JJ