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On the blog tour for my new thriller, She Knew Too Much, a host asked me why I write crime fiction. My usual answer is, “because that’s what I read.” This time I dug a little deeper. It may be why you read it too. Read more here: vweisfeld.com?p=11781
Why I Write Crime Fiction
The best thing about writing crime fiction (mysteries and thrillers) is the endless font of ideas. Thieves are at work (the Louvre!), scams are abundant, surveillance is creepy, shenanigans run ram…
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I've written before about Genie Clarke, protagonist in my new thriller She Knew Too Much. So I knew how she'd react when threatened. Angry! But the Roman police detective was new, and I modeled him on a college crush. I could absolutely picture him--appearance, worldview, even his voice.
When you're reading a suspenseful novel, do you ever wonder, "who's in charge?" Do heros stumble into peril on their own? At least a bit? Maybe because that's just the crazy kind of thing they would do!? Here are my thoughts: guatemalapaula.blogspot.com. (Register for an Amazon gift card, too!)
Oliver Harmon, the talkative hero in this short story, had to be believable and interesting. And, of course, he has plenty of dialog! It was a rehearsal for his small but vital role in my new thriller She Knew Too Much. vweisfeld.com?p=11763
Meet Oliver Harmon . . .
Oliver Harmon, a secondary character in my new Italy-based thriller She Knew Too Much, was particularly fun to write. A well-meaning Anglican priest, he’s vitally important in the first chapter whe…
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Oliver Harmon, the talkative hero in this short story, had to be believable and interesting. And, of course, he has plenty of dialog! It was a rehearsal for his small but vital role in my new thriller She Knew Too Much. vweisfeld.com?p=11763
Meet Oliver Harmon . . .
Oliver Harmon, a secondary character in my new Italy-based thriller She Knew Too Much, was particularly fun to write. A well-meaning Anglican priest, he’s vitally important in the first chapter whe…
vweisfeld.com
Meet Father Nunzio Maratea Among characters in my engaging new novel, She Knew Too Much, is Father Nunzio Maratea, a priest from rural south Italy mistakenly called to Rome to serve in a coveted post that requires experience and political savvy. Alas, he has neither.
Authors of spy thrillers have their work cut out for them—creating plausible plots in an era of near-universal electronic surveillance and cameras, facial recognition and gait analysis. Yet, they keep turning out riveting stories. Some of the best listed. vweisfeld.com?p=11704
It’s Not Easy Being a Spy
While some terrific espionage thrillers have been written in the last couple of years (see list below), spying in the 21st c. is not what it once was. First of all, it’s less Agents Running in the …
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When the worst moments of your life become fodder for a TV true-crime drama, yes, there’s bound to be trouble. The disappearance of Francie Farrow devastated three families. Now it’s all coming back. Lori Roy’s The Final Episode: a truly suspenseful page-turner. vweisfeld.com?p=11699
The Final Episode by Lori Roy
I’ve missed a few posts lately because I’ve been creating an index for my family history. How detailed? What’s most helpful? These are questions I don’t have the answers to. Having studied family h…
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When the worst moments of your life become fodder for a TV true-crime drama, yes, there’s bound to be trouble. The disappearance of Francie Farrow devastated three families. Now it’s all coming back. Lori Roy’s The Final Episode: a truly suspenseful page-turner. vweisfeld.com?p=11699
The Final Episode by Lori Roy
I’ve missed a few posts lately because I’ve been creating an index for my family history. How detailed? What’s most helpful? These are questions I don’t have the answers to. Having studied family h…
vweisfeld.com
If you carry an idea to its possible endpoint, you end up with situations like those Portland police encounter in this crime story for our times. But the murderer isn’t the only one with problems; the detectives face moral quandaries of their own. Excellent, timely story. vweisfeld.com?p=11686
A Bag Full of Stones – by A. Molotkov
In one of those crime stories that you hope isn’t based on real-life events, but expect it could be, A Molotkov’s new novel explores what might happen when a person whose mental faculties are teete…
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Love Golden Age detective stories? Then George Street Playhouse’s current production, An Old-Fashioned Family Murder, is for you! Starring Sally Struthers, who’s still involved in doings that are All in the Family. vweisfeld.com?p=11665 #theater #mystery
On Stage: An Old-Fashioned Family Murder
An Old-Fashioned Family Murder, which premiered last Friday night at George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick, N.J., is first-rate old-fashioned fun! This new comedy-mystery, written by Joe DiPietro …
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Writers hook readers by their style. Everyone has one, for better or worse. But writers don’t do all of the work in matters like recognizing irony or understanding emotion; readers are participants in the experience too. vweisfeld.com?p=11660 #writing #writingfiction
Every Word’s a Choice – Part 9 – Have Some Style
To have a lasting impact on readers, your writing has to have some style. Style comes from your characters and their actions, the descriptions and dialog, that make them uniquely “yours.” It comes …
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An investigative reporter wanders very much into trouble when he tries to uncover a murderer. Was it because of his questions about a sketchy resort? His affair with the dead man’s wife? A literary thriller. @DominicStansberry vweisfeld.com?p=11653 #crimefiction #thriller
The Lizard by Dominic Stansberry
Domenic Stansberry’s new noir mystery takes it slow, unraveling in beautiful prose the confounding situation its protagonist, political ghostwriter SE Reynolds. Stansberry—who hasn’t published a no…
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If you’re going to feel sorry for a part of speech, adverbs would be it. They lend themselves to criticism and bad puns, and some just don’t know their place. vweisfeld.com?p=11644 #writing #crimewriter
Every Word’s a Choice – Part 8: Adverbs – Do you Need Them?
“Adverbs are the tool of the lazy writer.” Mark Twain “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” Stephen King The l…
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The new movie One Battle After Another is controversial, and viewers argue about what it “means,” but it’s solid entertainment. Draw your own conclusions. One thing’s for sure: It won’t leave you indifferent! Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and Benicio del Toro are great! vweisfeld.com?p=11648
Weekend Movie Pick: One Battle After Another
Even if this movie weren’t considered darn good, and it is, it’s almost worth it to see a filmmaker—in this case Paul Thomas Anderson—try to shoehorn a Thomas Pynchon novel into a couple of hours. …
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TV writers-turned-authors know how to tell an exciting story—no commercial breaks, either, in the novel format! In this one, a true-crime showrunner finds that a murder 20 years before was just the beginning. vweisfeld.com?p=11639
The Murder Show by Matt Goldman
Author Matt Goldman is part of that tribe of television writers who have made a successful jump into print. These authors have in common their ability to establish steadily rising action with no lu…
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Two Presidents who fought for their country honored via a historic battlefield and, by contrast, a bucolic farm. More tidbits of history punctuating our family driving trips! vweisfeld.com?p=11617
On the Trail of US Presidents
In September, we took one of our Midwest driving trips, visited many (23) friends and family along the way, and made several new tourist stops. These included two sites established to commemorate U…
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“John ate the chicken.” The conventional order of sentence parts is so ingrained we don’t even notice it—until it goes wrong: “The chicken ate John.” But what about a string of adjectives to describe this truck? Do you know the rule for ordering them? Check it out! vweisfeld.com?p=11612
Every Word’s a Choice — Part 7 — Word Order
A famous story about James Joyce recounts how, after a day’s work, he told a friend he’d produced two sentences. The friend asked, “You’ve been seeking the right words?”“No,” replied Joyce, “I have…
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Take a break from angsty psychological thrillers and enjoy the thrill of the chase in this clever genre mashup from Nee and Rozan. vweisfeld.com?p=11601
The Railway Conspiracy by John Shen Yen Nee and SJ Rozan
Second in this talented team’s genre mashup, The Railway Conspiracy builds on the characters introduced in last year’s The Murder of Mr. Ma. Set in London in 1924, the series’ main characters are J…
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We no longer have a media environment that supports community cohesion. This affects everything, even how we write about the world. vweisfeld.com?p=11596
Why the Media Are Failing Us
Back sometime before the Dark Ages, when I was in journalism school, we thought of the news business and the entertainment business as separate entities—the difference between Walter Cronkite and S…
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Writing exactly what you mean and meaning exactly what you write. Modifiers can sharpen the fictional world. vweisfeld.com?p=11592
Every Word’s a Choice: Part 6 — More on Modifiers
In the last post of this series, the emphasis was on modifiers, adjectives specifically. It talked about three keys to choosing a adjectives that will help your readers create the story picture you…
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Wm Stage’s new crime thriller is full of colorful characters who live in a St. Louis with as many currents as the mighty Mississippi that flows through it. The hero isn’t a cop, but people are not happy to see him on their doorsteps. vweisfeld.com?p=11587
Down and Out in the River City by Wm Stage
Down and Out in the River City, the third crime thriller by Wm Stage, is a refreshing change of pace in both setting and characters, with a strong feel of gritty reality. Contemporary society’s sch…
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Can the big bundle of ideas and quirky characters and detailed settings and riveting plot and subplots your story embraces be summed up in a couple of words? Titles are tricky! vweisfeld.com?p=11573
“The Power of Titles”
By the time authors finish writing a story, they (should) have a pretty good grasp of its essence. But that intimate knowledge doesn’t necessarily lead to a good title for the work. Sometimes too m…
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Modifiers give your work specificity, helping readers understand exactly what you mean, but you don’t want too much of a good thing. Stick to the significant. vweisfeld.com?p=11568
How Adjectives Sharpen Descriptions
Whether you’re describing a person, a location, or a bit of action, details help readers envision it. Adjectives and adverbs provide many of these details. They help readers draw a mental picture o…
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This over-the-top horror tale, larded with humor, already feels like a movie (and will be one). Winifred Notty brings chaos onto the Victorian-era household where she poses as a nanny, and several in the family pretty much deserve what they get. vweisfeld.com?p=11565
Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito
Virginia Feito’s new gothic thriller, Victorian Psycho, has attracted the attention of readers and commentators for its originality, as well as for its in-your-face macabre violence. It’s graphic. …
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How your tv landscape is changing and some of our favorite streams. Yours? vweisfeld.com?p=11560
Merging Media Streams
An article by John Koblin in yesterday’s New York Times says the days of separate subscriptions to multiple tv streaming service are waning. It’s just too complicated, too many passwords, too much …
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When people ask, what’s that book about?, they’re usually asking about plot. What a book is About and what it Means are two different things. Meaning creeps in while authors are occupied elsewhere. So says George Saunders. vweisfeld.com?p=11557
Treating Themes Like Shy Forest Animals
So many thought-provoking insights were in the George Saunders interview I wrote about last week, I saved a few for today. One issue he talks about is how politics and themes enter his writing. Not…
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Does your character walk or sashay into a room? Does he limp down the alley or scuttle? Colorful verbs do a lot of work for you. Part 4 of a series. vweisfeld.com?p=11551
Every Word’s a Choice – Part 4
Verbs (Still) Do the Heavy LiftingHere’s more on how choosing strong verbs can bring your story alive. Does your character merely walk into a room? How does he walk in? You can make his style of en…
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Scott Turow’s new crime mystery Presumed Guilty has some fine courtroom scenes, but, overall, was too much of a good thing for me. vweisfeld.com?p=11548
Presumed Guilty by Scott Turow
No doubt many crime fiction readers eagerly anticipated Presumed Guilty, Scott Turow’s new legal thriller. I know I did, having been a fan ever since his debut with Presumed Innocent almost 40 year…
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What if your jewelry was so valuable you have to loan it to a museum because you can’t afford the insurance on it! Oh, the trials of the royalty! vweisfeld.com?p=11543
Jewels of Scandal and Desire
For a long time, I’ve had the glimmer of an idea for a story about a jeweler for British royalty. You’ll remember how Elizabeth II always wore a lovely pin on her jacket when she was out in public.…
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