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Expert insights, tips, and professional advice on writing and publishing from our editorial staff based on bestselling novels in numerous genres.

THE CRIME WRITER, by Gregg Hurwitz: A Riveting Novel and a Masterful Lesson in How to Write Mystery/Suspense

[by Ross Browne]

If there were ever a novel that writers and editors could take special pleasure in devouring like candy, The Crime Writer by Gregg Hurwitz is it. Putting aside the clever plot device that makes the book so naturally irresistible to novelists, The Crime Writer is a smartly written novel that stands […]

By |2025-08-01T22:52:35+00:00|The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on THE CRIME WRITER, by Gregg Hurwitz: A Riveting Novel and a Masterful Lesson in How to Write Mystery/Suspense
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How Dean Koontz Creates Dramatic Character Arc in His Best-Loved Novel

[by Ross Browne]

Dean Koontz is a very funny guy who while contemplating his future as a geriatric (bunny slippers are involved) says he expects to feel then as he does now: that Watchers is the most satisfying book he’s ever written. He also believes many readers will think it to be his best, no matter how […]

By |2025-02-12T22:25:05+00:00June 19th, 2020|Behind The Bestsellers|Comments Off on How Dean Koontz Creates Dramatic Character Arc in His Best-Loved Novel
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How Stephen King and Alexandra Sokoloff Cultivate Willing Suspension of Disbelief in Crime Fiction Tips and techniques based on two hit novels

[by Ross Browne]

A recent article in The New Yorker defines the willing suspension of disbelief as “the reader’s decision to put the argumentative, quibbling part of his mind into neutral and go along for the narrative ride.”

Stephen King is a master at this, and I’m sure I’m not alone in admiring how easy he makes it […]

By |2025-05-19T17:12:45+00:00June 19th, 2020|Behind The Bestsellers|Comments Off on How Stephen King and Alexandra Sokoloff Cultivate Willing Suspension of Disbelief in Crime Fiction Tips and techniques based on two hit novels
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GRISHAM vs. GRISHAM: How a Master Storyteller Honors (and Flaunts) Convention Within the Confines of Genre Fiction

[by Ross Browne]

Did a bestselling master of his genre write the same novel twice?

On first glance, it might look that way. The premise and plot setups of John Grisham’s 1999 release The Testament and his 2013 release Sycamore Row are remarkably similar. Both novels feature:

  • The suicide of a wealthy man with a terminal disease, right […]
By |2025-02-12T22:27:39+00:00September 10th, 2019|Behind The Bestsellers|Comments Off on GRISHAM vs. GRISHAM: How a Master Storyteller Honors (and Flaunts) Convention Within the Confines of Genre Fiction
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How Susie Steiner Handles Characterization, Craft, and the Conventions of Mystery Writing in a Stunning Series Debut

[by Ross Browne with Susie Steiner]

One thing the editor in me loves about mysteries is seeing how successful authors navigate the challenge of writing entertainingly in a style of novel that’s inherently formulaic. For all its boundless appeal, mystery is a genre whose stories can be very similar in plot and structure, […]

By |2025-02-12T22:28:24+00:00June 14th, 2018|Behind The Bestsellers|Comments Off on How Susie Steiner Handles Characterization, Craft, and the Conventions of Mystery Writing in a Stunning Series Debut
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How P.J. Parrish Starts a Story: A “First 50” Analysis

[by Ross Browne]

Flap Copy: For Louis Kincaid and his lover, female detective Joe Frye, the present and the past collide when they team up to find out what happened to Jean Brandt, who was reported missing by her husband from their Michigan farmhouse in 1981. Jean’s daughter Amy, only five at the time, has been plagued by […]

By |2025-08-04T19:58:07+00:00March 8th, 2018|Behind The Bestsellers|Comments Off on How P.J. Parrish Starts a Story: A “First 50” Analysis
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