Today I received the first half of my advance for WHISPER ROOM to be published in 2022. My wife watched as I opened the envelope from my agent and she asked, “Do you think that pays for your time spent
What Makes It Worthwhile
Face Mask Mayhem and Writing Distractions
In my creative writing class that I was teaching for our local college, cut short by the pandemic, I stressed the value of ratcheting up tension as your book progresses. Well, welcome to the real world, where the tension is
Pandemic, writing it into your work…or not?
I’m facing two problems with my newest writing project. One: Should I incorporate the pandemic into my plot? Should I make reference to it? Two: What will life be like in a year from now? I have a hunch that
Opening Scenes
I had a discussion with an editor a few weeks ago and she told me about the hundreds of submissions she looks at every year. She glanced at me and said, “I can’t tell you how many of them start
Building Our Brand…One Book at a Time
I parked cars at the North Carolina Seafood Festival in Morehead City yesterday. My Rotary Club does it to raise money for local non-profit organization projects as well as college scholarships for deserving local students. It was difficult to sneak
Why We Do This
My newest book, Graveyard Bay, launched on September 10th. In the past week, I’ve done several book signings, one book talk (with dinner), and was a featured author at the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance show in South Carolina. Next weekend,
Writing From the POV of a Female Reporter
Geneva Chase is a hot mess Both Random Road and Darkness Lane are written from the first-person viewpoint of Geneva Chase…a woman. I’m male, I have both an X and a Y chromosome. “Really, you write as a woman?” I’m
Finished Manuscript for Graveyard Bay; and Hurricane Florence
On Sunday, October 7, at a little after noon, I hit the button and sent the manuscript for Graveyard Bay to my editor, Annette Rogers, at Poisoned Pen Press. I did it with trepidation and relief. Trepidation because when you’ve
Writers Workshop: Good Guys, Bad Guys, and Plot Twists: Developing a Mystery with Thomas Kies
Pamlico Writer’s Group How do you develop memorable characters, from your hero to your bad guys (who are people too!)? How do you make them leap off the page and land in a life or death struggle? How do you
Second in Geneva Chase series scheduled for launch
DARKNESS LANE, the second in the Geneva Chase mystery series, is tentatively scheduled for release in June 2018. This mystery features a missing teenager, murder, adultery, sex trafficking, Russian mobsters, movie stars and Broadway theater. Can Geneva get the story