June 28, 2021
What Makes It Worthwhile
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…
Journal
Posts
May 23, 2020
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.…
April 23, 2020
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…
October 21, 2019
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…
October 7, 2019
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…
September 23, 2019
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…
October 31, 2018
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…
October 15, 2018
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…
May 24, 2018
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…
October 12, 2017
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,…