-
-
Recently Active Members
5 Reason You Need RABBLE!
NYT Book Reviews are irrelevant – You NEED Rabble instead. As I write this blog post, Amazon lists ninety-one thousand, seven hundred ninety-eight (91,798) books in the “new releases, last 30 days” section. The NYT has eleven reviews on their books webpage.* The LA Times doesn’t mind making you scroll through all twenty-one of theirs; the [Read More]
Making It Real: Adopting At 19 Inspired Creation Of A Unique Heroine
Main characters have to feel real or you, the reader, will abandon them. I write thrillers and I’m forever striving to write that perfect visceral character. Hemingway’s advice: “From all things that you know and all those you cannot know, you make something through your invention that is not a representation but a whole new [Read More]
Kiran Bedi: Seeley James Real World Heroine of the Month
Kiran Bedi - Heroine of the Month for February 2013 In light of the recent gang-rape and murder of a young woman in India, this month’s Heroine of the Month is Kiran Bedi, India’s first woman police officer. Ms. Bedi joined the police force in 1972*, two years after earning her Master’s degree from Punjab [Read More]
Our Changing Heroine Archetype
Female characters are killing more people than ever before. The Hunger Games was one of the top 10 grossing films last year, a first for a heroine thriller. But there were plenty of thrillers featuring heroines in 2012: Snow White and the Huntsman, Underworld Awakening, Resident Evil: Retribution, and Brave to name a few. Women have [Read More]
Who is Your Real World Heroine?
I need your help. I created a fictional heroine who is an amalgam of the many powerful women I’ve known in real life. Rather than go on about my mother, daughters, wife, sisters, ancestors, etc. I need to hear about your female role models. Who is your real world inspiration?* Once a month I will post a [Read More]
2012 Seeley James Awards
Suddenly, I had this crazy idea: everyone (including Lee Child) thinks my thriller reviews are fun so I should start giving out awards. And not just for the graft and bribes. You see, I like to think long-term: If I want to have a 20th Anniversary Awards Banquet in 2032, let’s say somewhere in the Maldives, [Read More]
Tragedy & Thrillers – Why You Seek Solace in Violent Fiction
I am a thriller writer and reader. I also write reviews that appear on various sites around cyberspace. In the last week, I’ve had several requests from non-thriller readers asking me to recommend something for them. I did a quick check of some reader forums and found similar requests: non-thriller readers looking for thrillers. What [Read More]
Three Lessons From Writing A Thriller Heroine
Can a Man Write a Female Lead? Why not? Ms. Rowling wrote a boy’s story. The Wall Street Journal ran an article just last week about women writing under male pseudonyms when writing male characters. Why couldn’t I write a female protagonist in a thriller? I love female leads in thrillers. I’d been working on [Read More]