The first Rogue Women Writers blog went live May 24, 2016. We thought it would be fun to take a look back at what each of us were reading, writing or exploring four years ago!
GAYLE LYNDS
What an exciting month May 2016 was. No traveling, only a few appearances, but the intense and joyful quietude of research, which I love. I dove into chatting with sources about Moscow, a Cold War secret I’d dug up, and a new energy source that might be on the drawing board somewhere. And I ordered research books and read them. A month of writerly pleasures!KARNA BODMAN SMALL
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| Karna and Lee Child |
When Gayle Lynds invited me to join Rogue Women Writers I was honored to be a part of such an accomplished group of authors. At the time I was marketing my fourth thriller CASTLE BRAVO about the threat of an EMP (Elecro-Magnetic Pulse) attack on our country which would “fry” all of our electronics. We’d have no computers, cell phones, communication, refrigeration, sanitation, transportation…as one general described this possibility, “It would set us back to the year 1910, and don’t think our enemies aren’t looking at it.” I found this scenario so compelling, I had to write a story about a White House staffer who becomes embroiled in just such a challenge, and I gave numerous speeches to bank groups, churches, country clubs and also attended Thrillerfest in NY where I had a great time catching up with terrific writers Lee Child and John Lescroart (who I thanked for giving me blurbs for my previous thrillers). All in all, joining the Rogues is one of the best things I have done during my writing career.
LYNNE AND VALERIE CONSTANTINE
In early May 2016 the Constantine sisters, Lynne and Valerie, made the hard decision to consign to a drawer the novel they’d worked on together for the past year––a story of friendship and redemption. It was time to move on and tell a new story. That May was spent fleshing out a story from the spark of an idea that came to us quite by accident on a long walk as we chatted about people and life. That kernel of an idea turned into THE LAST MRS. PARRISH, published the following year in November of 2017. And that’s when we became Liv Constantine.
LISA BLACK
I was not yet a member of the Rogues! But May 2016 was an exciting time for me. That Darkness, the first book in the Gardiner and Renner series and my first with my current publisher, Kensington, had just been released. By May 3 it had already gone into a third printing. My days were filled with guest blogs, social media, writing the first draft of Perishand, oh yes, the day job. In between all that my coworkers and I were tending to 17 ducklings born in the PD’s flower beds, and I went on a cruise to the Virgin Islands with my two sisters.
K.J. HOWE
In May 2016, I was still an unpublished author, but I had sold THE FREEDOM BROKER in a two-book deal to Quercus under the Hachette umbrella. I had worked on my writing for years—there is no such thing as an overnight success in this business—and I was quite honoured that one of my literary heroes, Gayle Lynds, asked me to join the Rogue Women. I’ve learned so much in the years since, traveling the world to discuss kidnapping and my books. I’m pictured here at the Sharjah International Book Festival in the UAE being interviewed by a wonderful Nigerian book club expert. I hope the Rogues are inspiring women everywhere to write stories that matter to them. Raising a glass for our anniversary!
CHRIS GOFF
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| CBA Awards Finalists |
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| Guangdong, China |
May 2016 was a busy month. I was researching my second book in the Raisa Jordan thriller series, RED SKY. The book opened in Ukraine and the characters spent time in Poland, Germany and China. The year before I had spent two weeks in Eastern Europe doing research, but China had been out of reach so I was doing a lot of reading that May. We were launching Rogue Women Writers, I was up for a Colorado Book Award in the thriller category for DARK WATERS, and my sixth book in the Birdwatcher’s Mystery series, A PARLIAMENT OF OWLS, was coming out in June.
So tell us–what were you doing four years ago?
Don’t forget to register to win our overflowing gift bag by signing up for our mailing list! The drawing will be held on anniversary day, May 24!
It's great fun to look back and see what all our colleagues were doing when Gayle Lynds, founder of International Thriller Writers, also founded Rogue Women Writers. We're all indebted to her for promoting the thriller genre, especially the women who write these stories.
I’ll second that, Karna!
It’s also fun to see the variety of our activities.
Thank you so much for forming this group! Love all of your books!!
Thank you for sharing your writing journeys and the launch of the Rogue Women Writers blog.
I retired in 2016 from a 27-year career with the Canadian federal government. I had to figure out my new daily/weekly routine. Reading (thrillers) was a given but I also wanted to be more active so I joined hiking, cycling and dining Meetup groups.
I also went to Left Coast Crime (Phoenix) and Bouchercon (NOLA). It was at Bouchercon where I got an ARC of The Freedom Broker. That was such a fun convention…being a part of the line-parade and walking with the mini-floats for the GOH to the opening ceremonies was memorable.