by Karna Small Bodman Many authors say they get ideas “ripped from the headlines” and then do a “what if” to craft a tale. But what if, instead of following headlines, the author actually predicts them? Have you ever read a novel and later discovered that an event, historical reference, attack —...
ALFRED HITCHCOCK AND A WAITRESS NAMED RITA
I’ve always been a fan of classic movies. “Sorry, Wrong Number,” “Gaslight,” “Rear Window.” Talk about building suspense. The classics definitely knew how to do it. I’m a visual writer, so I need a scene to play out in my mind before I can put it into words. But to build suspense, it’s not just...
MIKE LAWSON GOES ROGUE
I am delighted to introduce an old friend I first met at Thrillerfest many years ago, Mike Lawson. He began his career working for the US Navy as a nuclear engineer. While keeping his “day job” he began writing a terrific series centered in the US Congress. Now he has a new thriller, Redemption,...
MARCH ROGUE ROUNDUP
What we Rogues talked about, researched, and revealed in March... March may be the start of spring, but it began in a frozen wonderland. Our extraordinary guest author ERICA FERENCIK went rogue, leading us on an adventure beneath the auroras and into the permafrost of Arctic Greenland, where she...
THE CARE & KEEPING OF YOUR WRITER
Writing is a perilous business. At its best, the writer journeys through a portal deep into a fictional realm, and lives a multi-verse away from their nearest and dearest, causing all sorts of glitches like burnt dinners, or no dinners at all. At its worst, said fictional world does not appear on the page, causing said writer to turn into a roaring, demonic creature seldom seen outside of a William Peter Blatty novel.
NEVER TALK TO A WRITER ON A DAY THE WRITING ISN’T GOING WELL
Never talk to a writer on a day when the writing isn’t going well.
MY HOLLYWOOD-ADJACENT MOMENT—WITH THE PARANORMAL
Rogue Tracy Clark has an experience with the paranormal to be on film with PBS.
ROGUE FLASH: WELCOME ALEX KAVA AND ISABELLA MALDONADO
In February we welcomed two new Rogues–ALEX KAVA and ISABELLA MALDONADO! We are over the moon with excitement to have these two impressive women join our crew!
OFFICE SPACE
By Tosca Lee At one time I meant to stencile “Abandon hope, all ye who enter here” above my office door. They’re the words in Dante’s Inferno carved above the gate to hell. Yes, it might be dark–made complete by the ever-favorite shot of a piano about to crush me Wiley E. Coyote style (a too-apt...
MY 2022 WRITING GOALS
By Tracy Clark It’s the new year! It’s that time of year when most of us leap into the new and shiny and kick off the old and spent. If I were the kind of person who made resolutions, I’d likely have busted them by now, but I’m not, and I didn’t, so I’m good. Or I thought I was. Then Reese...