In the comments section, a reader confessed, “I do have to say that thriller writers scare me a little.”
She’s not alone in that sentiment.
At an MWA meeting a couple of months ago, a fellow mystery writer approached me. With a glimmer in his eyes, he asked me whether I’d read the books by one of our Kill Zone authors (And no, I won’t say which Killer he was asking about, or even if it was one of our guys or gals. Hah! You have to guess).
“Have you read (his) books?” Mystery Writer wanted to know. “(He’s) sick.”
Sick. To a thriller writer, there’s no higher compliment.
By trade, we thriller authors write scary, gory tales. Our books are peopled with weird, unbalanced, downright messed-up characters. Twisted stuff happens. And when we do our jobs right, our readers might even assume that the writer is a tad strange. Suspect, even.
After reading enough of this dark matter, a reader might feel compelled to eventually ask: How do you think this warped sh*t up? And why do you?
As a writer, you have to be able to unleash your imagination to the extent that you give that kind of a chill. But in reality, all the thriller writers I know are gentle, kind souls. It’s only our writing that’s dark and strange.
Writers, have you ever gotten the vibe that someone thinks there’s something perhaps a bit off about you because you write about death, murder and mayhem?
And I’d be interested in knowing from readers: Is there anything you’ve ever read where you’ve thought, “Oh my God, there’s something scary about that writer”?
Oh and before I forget, I thought I’d add a postscript to PD’s post about body-dumping grounds.
PD had posited the question about what makes a good dumping ground.
Here are some of the tidbits it reveals about the art of body-dumping:
- Most dumping grounds will be found near road networks (proximity to covered vehicle required).
- Most people can drag a body only about 50 feet. About 200 feet, max.
- Bodies are normally found off the right passenger
side of the road, heading outbound from a city or town.
Oops. Did that sound scary?
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Coming up on our Kill Zone Guest Sundays, watch for blogs from Eric Stone, Tim Maleeny, Oline Cogdill, James Scott Bell, and more.