Why I Write Thrillers

In less than a month I will be flying to Denver for Left Coast Crime. I’m so excited! I’ve been invited to speak on a panel called Why We Write Thrillers. What a great topic. I had to spend some time thinking about this. I knew I enjoyed reading them, but why write them?

Well, for one thing, I love to read a good thriller. I’ve heard that you should write what you love to read. But why do I love them? Why are they so popular? I think it’s because they grab you and won’t let go until the final twist. And that is what I want my books to do. I love it when readers say they stayed up all night reading my books because they couldn’t put them down.

Reading a thriller is like hurling yourself towards a runaway train. You know it’s coming, you can see it coming, and you want to be like Superman and get in front of it and put your hand out to stop it. To do that, you need to know who started the train barreling down the track, why they started it, and a twisty way of stopping it. Because, unlike Superman, holding out your hand towards it isn’t going to get the job done.

It’s the excitement that’s addictive. That feeling in your gut that the main character just might not pull this off, but she does, and in a way you never expected.

Thrillers allow you to explore dark themes in a way that is safe. I want to know why people join a cult. (Her Sister’s Keeper) Why someone would kill a young homeless girl and leave her body frozen in the snow. (Through Frozen Eyes) And why a serial killer kills women and leaves them as a gift offering for the sheriff. (Her Last Breath, which will be out this spring.)

I’ve heard that people read and write thrillers to bring justice to an unjust world. I love it when the story ends with the killer being caught and sent to prison, or being killed by the main character just before he or she kills said main character or someone they love. And sometimes I love it when at the end of the book the killer is caught, but there may be another killer out there who will continue their killing spree. Suspense is what makes us come back for more.

I’m about three fourths of the way finished writing my fourth book. This will be the third in my Hood River Valley Series. It’s about a killer who is playing cat and mouse with the sheriff. I thought I knew why he was killing women, but while writing this post I realized there is more to his past and his psychological makeup than I knew. It’s the, why did the killer do what they did that makes the story more exciting. What’s in his or her background that would cause them to do something so heinous?

Plot is the structure of the story and characters are the meat. They give the story substance. This is especially true in a thriller. I feel a need to know my characters, to try and feel what they feel. Why are they in this particular place and time? What can they contribute to the story to make it come alive?

And then there’s the twist at the end. It isn’t just about shock; it has to make sense in hindsight. It’s the perfect blend of surprise and credibility. These are the things that make writing thrillers such a joy for me. Or should I say, such a thrill?