Tomorrow at ThrillerFest I’m moderating the panel, “How Do You Create Suspense on Every Page?” I’ve been preparing, and just reviewing the biographies of the authors who are taking part has left me gaping in admiration. We’ve got:
ANDREA KANE, author of NYT bestselling psychological thriller The Girl Who Disappeared Twice.
SANDRA BRANNAN, author of the Liv Bergen mystery thriller series and hilarious wild woman from South Dakota.
KATHERINE HOWELL, who worked as a Sydney paramedic for 15 years. Now she not only writes bestselling crime novels; she’s studying female doctor investigators in crime fiction for her Ph.D. at the University of Queensland, and teaches writing and editing.
GRANT BLACKWOOD: It’s not enough that he’s the New York Times bestselling author of the Briggs Tanner series. Or that he co-authored the Fargo Adventure Series with Clive Cussler and the #1 NYT bestseller Dead or Alive with Tom Clancy. He’s also a U.S. Navy veteran who spent three years aboard a guided missile frigate as an Operations Specialist and a Pilot Rescue Swimmer.
CATHERINE COULTER, author of 62 New York Times best sellers. Yes, seriously. I mean, come on.
PHILIP MARGOLIN, The NYT bestselling author of 17 novels, who also has a quarter century’s experience as a criminal defense attorney who handled 30 homicide cases, including death penalty cases, and argued in the US Supreme Court.
The panel is Saturday 10:30-11:20. I’m supposed to ask them questions, but I may just stand and stare.
lying for a living 
How’d it go?
Writer’s Digest has a series of “how to” writing books that are excellent, and you can often find a copy in your public library. You might also want to take a community college writing course or, if you don’t have access to a community college, you can find lots of classes online, especially through Romance Writers of America.