Thomas Bruso
asked
Joseph Finder:
I ripped through HIGH CRIMES and COMPANY MAN in two days. You write excellent, complex characters and have good pacing and structure in your books. I am looking forward to your new baby, SUSPICION. What draws you to thrillers? And would you ever consider writing outside the box? Like a good old-fashioned ghost or horror story?
Joseph Finder
Thank you! I write thrillers because thrillers are what I liked to read, when I first discovered the world of adult books. I read the James Bond books early on (and even tried to write my own - teenaged fan fiction! - but when on a college trip, somebody had a Ludlum novel, and I started reading and was completely hooked. It might have been partly a Walter Mitty-type fantasy: I was just a kid from the suburbs, and there was Jason Bourne dashing around the world, dodging bullets and killing bad guys and dealing with something unexpected every minute of the day. (This is also what I love about "24.")
I read a lot more widely � and actually read a lot of literary fiction � but in terms of plotting and the work of writing a book, the thriller frame is the one I like best. Ghost stories fascinate me, but a good ghost story is really, really hard to write: I look at Shirley Jackson and Stephen King, and I'm not sure I could do what they do.
I read a lot more widely � and actually read a lot of literary fiction � but in terms of plotting and the work of writing a book, the thriller frame is the one I like best. Ghost stories fascinate me, but a good ghost story is really, really hard to write: I look at Shirley Jackson and Stephen King, and I'm not sure I could do what they do.
More Answered Questions
Aaron Jesko
asked
Joseph Finder:
Joe, Here comes my Ask-the-author-question for you. When an author is working on a story every day I guess they’re bound to start dreaming about their characters and plotlines at some point. I recently read an article about how some authors use their nightly dreams to improve upon their projects. Have you ever made changes to a character or a plot following a dream you had? Best, AJ
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