Killer Nashville blog, an online community of readers and writers of mystery, thrillers, suspense, and true crime. If you are looking for a past post, check out our older blog at http://killernashville.wordpress.com. We plan on having all of our old posts relocated here in the near future.
Writing Authentic Characters of the Opposite Sexby Edwin Hill I write a mystery series about a Harvard research librarian named Hester Thursby who also finds missing people. I’m three books in and so far, she’s found ax-wielding serial killers, a child abductor, and a missing student who has no desire to be found. Sometime in […]
The Difference Between Terrorism and Organized Crimeby Frank Hamilton Terrorism and organized crime have both been important in the real world which has made them a common feature of various literary genres, especially thriller and mystery novels. But the two are not the same and knowing the difference between terrorism and organized crime is crucial […]
Organized Crime in the Time of Coronaby Michael Gorman Many areas of organized crime have taken a serious beating since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. With the sealed borders that prevent the smuggling of contrabands and the closed streets where drug dealers used to sell their products, many of the criminals’ activities have been […]
Researching International Thrillersby Michael Niemann For the past thirty-odd years, I’ve had the following conversation innumerable times. Person at a party: “What do you do?” Me: “I teach.” “What do you teach?” “World Politics.” “Oh, that must be really interesting right now.” I have always puzzled over this response because I knew there hadn’t been […]
The Case for Creating aKiller Marketing Planby Ellie Alexander I remember the day I received the call from my agent letting me know that we had an offer for a three-book contract. After dancing around the living room and toasting with a celebratory pint of hoppy Pacific Northwest ale, the next thing I did was […]
Learning to Let Go When Editingby Matthew Farrell When I was asked to write this article for Killer Nashville, I was in the middle of fourth round edits for my fourth book and second round edits for my fifth book, so I thought the subject of the editing process would be fitting. For those of […]
Taking On an IconAn Introduction to Fan Fiction by Liese Sherwood-Fabre In an article from The Guardian in 2012, Ewan Morrison noted that if fan fiction is defined as “reworking…another author’s characters,” the concept only developed after laws regarding copyright and intellectual property appeared—along with the printing press and mass production of fiction. Prior to […]
Key Elements to Writing Thrillersby Lee Matthew GoldbergWhen people ask what kind of books I write, I usually say that I write thrillers but the truth is that all great books have key thriller elements. The main thing that thrillers need are strong suspense and tension. Usually that involves life or death scenarios, but even […]
Killer Nashville 2020 and COVID-19 by Ray Peden I first walked through the doors of the Hutton in 2012, introverted, intimidated, friendless, and unpublished. As an alumnus of 7 Killer Nashvilles, I’m still an introvert, but now I have two well-received suspense/thrillers published, made the short-list for a Claymore and Silver Falchion, been a contributor […]
Facts and Fiction by Shelley Blanton-Stroud She’s striking, with high cheekbones and a full lower lip, but also haggard, sun-damaged. The fingertips of her right hand graze her cheek as she squints into the distance, inscrutable. Two young children lean into her, heads turned from the camera. A baby in dirty clothing sleeps in her […]