Essays

Why I Write Thrillers
Remember that time you were walking across the parking lot and you got a weird vibe from the guy who was approaching from the other direction?  You passed without incident, but in the fraction of a second when your last chance to run evaporated, you felt a rush of genuine fear...

A Bright Future Without Hardcovers or Mass Market Paperbacks
I believe that the hardcover and the mass market paperback original (mmpo) are both on their deathbeds. I see trade paperbacks taking over for hardcovers (as they have throughout Europe), and the eBook taking over the slot once held by the mmpo... 

My Cholecystectomy Adventure
In May of 2010, I had an emergency cholecystectomy. That's what normal people would call the separation of one's gallbladder from one's viscera. Mine had decided to die on me, and it turned out it had intentions to take the rest of me with it...

Skin Like Leather
We always tell up-and-comers that they've got to have a thick skin if they're ever going to break into the publishing business. As the rejections pile up, it's hard not to lose faith in your own abilities...

Character Motivation
Someone asked me recently about how I motivate my characters.  The person told me that he’d read an article somewhere about writing biographies for your characters, or maybe interviewing them to find out why they do what they do...

Genre Ghettos
Hello, dear reader.  Welcome to National Chain Bookstore, or, as we like to call it, NCB.  Come on in and look around.  Careful, don't trip over the stacks of remaindered hardcovers there...

Language and Violence in Novels: To Ban or Not to Ban
I have received hundreds of letters from fans who loved the books, and from dozens of others who would have liked the books, but felt that the "foul language" and the "graphic violence" make them inappropriate for children...

The Query Letter
As an author, you have a commodity to sell—your novel—and the only means readily available to you is direct mail marketing, in the form of a query letter.

The Synopsis: Demystifying The Mystery
This synopsis is word for word what convinced agents to take a look at my manuscript, and to ultimately offer to represent me.

A Moment That Haunts Forever
Write what you know. Good God, how many times have we heard that over the years? As if Jack Ryan was Tom Clancy’s pseudonym, or Lincoln Rhyme Jeffery Deaver’s.

I Like Complex, Competent Villains
There comes a point in most stories where the villain and the hero face off and have a Dramatic Moment with each other. More times than not, I find that beat of the story to be the nadir of the dramatic arc.

When Does License Give Way to Responsibility?
Fiction is about drama; non-fiction is about reality. At least that’s the way it’s supposed to be. But in these hyper-political times, I’m wondering if a little non-fiction might be in order.

The Power of the Pen
An undeniable symptom of my latent dorkdom was—and continues to be—my love of pens. It started with the old reliable clear-barreled Bic.

John's essays appear regularly on the Kill Zone blog.