In preparation for the upcoming release of my latest thriller…THE IMPOSTOR (7.1), I ran across this behind-the-scene moment. I recall it well, as it was about the time I was defining the outline. It’s a fun time-lapse that shows just a blip of the process.

Click here to watch  (opens in YouTube)

If you look closely, you’ll see some of the books strewn about my sloppy office which were instrumental in my getting the story to where it is. Those include: Dialogue by Robert McKee and Story Grid by Shawn Coyne, for reference, and John Sanford’s Silent Prey for inspiration.

For many, this may/may not be all that interesting, but for me, it is. As a writer of fiction, I enjoy learning what’s behind-the-scenes of an artist I admire. That’s right…

I like to see how the sausage is made.

There are so many people I read for inspiration: Don Winslow, Jack Carr, Meg Gardiner, Adrian McKinty, Brad Thor, Chris Hauty, Greg Iles, K.J. Howe, Dan Silva, Karin Slaughter, Linwood Barclay, Lou Berney, Harlan Coben, and the late Elmore Leonard, to name a few.

In non-fiction, I enjoy Suzy Spencer, Steven Pressfield, Bob Woodward, Miguel Ruiz, and Austin Kleon (again, to name only a few). Yes, there are so many who inspire me!

Here are a few I’m watching: Eric Bishop, May Cobb, Frank Zafiro, Tom Dooley, Steven Stratton, Jack Stewart, and my latest find—thanks to Shane Salerno’s, The Story Factory—T. J. Newman, whose book, Falling quickly became a must-read in #TheTempleTreehouse. In fact, both Tammy & I devoured it in a weekend (pre-order for a 7.6 release).

Anyhow, today’s blog is short & simple:

Life passes so fast, yet the creative process takes so long; enjoy the journey.

In closing, if you’re brand new to my work, please allow me to introduce you to Detective Pat Norelli. She first appeared in The Poser, and as I mentioned at the outset, book two in the series, The Impostor, hits bookshelves on July 1st. If you’d like to get an introduction, I’m running a SPECIAL:

Pre-order The Impostor here for only $1.99! … & … Order The Poser for only $.99!

Note: This is a limited time only offer, and prices increase shortly. C’mon, two books for three bucks?

Okay, that’s it for today; time to get back to work on the next book!

For those who enjoy reading our work, I say THANK YOU!

#HappyMonday!

PS: Special thanks to Jessica Brody’s Save The Cat Writes A Novel, which I used for the formational structure for The Impostor.