Have a safe trip home from DC!

(Unless you’re the publisher out to make sales!)

NOW your comment about dark RS. Yes, I get some criticism from some readers who feel that my books are suspense and not romantic suspense. That’s fine. It’s their opinion. i’m labelled romantic suspense because I write romantic suspense–there is a hero, heroine, relationship, and happily ever after. Yes, I write dark suspense stories over that relationship (as opposed to being a backdrop to the relationship) but the wonderful thing about RS is that it’s a broad and thriving genre where you can have sexy, romance driven RS like the FABULOUS Roxanne St. Claire writes, and dark, scary, suspense driven RS like what I write.

You can not please all the readers all the time. The important thing is to please YOUR readers, and build from there. I think readers get more upset if you start writing like Rocki and then get darker and darker and end up writing like me. I don’t think the tone of my books has changed in the 12 that I have written.

I’d love to be a romantic thriller–but there is no designation in the computer. It needs to be conveyed in the back cover copy as well as the cover that the book is more a “thriller” than a traditional RS. But as long as you keep the story promise of a h/h moving to the next level in their relationship where the reader can buy that they can and will be together beyond the end of the book, I see it as an rs. (But, honestly, it’s so driven by the market.)

To me, a thriller is about pacing and stakes. They are page-turners in the truest sense, not just because it’s a good story and you want to get to the end, but because you HAVE to find out what happens. The stakes are high–meaning, something important to the characters or the world is a stake IMMEDIATELY. There is little to no “down time” in terms of reflection by the characters, the description is generally relevant to the plot and not simply prose to set the stage or the the tone of the book. They have a faster “feeling” to them. Though I don’t particularly like thrillers with NO lulls–I need my adrenaline to slow for awhile before it spikes!

BUT, ultimately, you’re right in your comment to Leslie that publishers are using “thriller” more for marketing than anything else. Thrillers CAN be a romantic thriller (and I do think I write romantic thrillers, though I’m sure some would disagree) or a medical thriller or a crime thriller or a legal thriller, etc. Also, you’ll find that more male author get labeled as thriller and more female authors get labeled as romantic suspense or mystery. The female “thriller” label is relatively new in the marketplace.

Toni, we missed you, but hopefully we’ll see each other again soon. If your friend is unpublished, honestly, though Thrillerfest would be a must (IMO), she’ll learn more throughout the year from RWA through the local and online chapters. ITW doesn’t have an active message board, and while people are helpful between conferences, it’s usually (IMO) people that you’ve met at a conference, bonded with, and you communicate with outside of the organization because of it.

Robert, I’m amazed at how much I DIDN’T know then that I know now, which tells me in three years, I’ll be reflecting on how much I didn’t know now . . . Toni and I were just talking about that conference, specifically the great restaurant and kalamata olive dip . . .