Welcome my buddy, Daniel Palmer, to Murder HE Writes today! Daniel is multi-talented–not only is he a up-and-coming thriller master, he’s an uber-talented musician. He wows us at Thrillerfest with his singing and musical ability — harmonica, guitar, voice, probably more we haven’t seen. He knows how to write, and he knows how to have fun, which are two important traits 🙂 … Let’s give him a big Murder She Writes welcome! ~Allison
Putting It All On the Line
If you read any reviews of my third thriller novel, STOLEN, people tend to sum up the book’s big idea with a simple question. How far would you go to save the love of your life? I agree this question captures the story’s essence. The book begins with a devoted husband, John Bodine, confronting a terrible circumstance. His wife, Ruby Dawes, has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of skin cancer and he doesn’t have medical insurance to cover the cost of her life-saving treatment. After exhausting all legal means, John uses his computer smarts to steal another’s identity with the intent of committing medical fraud. Unbeknownst to John, the identity he’s stolen belongs to a psychopathic killer with a twisted mind for playing very twisted games. John and Ruby are soon roped into his demented world and things deteriorate rapidly from there.
All that’s well and good, and I hope you’ll find the book unrelentingly suspenseful, as one kind reviewer at Publishers Weekly did. But that’s not what I’m here to share with you today. Let’s go back to that earlier question: How far would you go to save the love of your life? I could twist the phrase just a bit and ask it a different way. What would you be willing to risk for something you desire? In a way, most of our big decisions revolve around risk assessment. Who, or even if, we marry? Do we have kids? Where should we live? How do we make money? Most of our significant accomplishments come as part of a calculated decision. We weigh the pros and cons of each choice and evaluate the risks and rewards, sometimes impulsively, other times in a more thoughtful manner.
When I set out to publish a book, I didn’t really understand the risks involved. I was on goal attainment autopilot. Write book. Find agent. Sell book. That was my mantra and twelve years after I started saying it (daily I might add) I managed to accomplish all these tasks. It wasn’t until the publication date of my first novel, DELIRIOUS, neared, and after the reviewers started weighing in, did I realize I’d actually put my sanity on the line. Goodness gracious, people were going to have opinions about what I’ve done! Yes, I know it seems obvious, and I was expecting it, but only in the abstract. It didn’t feel real to me until the first reviews started coming in. I never once asked myself, do I want to subject my creative work to public scrutiny? Should I take that risk? No, I just wanted to achieve my goal.
Suddenly, folks with cyber names like Daddy-O-67 and BookAvoireGal and ISayWhatIWant, with accounts on various social media networks, were anonymously posting their unfiltered opinions whether I liked them or not. And me, the writer guy, had to decide whether to look or not. Some of my writer friends never read their reviews. Others read them all. I think any smart businessperson would want to know how their customers view their product, so I check with each book, and read all the reader reviews, and yes, some love me and some not so much. But when I step back and think about it, I feel like the bravest person I can be. I’m no hero by any stretch. I’m just a writer who has dedicated his time and efforts to telling entertaining tales, but I still feel brave every time I look at a reader or trade review.
We all take risks in our daily lives, some of us more than others. Three books into my career, I know I’m going to be judged, for better or for worse. I embrace that aspect of this job, but it never gets any easier. Each book I publish still feels like I’m taking a substantial risk. For me to do my job, I have to shut out the noise, block out my fears, write from my heart, pull from my soul, and try my very best to capture the imagination of my readers. It’s a beautiful thing when it works, but the flip side is true as well. A bad review can hurt like a sucker punch to the gut. I guess the moral here is you’ve got to take the bitter with the sweet and realize that anything worth having is worth risking something to obtain.
So what about you? What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken and was it worth it?
Allison Brennan is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of nearly three dozen romantic thrillers and mysteries, including the Lucy Kincaid series and the Max Revere series. She lives in Northern California with her husband, five children, and assorted pets.
Welcome, Daniel! Risk, some folks like standing on the edge of the cliff, others, not so much. I’m in the first category, a risk-taker. My biggest risk–I have three that each shaped my life. The first, marrying the father of my son–really, really, bad risk, wonderful outcome (my son–the marriage, not so much). The second, learning to fly. Broke through a bunch of sel-fim[posed limitations–terrifying at first, sublime now. Very much worth the risk–it opened a bunch of possibilities. the last is writing–as a you know, a writer opens him or herself up for the world to see. Was it worth. Most definitely! I can’t imagine doing anything else!
The lesson I’ve learned–the whole ris/reward thing is true.
Hi Daniel! I’m late this morning (well, I AM on the west coast!) but wanted to say howdy and good morning. Loved your blog!
I’m not a big risk taker in my personal life, but I tend to take risks in writing. My supernatural thriller series was one (big fail) and now I’m taking another risk with a new thriller/mystery series that will be in hardcover. Hardcover is a huge risk, especially since I have a solid career in mass market. But I can stay where I am, or I can try to build on that. I opted to build. We’ll see what happens … next year when it comes out.
Hi Daniel, Thanks for being here! It’s a risk to step into this group of women. 😉 I’m thin skinned and don’t read my reviews. I admire the authors that do! I think I have about 600 reviews on Amazon over all my books and I haven’t read more than 50 of them. That sounds horrible, and I’m missing out on a lot of good feedback, but I found the voices were sticking in my head and affecting my process. I like to think that reviews are for the readers. If someone has a message directly for me, they’ll email me or reach out on FB and Twitter.
As far as big risk, the biggest risk I took was on my husband. We’ve been married two and a half years. I brought three children into this relationship and had to judge whether this was the right move for all four of us.
Thank for hosting me, Allison. I know your hardcover will be awesome and your fans will embrace the change. You rock! Deborah, I’m out on learning to fly. I love that you dared to try it. I’m way too skittish to be in control of anything that can fly. Car, I’m fine, plane, not so much. Interesting how we all talked about marriage as a big risk. I think our choice in life partner shapes so much of who we are and what we become. I don’t know about you, but I had this gut feeling about my wife. I just knew it was right and it’s not something I’d ever felt before.
Anytime! Sorry you got tossed into the moderation folder … I’ll try and check it more often today. :/
LOVE that you are learning to fly! I fell so much in love with it that I went on the get almost all the ratings, including CFII. BTW, flying a seaplane is the MOST fun of all…..
Welcome, Daniel! Twelve years shows a lot of dedication. Congratulations on all your success!
I think developing a thick skin is one of the most important aspects of being a writer. I respect authors who keep putting themselves out there, book after book, and weather the (inevitable) criticism.
Best of luck with STOLEN.