YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHO CAME TO DINNER
If you’ve subscribed to this newsletter for a while, you’ve probably heard me talk about the annual ThrillerFest Conference in New York City, sponsored by International Thriller Writers, a terrific organization for suspense authors.
This year’s conference was held last month at the New York Hilton Midtown hotel (where the amazing final scene of Michael Clayton was filmed), and it was such a rewarding experience for me. I attended a bunch of panels, participated in one myself, and also taught a workshop (as part of “CraftFest”) on how to conquer procrastination and crush writer’s block (for one of my favorite tips, which works whether you’re a writer or not, see below).
And the evenings were also fabulous. Because NYC is my home base, I hosted a rosé and cheese party Wednesday night for some of the fun, fearless, female authors who arrived in town a night early or who live in the city. It was wonderful to have so many incredible authors in my apartment at one time.
On the Friday night of ThrillerFest, I traditionally host a dinner party for a small group of author pals, and this year’s was truly memorable. Though Karin Slaughter has always been a regular at this dinner, she was unfortunately out of the country on tour this year, but guess who came in her place? The ThrillerFest guest of honor, John Grisham. Wow, I knew how talented he was, but he also turned out to be incredibly charming and funny. His next book, The Widow (October 21), is his first “mystery” and I can’t wait to read it.
Twenty or so female thriller authors gathered in my apartment to sip rosé and steel themselves for endless mingling at the conference. (l to r): Jean Kwok; me, Allison Brennan; Hank Phillippi Ryan; K.T. Nguyen; Tosca Lee
When it came time to set the table for my Friday night author dinner, I decided that including a “murder” of crows would be the perfect touch.
Friday night dinner guests (from l to r): Chris Pavone; Joe Finder; Lou Berney; Lisa Unger; Alafair Burke; me; Barbara Butcher; John Grisham.
BOOK NEWS—OR WHY A LITTLE PART OF ME CAN’T WAIT UNTIL 2026
Since summer this year in the northeast took so long to get here, I hate to rush it, but I’m also getting excited about January—because that’s when my next psychological thriller, I CAME BACK FOR YOU, will make its debut.
I’ve loved writing every one of my nineteen suspense novels, but I have to confess that this is one of the books I’m most proud of. It’s already being described as a “powerful,” “gripping” thriller with “a jaw-dropping” ending.
It’s the story of a woman named Bree Winter, who nine years after the death of her college-age daughter, is finally moving on with a new love, a new home, and a new beginning. Then a deathbed confession from the imprisoned killer throws Bree’s life into a tailspin all over again. He readily confesses to murdering four college women—but not Melanie.
At first, Bree and her ex-husband don’t buy a word of it. Until inconsistencies about the crime emerge. So does the dreadful feeling that the monster who shattered Bree’s family isn’t lying. The only way she can get to the truth is to power through the trauma and return to the town in upstate New York where Melanie’s life came to a brutal end.
Bree will do anything to find justice for her daughter and finish this nightmare forever. Instead, it’s just beginning. Not only could the real killer still be in the midst, but as Bree begins to dig through Melanie’s past, what she discovers calls into question everything she has believed—about the crime and about Melanie herself.
OKAY, HERE’S MY MAGICAL GET-IT-DONE TRICK
One of the problems that bedevils so many aspiring authors is procrastination. So when I taught my class at CraftFest, I shared an incredible procrastination buster that I learned years ago from a time-management expert named Edwin Bliss. In fact, it’s what enabled me to write my first Bailey Weggins mystery, If Looks Could Kill.
The trick is called “slice the salami” because it calls for “slicing” a task thinly into small, manageable steps. Bliss believed that we sometimes fail to complete certain tasks not because we don’t really want to do them, but because we make them too daunting, and they end up seeming like a big, unappetizing hunk of salami. But if you tackle the task in the smallest increments you can handle (for me that meant writing for only fifteen minutes a day in the beginning), you’ll be far less inclined to put the task off. Trust me, it really, really works.
In addition to helping authors conquer procrastination, I also give a talk for aspiring writers called “How to Write a Killer Thriller.” I gave it recently at a sell-out luncheon at Finnbar sponsored by the Frenchtown, NJ Bookshop.
WHAT I’M READING
The Life and Death of Rose Doucette By Harry Hunsicker
I don’t know about you, but lately I started to feel as if I’d read one too many psychological thrillers that started off decently but then ended with an absurd twist that was about as credible as a zombie invasion. Then I started reading The Life and Death of Rose Doucette, which was nominated for a 2025 International Thriller Writers Award. At last, a book for grown-ups, and it reminds me of a Michael Connelly novel, which I love. If you, like me, enjoy smart procedurals, this one is for you.
WHAT I’M COOKING
Once in a while (and not as often as I’d like) I come across a recipe that’s not only a breeze to make but is so good I know that it will be in rotation forever! This New York Times recipe for Lemon Pepper Chicken is one of them. It’s super easy, super delicious, and greater than the sum of its parts. My husband went nuts over it, and so did my daughter, who made it at her home in Charleston.
All the best and until next time,
