10 Commandments for Writers

James Scott Bell

Back when I started teaching writing to others, in a moment of what can only be described as great hubris, I jotted down 10 Commandments for Writers. Recently I dug up the document and took a fresh look. And you know what? I think they're still pretty good. I've tweaked them a bit for updating purposes, but they remain essentially the same as when I first wrote them. And while I don't have them engraved on stone tablets – yet – I offer them here for your perusal:

1. Thou Shalt write a certain number of words every week

           

This is the first, and greatest, commandment. If you write to a quota and  hold yourself to it, sooner than you think you'll have a full length novel. 

(UPDATE: I used to advocate a daily quota, but I changed it to weekly because inevitably you miss days, or life intrudes, and you can run yourself down for "missing" your quota. So set up a weekly quota, divide it by days, and if you miss one day make it up on the others).

So important is this commandment that I posted a video on it.

2. Thou Shalt write passionate first drafts

           

Don't edit yourself during your first drafts. The writing of it is partly an act of discovering your story, even if you outline. Write hot. Put your heart into it. Let your writer's mind run free. I edit my previous day's work and then move on. At 20k words I "step back" to see if I have a solid foundation, shore it up if I don't, then move on to the end. There's magic in momentum.

 

3. Thou Shalt make trouble for thy Lead

           

The engine of a good story is fueled by the threat to the Lead character. Keep turning up the heat. Make things harder. Simple three act structure: Get your Lead up a tree, throw things at him, get him down.

4. Thou Shalt put a stronger opposing force in the Lead's way

           

The opposition character must be stronger than the Lead. More power, more experience, more resources. Otherwise the reader won't worry. You want them to worry. Hitchcock always said the strength of his movies came from the strength and cunning of the villains. But note the opposition doesn't have to be a "bad guy." Think of Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive.

5. Thou Shalt get thy story running from the first paragraph

           

Start with a character, confronted with change or threat or challenge. This is the opening "disturbance" and that's what will hook readers. It doesn’t have to be something "big." Anything that sends a ripple through the "ordinary world" will do.

6. Thou Shalt create surprises

           

Avoid the predictable! Always make a list of several avenues your scenes and story might take, then choose something that makes sense but also surprises the reader.

7. Thou Shalt make everything contribute to the story

           

Don't go off on tangents that don't have anything to do with the characters and what they want in the story. Stay as direct as a laser beam.

(UPDATE: This one seems self-evident now, but at the time I was seeing manuscripts with scenes written for their style, not their substance. Another way to put this is the old advice to be ready to "kill your darlings.")

8. Thou Shalt cut out all the dull parts

           

Be ruthless in revision. Cut out anything that slows the story down. No trouble, tension or conflict is dull. At the very least, something tense inside a character.

9. Thou Shalt develop Rhino skin

           

Don't take rejection or criticism personally. Learn from criticism and move on. Perseverance is the golden key to a writing career.

10. Thou Shalt never stop learning, growing and writing for the rest of thy life

           

Writing is growth. We learn about ourselves, we discover more about life, we use our creativity, we gain insights. At the same time, we study. Brain surgeons keep up on the journals, why should writers think they don't need to stay up on the craft? If I learn just one thing that helps me as a writer, it's worth it.

So there's my ten. Comments welcome. Or maybe you have an Eleventh Commandment you'd like to add?

Last week was one HUGE bunch of days.

John Ramsey Miller


I didn’t watch any of the coverage of the Royal Wedding that I could avoid. Not that I don’t appreciate romance or tradition, because both are the glue that holds the world together, but because I thought the idea of being glued to TV to watch two rich kids getting married at the cost of millions of dollars in this day and time is absurd. I understand that the Royals are important to people in the UK and to some of their ex-colonies. Even though diluted English blood runs through my veins, I’ve only been to England once, and have no intention of returning. I thought the coverage of that Royal event was going to last for weeks, maybe months, and the 328 deaths from tornadoes became secondary to a wedding an ocean away. I expected coverage of their honeymoon, perhaps all the way through their first child’s birth. And then our Special Forces whacked bin Laden and the Royal couple was abandoned as though it never happened. How’s that for a plot twist.

So after ten years we stopped the monster with a round or two through his left eye. The most wanted and hated man in the history of America. In all honesty, he probably wasn’t even in the ranks of top twenty mass murderers in the past fifty years. When you put him up against Eichman, Himmler, Hitler, Pol Pot, Mao, Stalin, or even Latvia Beria, he was something of a piker. Well, he was responsible for thousands of deaths of innocent men, women, children. And he’s cost the US 3 trillion dollars in ten years. Because of this one psychopathic, individual, we have been brutalized physically, economically and emotionally. We’ve engaged in two wars resulting in thousands upon thousands of deaths and injuries and immeasurable suffering and spending those trillions of dollars we might otherwise have used for extending our golden age. Glad he’s dead and don’t care to see a picture of him being all dead.

We write a lot about bad people. How many times do we give our killers super-human abilities. Osama bin Lauden proves once again that the worst killers are often the ones with the least amount of actual blood under their nails. It’s like getting rich. You don’t often get rich working a job, you get rich when lots of others do the work and you just direct.

Who is more evil, the killers in the trenches, or those who inspire, give them direction, define their purpose. Who do you think was worse, Hitler, or the groups of mass murderers who did the actual killing?

Writing believable villains is far more challenging than writing good guys. An effective villain has to be complex and self-deceived. A murdering brute can be frightening, but how many can hold a book together the way Hannibal Lector can?

Nothing unifies like fear. Now that the Boogy man is dead, how long do you imagine it will be before we get a new one to take his place?

Blind Baby Raised by Worms

By Joe Moore

When I first started attempting to write fiction many years ago, I subscribed to and devoured all the writer’s magazines out there. Writers Digest, Writer, and many more. I read every article, sometimes multiple times, and I would use a yellow highlighter to mark those pearls of wisdom from the experienced authors on how to be a better writer. Over the years, I accumulated large piles of magazines containing many yellow highlights. When the day came to clean out my closet and give the copies away to some of my writer friends, I first sat down and went through every edition, copying those jewels of advice into one complete list. Today, I will share them all with you. Maybe you might not agree with them all, but there’s a wealth of advice from countless bestsellers that can help improve anyone’s efforts at being a better author.

And if you’re wondering why this blog post is called Blind Baby Raised by Worms, check writing tip number 35. It’s the only one I personally contributed. Enjoy.

1. Easy writing makes hard reading, but hard writing makes easy reading.

2. Surprise creates suspense.

3. Vulnerability humanizes a character.

4. Anything that does not advance the plot or build character should be deleted.

5. Their reaction to a situation shows a great deal about your characters.

6. What your characters say and do under stress reveals their true feelings.

7. Coincidence is used effectively when it sets up a plot complication instead of a resolution.

8. Use all the senses to build your setting.

9. You are not accountable for the absolute accuracy or completeness of your factual information as long as it’s plausible. Write so it sounds right.

10. You can build characterization by seeing your character from another’s viewpoint.

11. The reader doesn’t know how a story will resolve, but they should have no doubt what must be resolved.

12. As a story grows, so should the obstacles.

13. Any word that can be substituted by a simpler word should be.

14. Suspense is created by having something extraordinary happen in an ordinary situation.

15. The simile includes the quality that is being compared as well as the comparison. The metaphor’s comparative frame of reference is only alluded to in the image used.

16. There must always be conflict in some form to keep the story interesting.

17. Deleting “very” usually strengthens a sentence or phrase.

18. Your story must interest you. If it does, there’s a good chance it will interest someone else.

19. Credible prose is not self-indulgent; it exists to illuminate the story, not to show off how clever the writer can be.

20. If you cannot describe your story in one or two sentences, you’re in trouble.

21. Rather than describing your characters, come up with actions that show what they’re like.

22. One way to decide if sex in a scene is necessary is simply to delete it.

23. If it comes easy, it’s a cliché.

24. Don’t give your characters names that are similar, start with the same letter, or are hard to pronounce.

25. A cliché is a sign of a mind at rest.

26. Think of your settings as a character.

27. The reader must feel that your characters were alive before the story began and will live on after it ends.

28. Begin the story where the reader will anticipate what happens next but is compelled to guess wrong.

29. A commercial novel is one that a lot of people buy, finish reading and tell others to read it.

30. The average reader must be considered a genius with the attention span of a two-year-old.

31. To get an editor’s attention, you have about three paragraphs in a short story and three pages in a novel.

32. Conflict, the basis of all good writing, arises because something is not going as planned.

33. Villains never think of themselves as “bad guys”.

34. Always start with the character, not the plot. The needs of the character will drive the plot.

35. Always use a cheap tabloid-style blog title to grab attention.

**********

“Sholes and Moore have been writing stellar thrillers that use religious themes for some time, and their fifth effort, the first to feature Seneca Hunt, is their best yet.” – Booklist

THE PHOENIX APOSTLES, in stores June 8. Available online now at Amazon or B&N!

Train Wrecks and Bad Guys

James Scott Bell

Unless you just got back from exploring the surface of Pluto, you have heard about the train wreck that is Charlie Sheen.

It started as a bit of industry gossip a couple of weeks ago. Sheen went on a radio show and started ranting about his producer in very unflattering terms. It got worse, to the point where the producer and CBS put a hold on their big hit show. Which means hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue. Which means this was getting serious.

The media was more than happy to put Sheen on the air, where his wild eyes and self-reflections ("I'm a total bitchin' rock star from Mars") evidenced a mind that desperately needed help. Even his X-rated inamorata described him as "a sad hot mess."

California authorities apparently agreed, and stepped in to remove Sheen's children from his presence.

Now, I like Charlie Sheen the actor. Very talented and appealing onscreen. My three favorite Sheen films: Wall Street, Terminal Velocity, The Arrival.

So at first I shook my head at Sheen's unraveling, then I started to get a little ticked off at what he'd done to himself and others. Finally, sadness was added to the mix.

Yes, I know he's responsible for what drugs he puts in his body, how he's treated women, and so on. He is reaping what he has sown. Still, I can't help feeling a little sorry for the guy.

Which brings me to the point of today's post. When you write about train wrecks -- people whose lives are a mess and who do things society generally frowns upon -- you need to find your way to a compassion point. If you do, you'll write much better fiction, because the emotions you create in the reader will be more complex.

This is especially important in the writing of "bad guys." I make writing students answer this question about their villains: Why do I love this character?  I force them to get deep into the background and relate to the bad guy in a tough love kind of way. As if he were a family member you deeply understand and care about. Sort of the way Martin Sheen, Charlie's dad, must feel right about now.

The least interesting bad guys are those who are pure evil, or just crazy. The ones who stay with readers will have different levels that give off a gray, rather than a black tone.

Dean Koontz put it this way: "The best villains are those that evoke pity and sometimes even genuine sympathy as well as terror. Think of the pathetic aspect of the Frankenstein monster. Think of the poor werewolf, hating what he becomes in the light of the full moon, but incapable of resisting the lycanthropic tides in his own cells."

So, for an insatiable public, the Charlie Sheen saga continues. I hope he gets the help he needs and really cleans up this time, because his children need a father.

Which reminds me, I have a bad guy right now who needs a little more of my sympathy. I'm going to see what I can find out in his background that makes him do the things he does.

What about your bad guys? Do you love them?

The real-life kidnapping that inspired KIDNAP & RANSOM

by Michelle Gagnon

My fourth book, KIDNAP & RANSOM, was released on November 1st. And unlike my last thriller, this time a real-life kidnapping sparked the initial idea for the story.

While researching border issues for THE GATEKEEPER in December of 2008, I stumbled across an article on the kidnapping of Felix Batista. Batista was a security consultant for ASI Global (if you saw the film PROOF OF LIFE, this was the same job held by Russell Crowe’s character).

Batista personally negotiated the release of more than a hundred hostages over the course of his career. That December he was in Saltillo, Mexico, offering advice on how to handle the uptick in abductions for ransom. While dining with local businessmen one evening, Batista excused himself from the table to take a phone call. On his way out of the restaurant to get better reception, he handed his companions his laptop and a list of phone numbers in case he didn’t return (this was a man who clearly knew you can never be too careful). Moments later, an SUV pulled to the curb and Batista was forced inside. He hasn’t been seen or heard from since.

The irony of the story grabbed me—the hero becoming the victim, an expert suddenly forced into the position he’d saved so many people from. Stranger still, his kidnapping wasn’t proceeding normally—there was no ransom demand, and no one claimed responsibility for seizing him. It was a true mystery. (And over the next two years, kidnappings and cartel violence in Mexico became increasingly rampant, spilling over the border to such an extent that related articles appeared in the U.S. media nearly every day.)

So I set off to find out more about narcocartels south of the border, and about kidnappings in general. I fixed on Los Zetas, mainly because their backstory was fascinating. Los Zetas is a gang comprised mainly of former Mexican Army soldiers. They were part of an elite brigade, comparable to the Army Rangers, trained in special operations techniques by the best in the business at Fort Benning in Georgia. Upon returning to Mexico, they promptly left the Army and went to work for the Gulf Cartel. Eventually, they branched off on their own, wresting control of drug trafficking operations from rival cartels. In recent years Los Zetas have become increasingly involved in kidnappings, murder-for-hire, extortion, money laundering, human smuggling, and oil siphoning. They’re suspected of killing the 72 migrants found in a mass grave in Tamaulipas last August, and of the murder of American David Hartley on Falcon Lake last September. The DEA considers Los Zetas to be the most violent paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico.
So when it came to villains, the choice was easy.

Last May, I attended the wedding of a friend from Mexico City who had helped tremendously with my research. At the reception, I was seated with some of his relatives. When they found out that my latest novel was set in their hometown, they were enthusiastic…until they heard the title.

“Oh, no,” one uncle said. “You cannot write about that. Mexico City is very safe.”

“Really?” I asked (in all sincerity, might I add). “I heard that most locals know at least one person who has been kidnapped.”

“Well, of course,” they all agreed. Every single person at the table knew someone who had been kidnapped. But as they explained, it’s much worse up north by the border with Texas. There, it’s really a problem.

Mexico is rapidly supplanting Iraq and Colombia as the kidnapping capital of the world. In the past decade, drug cartels and terror groups have seized upon kidnappings as a relatively low-risk source of financing. During a recent election in Russia, one political party’s entire campaign was funded covertly by ransom money.

Many kidnapping victims are held for months, or years. Some continue to be held even though their ransom has been paid. Many never make it home again.
I dedicated KIDNAP & RANSOM to them, and to people like Felix Batista who devote their lives to freeing them.

A Leisurely Read

By John Ramsey Miller


I've been reading Patricia Highsmith's "Ripley" novels of late. They were billed as Psychological Thrillers when they were being published, although I read very little of the element of suspense in them. They are rife with black humor. Tom Ripley's kills are leisurely affairs, and he is hardly even worthy of being labeled psychopathic when measured against today's villains. Tom Ripley is the amoral and sociopathic protagonist in the series. He is morally and ethically challenged. He is a murderer. He never kills for pleasure, but he will commit a murder for financial gain, or due to a threat to his self-image or one that could alter his status. To his credit, he doesn't kill every threat that crosses his path, just the more serious ones and only when circumstances are convenient. And this reader pulls for him to kill those threats and I want him to get away clean and to prosper. Having Tom as the protagonist was quite a feat for a book published in the 1950s, not so much when the last one published in the early 90s. By then ass-bite protagonists and thrillers were becoming a dime a dozen.

When Patricia was writing Strangers on a Train (which became a successful Hitchcock film) and other novels and short stories her work was considered low art--crime fiction in the United States, but she was fully appreciated in Europe and put in the ranks of Conrad, Kafka, Dostoevsky, and Camus. In her lifetime she was appreciated but she had to live in Europe to be so.

I enjoy the pacing in her books, her humor, the sudden violence, its aftermath. Tom Ripley is not so good as the cops are incompetent and evidence is rarely gathered or put together. The books are a great relaxing read and very entertaining. Sometimes I just want to read something in 2/4 time.

The Adventures of Balloon Boy

By Joe Moore

I was listening to James Brown sing “It’s A Man’s World” while trying to decide on adding to the gender bias thread stitched so well into TKZ posts throughout the previous week. But since my fellow blogmates so thoroughly covered the SinC vs. PW dust-up and the related Venus and Mars writing debate, I chose instead to talk about Balloon Boy.

We all saw it on TV. The Jiffy Pop-shaped silver aircraft streaking over the Colorado landscape. It was mesmerizing watching the helicopters circled the makeshift flying machine like they were covering the arrival of visitors from another planet. The possibility of a 6-year-old boy being trapped inside with the chance that the craft might run out of air and crash or he could come tumbling out at any moment. And we would all witness him cartwheel through the air and slam into farmhouse tin roof or rusty 1950s Chevy pickup. It was drama at its finest. And no one could look away.

If this had been a novel, it would have shot past Dan Brown on the bestseller list with millions lined up to get their copy. As writers, we would have all been asking the same question: Why didn’t I write that? And as readers, we would have been curled up in our beds well into the late night turning those pages as we devoured the story to find out what happened next.

So what can we learn from Balloon Boy when it comes to writing novels? That his story had all the elements of a bestseller.

Initially, there was an immediate grab with extreme danger: Breaking News! A young child’s life was hanging by a thread. Like any great thriller, there was a ticking clock—how long would the craft be able to stay up? Then there was a growing mystery: was the child even in the balloon? The event was ripe with emotion—anyone with children knows the sickening feeling of helplessness as they watched. After all, it could have been their kid.

So we had danger, a young life at stake, time running out, mystery, and gut wrenching emotion. The protagonist was an innocent boy possibly frightened beyond belief and fighting for his life thousands of feet in the air—all in front of a captivated world. And he may only have minutes to live.

Now we all know that for every great protagonist, there should be an equally evil antagonist. In this case, an unlikely character emerged—the boy’s father. As the story progressed after our heavy sigh of relief at finding that the child had been home and save the whole time, the spotlight shifted to the parents, particularly the father. We soon found that he deceived us and caused everyone undue emotional stress. He forced his child to go along with the scheme to fulfill his own personal ambition of securing a family reality show. He even called the local network affiliate to report the runaway balloon before he dialed 911!

The mother was an equal co-conspirator willing to let the plan go forth with full knowledge of the deception. As fear for the child shifted to disgust for the parents and pity for the boy and his siblings, we were taken on a ride that saw our feelings shift from one grand emotion to another as distinctly as a color wheel spotlight shining on an old aluminum Christmas tree—fear, relief, suspicion, revulsion.

The conspiracy started to unravel when Balloon Boy let it slip on a national morning interview that they did it for the “show”. The dedicated local sheriff started digging deeper and finally was able to pull back the façade and expose this despicable conspiracy for what it really was—a lie to capture the headlines and to make money even at the expense of a child.

How does any great story end? The villains get caught and must face their just rewards. The parents have now pleaded guilty and may have to serve jail time.

So what can we learn from Balloon Boy? That it was all there in plain view—the main ingredients for a solid, absorbing and captivating thriller. Boy, I wish I’d written that.

It’s Gonna Be A Thriller!

 

Tomorrow I head off to the Grand Hyatt in NYC for ThrillerFest, a gathering of fans, friends, and some of the best writers on the planet. Fellow Kill Zone blogmates Kathryn Lilley and John Gilstrap will be there along with soon-to-be-permanent Sunday Kill Zone blogger, James Scott Bell. There will be discussion panels, workshops, demonstrations (Amazon Kindle, ATF), parties, interviews, the Clive Cussler Roast, the debut authors’ breakfast, and the Thriller Awards Banquet among the events. A good time will be had by all.

If you’ve been to a writer’s conference such as Bouchercon, Left Coast Crime, Sleuthfest, ThrillerFest, and others, you know that it can be great fun and offers a ton of opportunities for authors at all stages of their careers. And if you haven’t attended one yet, move it to the top of your to-do list. You won’t regret it.

Here are some important reasons to attend conferences like ThrillerFest.

Inspiration. You’re sure to be inspired by the time you leave. Being surrounded by hundreds of writers creates electricity and excitement. And the inspiration is contagious. You’ll get support and encouragement from agents, editors, and other writers. And you’ll feel emboldened to go home and write with renewed enthusiasm.

Knowledge. Most conferences like ThrillerFest are built around panel discussions. You’ll find workshops and author panels covering topics from writing young adult novels to creating believable heroes and villains. No matter where you are in your writing career, you’ll always come away learning something valuable.

Networking. Publishing is about people. Meeting fellow writing professionals is invaluable in getting your name out into the marketplace.

Friendship. The potential for forming long-lasting friendships with your fellow authors is perhaps the best benefit you’ll receive from a conference. And those friendships come in handy when you need advice, a blurb, someone to brainstorm with, or just a word of encouragement later.

Fans. If you’re a published author, chances are you’re going to meet a fan or two at a conference. And trust me on this, there’s nothing more rewarding than to have a total stranger tell you that they enjoyed your book and ask you to sign a copy. The part of this experience that affects me the most is to hear a fan speak of my characters as if they were real. You can’t buy that feeling of fulfillment at any price.

Pitching. At ThrillerFest and other conferences, you get the opportunity to meet agents and editors. If your goal is to acquire a new agent or find a publisher, there’s no better place.

There are many great reasons to attend conferences like ThrillerFest, not the least of which is you’ll have a blast. For those that have attended, what memorable experiences can you share with us? Was it worth your while to travel to a distance city for a conference? Any other reasons to attend or tips to remember?

Serial Killers ….Not In My Books, and New Babies

John Ramsey Miller


I almost didn’t make it here this week because my middle son’s wife had a baby yesterday and we have been keeping their two-year old. I haven’t had a moment to do anything but gather the rope and throw the lasso as he roars by. I hate it when people show pictures of newborns because most are either ugly or featurless, and really ...who cares. I just put this picture here because this isn't true in my family. For some odd reason, all of my grandchildren are born looking like movie stars.

My blog this week was going to be about serial killers and this is what I got done on that...

Someone asked me the other day if I had written any novels with serial killers in them and I said not yet, and probably not ever. All of my books have killers in them, but the motivation for my killers is usually based on self-interest. A person who kills over and over again for sexual gratification holds no interest for me and I’m not comfortable writing about them. My killers are usually murdering for revenge, profit, in self-defense, or due to a twisted sense of justice. My killers [those who are main characters] are complex individuals. They are usually intelligent, but almost all have a warped perspective on the world.

I like writing villains. A protagonist usually has to win more or less fairly against an opponent who isn’t into the rules so much. Not adhering to any rules of engagement usually gives my killers an edge against their opposition. Yeah, it really wasn't going anywhere near new ground.

So, tomorrow is Father's Day, and as it turns out between the new baby (see above), my older son's family doing something because he is a father of four, it will be a smaller than normal turnout. It will also be 99˚ (after weeks of rain--think sauna) so I'll be staying close to the air conditioner.

So I ramble back and try to tie something together...

Now I have six grandchildren, three-and-three, and instead of merely messing up the house, they can wreck several acres when they visit together for Sunday dinner.

I've always heard that the worst killer imaginable would be a three hundred pound three-year old, and I believe it. My oldest son doesn't allow his children to use the word "kill", but his children (6 & 4) have "accidented" two baby chickens, legions of frogs, lizards, bugs, etc... Now children will do these things when they are together, never on their own. Thrill killing on the farm. They are good kids, but kids are like adults. As long as they are not accompanied by other adults they don't usually get into mischief. Two or more people and there is a chance for escalation. The clear exception is writers who do all of their mischief when they are alone.

By the way the new baby (born yesterday) is Shay Aurora Miller and she weighed 6 lbs 13 Oz, and I only mention this because I'll call her Sam, because I should caption the picture.

Why I Love My Television

by Michelle Gagnon

So I became engaged in a heated debate the other day with a group of friends over the relative merits of television. One friend was a holdout who was caught by surprise with the recent switch to digital- she'd never owned a cable box, and didn't care to start now. I thought that was a shame, and said so. And here's why: Hands down, I think some of the most interesting stories are being told on television. A series opens up the possibilities of a much broader story and character arc than any film, in my opinion. Which isn't to say that there aren't some great movies out there, but I think some of the current TV programming beats the majority of films hands down.

Here are my favorites:

• Nurse Jackie: Granted, there have only been two episodes thus far, but wow. I have a hard time imagining a movie studio greenlighting a project like this. Edie Falco proves there's life after Carmela Soprano, the supporting cast is great, and I can't wait to see what happens. It's the most caustically funny comedy out there right now.

• The Wire: Season after season this series paved new ground. I think it was the best police procedural ever made, and that includes Homicide, in which to be honest my interest waned halfway through.
• 
  
• Deadwood: Shakespeare in the Wild West. Swearengen was one of the best villains ever written, complex, smart, funny- he stole the show season after season. It's a shame this ended so soon.


• Mad Men: It makes one yearn for the days of three martini lunches. A brilliant portrait of life in America at a time when everything was about to change.

• United States of Tara: An Emmy is almost a given for Toni Collete in this role that allows her to chew the scenery. Roles like this for women of a certain age just don't exist in film anymore. And Diablo Cody proves that Juno wasn't a fluke, she's a major talent.

• The Tudors: The trashiness is leavened by the period costumes and fine acting of Jonathan Rhys-Meyers.

• The Shield: Dark, gritty, and one of the best and most realistic endings to a drama ever televised.

• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: This show is so weird and out there I can't get enough of it. You so rarely see cannibalism explored in two dimensions, alongside race relations, white guilt, and character so completely devoid of any sense of humanity.

Note that all of these air on cable networks- my argument for investing in a box over an antenna. Granted, there's a lot of trash out there, but there are some true gems as well.

So I'm curious to hear what everyone's current favorites are- there are many I haven't listed here that are mainstays on my TIVO, but these are the ones I rush to see when they're on.

It’s Smackdown Day and I need your vote!

By Joe Moore

It’s going to be a short post today because there’s little time to spare. Like any great thriller, the clock is ticking. My co-author Lynn Sholes and I are in a death match with none other than Dan-da-Vinci-Code-Brown. And we’re determined to win.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Dan Brown. At least I like his books. I’ve never actually met him, but I’m sure he’s a great guy you’d want to have a beer with. But today there’s something called the May Madness Thriller Author Smackdown over at a website/blog called Megalith. So a potential Brown-Sholes-Moore warm & fuzzy beer fest is not in the cards right now. This is serious smackdown stuff.

Each day of this month, the Megalith blog is matching up two thriller authors (or teams) to go head to head. The final round and championship will be on May 31. But today, we need your votes.

I mean, when you get right down to it, aside from a small difference of 80 million or so copies in sales, just like Dan’s, our thrillers have secret societies, ancient religious relics, angels and demons, globe-trotting heroes and villains, secret codes, seat-of-the-pants action, inside the Vatican cool stuff, creepy tunnels, dusty tombs, scary castles, and apocalyptic threats galore.

So call your family and friends, use names off headstones and the Chicago voter rolls—whatever it takes. Just get over to Megalith blog and vote. It’s a smackdown, and the future of the thriller world is in your hands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coming up on our Kill Zone Guest Sundays, watch for blogs from Sandra Brown, Steve Berry, Robert Liparulo, Thomas B. Sawyer, Paul Kemprecos, Linda Fairstein, Oline Cogdill and more.