Fireside Chat: Subverting Tropes | SCC 256

When writing a series, or even a standalone books, doing some prework can not only make you job as a writer easier, it can even ensure that your readers will have a better experience with your books. How do you go about it, and how can this addition to your process make you a better story teller?

Trope has become a dirty word in some writing circles, but the truth is that tropes are the building blocks of genre fiction. So, how do you keep your writing consistent with reader expectations (using tropes), while also allowing you to tell a story that is fresh and exciting? This is what we'll explore next to the fire. Come join us!

TAYLOR ADAMS is the author of several acclaimed thrillers, including The Last Word, Hairpin Bridge, and No Exit. No Exit has been published in thirty-two languages and is a Hulu Original film. Adams lives in Washington State. Revered by authors and readers alike for his singular cinematic intensity and the tenacious, unforgettable characters who drive it, Adams plunges us deep underground in this harrowing tale of a caving expedition gone horribly wrong. Blending the terrifying confinement of The Descent with the psychological complexity of a domestic noir, the novel follows two friends who discover that the darkness inside the cave is matched only by the secrets they brought with them.  The story centers on Tess, a shy and claustrophobic legal assistant struggling to make ends meet, who finally succumbs to pressure from her best friend, Allie, to join her on a trip deep underground. Their lives have taken drastically different paths since high school: while Tess scrapes by, Allie has become a confident, globe-trotting travel influencer. Tess reluctantly agrees to this spelunking trip, suppressing her fears for the sake of their friendship.  When the pair arrives at the cave mouth, their adventure quickly turns sinister. They encounter a stranger in the dark—a man who claims to be a fellow caver but whose behavior becomes threatening. When the bold, take-no-prisoners Allie confronts him before setting off with Tess, the situation simmers, paranoia brews, and danger soon follows: Tess finds herself separated, trapped in a narrow crawl space hundreds of feet beneath the surface, fighting a desperate battle for survival against the elements and a relentless aggressor. Twenty-four hours later, as Tess recounts her ordeal from a hospital bed, a detective reveals shocking new information about Allie’s past. These revelations force Tess to question everything she thought she knew about her best friend and suggest that the brutal attack in the deep was far from random.  Adams’s writing is suffocatingly tense, expertly utilizing the atmospheric setting of the cave to ratchet up the suspense. The narrative taps into primal fears of confinement, while exploring themes of survival, betrayal, and the complex, often envious nature of friendship.  HER LAST BREATH is a tour de force of suspense that will leave readers gasping for air. Fans of the high-octane pacing of Adrian McKinty and the twisting, character-driven mysteries of Riley Sager will find themselves captivated by this relentless ride.

Writing a book is hard work, but hard work can be satisfying and fun. Having an idea and knowing where that idea is going can sometimes be the easy part. We've all heard the trite question, "where do your ideas come from?" asked of every author we've come to respect and admire. But here's the truth: Ideas are EVERYWHERE. The bigger, and most important, question is: How do you take that whisp of an idea and turn it into an actionable PLAN? Hank and Abby explore this topic on this week's Fireside Chat.

Preston & Child, the New York Times bestselling author duo known as Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child individually, are at the top of their game. Their writing has been praised as “consistently exciting and never predictable” (Associated Press) and “[there’s] nothing else like them” (Washington Post).  PENDERGAST: The Beginning joins Pendergast as a brazen rookie under the supervision of Special Agent Chambers. While investigating a gruesome crime in the Mississippi bayou, they uncover a string of grisly, ritualistic killings that defy any known serial killer profile. With Pendergast’s brilliance and unorthodox methods, they solve the case and find the killer… and that is when the true horror begins.

Matthew F. Jones is the author of seven critically acclaimed novels as well as a number of screenplays. His novels have been widely translated and several times have been named on best novels of the year lists. Three of his novels, A Single Shot, Deepwater and Boot Tracks, have been made into major motion pictures. He has taught creative writing at a number of colleges and universities, including Randolph Macon College, Lynchburg College and the University of Virginia. He grew up on a horse and dairy farm in rural upstate New York and currently lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.

When tackling a new writing project, one of the first decisions that you must face is who is your book for? Believe it or not, when you honestly ask yourself this question and allow the answer to guide your planning, you might just unlock some of the trouble areas that have plagued your writing in the past. Abby and Hank are going to explore this topic and give you some real-world--and hard won--tips that might just transform your writing.

Brad Meltzer is the Emmy-nominated, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lightning Rod and twelve other bestselling thrillers. He also writes nonfiction books like The JFK Conspiracy, and the Ordinary People Change the World kids book series. Brad is also the host of Brad Meltzer’s Decoded on the History Channel and is responsible for helping find the missing 9/11 flag with his show, Brad Meltzer’s Lost History.

It’s been five years since heiress Clare Monroe tragically died on New Year's Eve at her family's fabulous Italian estate. Since that time, her college roommates have harbored a dark secret--their lies and misdeeds led to her death all those years ago. What happened that fateful night was a series of horrible accidents, but Luca, Harper, Sirina, and David are guilty, nonetheless. And their desperate decision to conceal the truth destroyed their once-close bond. Now, the estranged friends are each the recipient of an invitation from Clare’s family to an all-expenses-paid trip back to the Monroe's lakeside palazzo for a long-overdue celebration of life party. It’s an invitation none of Clare’s friends want to accept, but they can hardly refuse. Luca, Harper, Sirina, and David have barely settled into the idyllic estate with the rest of Clare’s family before they become targets of a series of unsettling occurrences. Someone here knows the truth, and as the menacing taunts and threats escalate, it becomes swiftly clear that nothing is as it seems at the Monroe palazzo, and their secret—and their lives—are in danger.  ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kit Frick is a MacDowell Fellow and International Thriller Writers Award finalist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College and received her MFA from Syracuse University. She is the author of the adult suspense novels The Split and Friends and Liars, the young adult thrillers Before We Were Sorry (originally published as See All the Stars), All Eyes on Us, I Killed Zoe Spanos, Very Bad People, and The Reunion, and the poetry collection A Small Rising Up in the Lungs. Kit loves a good mystery but has only ever killed her characters. Honest. Visit Kit online at KitFrick.com and on Instagram @KitFrick.

We all love a good writing challenge, don't we? NaNoWriMo (RIP) was an excellent challenge that helped a ton of writers get started as writers. We at Dabble even started our very own 60 Day Novel Challenge to help encourage and empower people to take that plunge and get their novels written, but do we have to wait until October or November to write? What if you're inspired in the middle of Spring? The good news is that most writers are always writing or thinking about writing. In today's Fireside Chat, join Abby and Hank as they discuss being a year-round and lifelong writer.