CRIME AUTHORS SPILL THEIR GUTS ABOUT WRITING. Every Thursday top-notch authors of psychological thrillers and crime fiction share their writing secrets – and the secrets to their success – with you and me.
‘I’ve had three agents, two publishers, and was sure I was going to have to quit’
This week: BRAD PARKS author of Say Nothing
Tell us about yourself…
I’m a refugee of the crumbling newspaper industry who has no marketable skills besides writing, so I became a novelist. The transition was a little confusing at first: With newspapers, you get in trouble for making stuff up; with books, you get in trouble if you don’t make stuff up. But otherwise, things have gone far better than I had any right to expect. It turns out making stuff up is a total blast.
Where do you most like to do your writing?
I write at a Hardee’s restaurant, which is like a less-healthy McDonalds (if such thing exists). It’s basically me and a cabal of old people who are there for the 64-cent senior coffee. We have a lot in common: I’m writing about people who are dead, they’re talking about people who are dead. My agent worries constantly about the long-term effects of second-hand grease inhalation. But Hardee’s has free refills on Coke Zero and no wireless internet access—and thus, no possibility I will be distracted by shark videos—so it has become my go-to writing spot…TO READ IN FULL, CLICK HERE
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