Day 4 - Pages 375-434

At this stage in a thriller—in mine, anyway—the scenes become shorter and more fast-paced as the tension picks up in a race toward unmasking the villain. This is, for me, the easiest segment of the creative task. The last hundred pages of my books almost seem to write themselves, and I find myself zipping along at the keyboard in much the same breathless way I want my readers to zip through the pages.

As a writer whose favorite hobby is travel, I love to breathe life into my settings based on what I’ve seen and where I’ve been.

Now here we are in Seattle, another of my favorite cities. I spent almost a month traveling through the Pacific Northwest in the summer of 2007, and couldn’t get enough. I decided I would have to set a future novel there so I’d have a great excuse to go back!

When it came time to write DEAD BEFORE DARK, I was able to revisit some of my favorite Seattle haunts—on paper, anyway. I stayed at the Waterfront Marriott, as Lucinda, Vic, and the others do here. I spent lots of time walking through the Pike Place Market, and soaking up the sea air and scenery on the wooden pier overlooking Elliott Bay.

I regret that I didn’t have a chance to visit the U-Dub campus in person—I didn’t write the book until long after my visit—but I found that the school has a wonderful website that helped me to research the locale.

You might have noticed that Lucinda is a bit of a control freak. So am I. So, for that matter, is the Night Watchman. Fun, isn’t it?

When I conceived the premise of a serial killer matching wits with a psychic, I knew my heroine would have to be a particularly strong character; as powerful, in her way, as the killer is in his. I liked the idea of maintaining her controlling personality even when she’s realized she’s an intended victim, but it wouldn’t be realistic not to explore her vulnerable side—even if it’s never revealed to anyone but the reader.

I also liked that idea that a self-sufficient woman like Lucinda—a woman in charge of her own life—would be more unnerved by falling in love than she is by the psychotic killer who’s stalking her.

For Lucinda, getting closer to Randy represents losing control. Staying one step ahead of the killer represents the ultimate control. But at this stage in the story, we need to see her falter a little, or she wouldn’t be human—or very likeable.

They say death is the great equalizer. I found it heart-wrenching to depict Frank’s deathbed scenes, and a challenge to stay true to the character until his last breath. It wouldn’t be realistic for him to suddenly transform into a docile, loveable softy—but the reader needs to be able to relate to the character now, and have empathy for him. I worked hard to keep him true to character and to delve into issues that confront every terminally ill person--like facing humility and fear; preserving dignity. I wanted to portray all of it in a realistic way.

I also needed Frank’s fate to serve as a turning point for both Randy and Neal—especially Neal. I really didn’t want to resort to any long, inspiring, melodramatic deathbed speeches, so I steered clear of that. But I did feel like it was important for us to see that Frank has grown, and that he, in turn, will help his old nemesis Neal grow.

A final aside: I’ve always loved the music from Guys and Dolls, one of my favorite shows. When I realized it would serve this plot well, I made the mistake of going to iTunes and downloading IF I WERE A BELL to the computer where I do my writing. I played it as I wrote the scenes where it’s mentioned…and then found myself with that darned song stuck in my head for weeks afterward. Not that I don’t love the song…but it’s so catchy that once you hear it a couple of times, it’s on instant automatic replay forever.

Our fourth trivia question: under what name does the serial killer register at the Motel 6? Please email your answer to me at contactwcsc@yahoo.com. I’ll draw one random winner from the correct entries to receive a $10 Borders gift card that can be used to purchase a new novel now that you’re nearing the end of this one!

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