Dan Krokos

Yes, I have pictures. I have video.

I’m too lazy to put them up right this second, mainly because I’m hungry and I’ve been in this chair trying to “outline” my second draft.

But here are two pieces of advice I got at Bcon that I’d like to share:

1.) Never kill a dog.

Kids? Risky but doable–see Gone Baby Gone.

Cats? Fuck ‘em.

But don’t kill a dog. Don’t do it. If you kill a dog in your book, people will find you and kill you. True story. I had more people tell me this than I can give credit to.

2.) Nobody gets it right the first time–Brett Battles

I got some one on one time with Brett Battles, author of The Cleaner, which is on my t0-be-read-very-soon list. I asked Brett how the big thriller writers manage to make their books complex and interconnected to the point where the reader goes NO WAY. You know that moment, where things come together and it’s almost too good to be true, but you still buy it because the writer is so skilled. A NO WAY moment.

I said, “How do you do that? I feel like a simpleton next to these guys.” My book has its share of twists, a fair amount of NO WAY moments. But I focus on a brutal, rage-filled pace. The nuance is sometimes drowned out in the violence.

Brett kindly explained that no one gets it right the first time. It comes with rewrites. You take a step back and see where things connect, then explore further. There is nothing god-like about the big hitters, they just know how to make their stories sing.

Probably something I already knew, but to hear it from a pro really hit home.

Good advice.

Pics and other stuff on the way. Maybe even a blow-by-blow of the highlights.