Carter Wilson | Thriller Author

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Writing

My Stupid Thing

Last month I promised to tell you a stupid thing I did. Time to make good on that. I've had a handful of embarrassing moments in  my life, most notably the time I feel asleep on a plane, had a nightmare, then woke up mid-flight screaming and scaring the holy hell...

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Waiting on a Volcano

I only went to one writer’s conference this year. Ideally I attend two or three, but, you know, that gets expensive! I made the hard decision to forgo Thrillerfest and Bouchercon (my usuals), and instead attend something truly special: Iceland Noir (“A literary...

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Find a Way to Write

I have a few mantras about writing that I like to push out to the world through public speaking and social-media posts (you may have seen my "writing tip of the week" videos; if not, shame on you). I'm a big believer in substituting action for excuses. As such, it's...

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What’s In a Name?

People are always surprised when they find out book titles are often not the title the author used. Looking back, my publisher changed the title of five of my nine books. And that’s okay! I’ve long since learned not to get attached to my working title, and often I’ll...

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Seven Steps to Write a Novel

Think of all the ways to spread an idea and you'll probably get a consensus that one of the most difficult ways is to write a novel. To express through character, emotion, and story that big idea you have. So many people tell me they've always wanted to write a book....

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Being Curious

Whenever I'm talking about my 20-year writing journey, one thing I always mention is the power of curiosity. Together with empathy and perseverance, curiosity is a necessary tool for the writer.  It gives the storyteller (and the reader) the agency to ask, "What...

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Why Novelists Hate Their Books

I did a talk and book signing last weekend at a charity event, and the organizers had five of my eight novels available for sale. During the signing, readers would scan the available titles and inevitably pose this question to me: "Which of these books is your...

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The Power of Being Humbled

In many interviews with writers, this question almost always come up: What one piece of advice would you give to aspiring writers? My answer is unwavering: write every day. But I'm never asked the second most important thing a writer—aspiring or...

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It’s time to write YOUR book.

This month marks a momentous anniversary: in March 2003 I typed the first words of my first novel.  I had no clue what I was doing at first. I never dreamed of being a writer, nor did I know anything about the art of writing itself. But twenty years ago I was...

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Death by Edits

A book comes alive in editing. Unfortunately, editing sucks.Editing is the time where you have face hard truths about your book, and as tempting as it is to tell yourself, ah, it's fine, the reality is without putting in serious post-first-draft work, your book will...

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