Hey everyone,
Today I am re-running a piece by Taylor Adams I found very interesting to read, especially after reading his debut Thriller Fiction No Exit, which is all set to hit the stores! If you haven’t got your copy yet, you will get the urge to buy it after reading this piece today! It’s witty and brilliant.
Click here to read my review of No Exit
Before we go, here’s a short Bio about the author.
Author Bio:
Taylor Adams graduated from Eastern Washington University with the prestigious Edmund G. Yarwood Award. His directorial work has screened at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival and his writing has been featured on KAYU-TV’s Fox Life blog. He lives in Washington state and has written two previous novels, Eyeshot and Our Last Night, which were published as e-books by a U. K. publisher.
He tweets @Tadamsauthor
12 Things I Learned Writing No Exit
1. My writing “power hours” are apparently 5 a.m. to 7 a.m.
Thank God for coffee.
2. Book titles are hard.
Originally this one was No Rest, which, although poetic and loaded with narrative meaning, didn’t quite
convey the intensity/genre of the novel. My mom came up with the title No Rest, which made changing
it extra hard!
3. Nail guns can penetrate soft targets, such as human flesh, at distances up to around 10 feet.
Thanks, YouTube.
4. Shutting your fingers inside a door hurts.
Not sure why I felt the need to test this at home, but the findings are hard to argue with.
5. According to Google, there’s a lot of crime at rest stops.
After hours + high vehicle traffic + low police presence = a fun setting for a thriller.
6. No Exit has an alternative ending.
Maybe I’ll do a blog piece on the ending I’d originally planned… this resolution was darker and twistier, but ultimately felt like too much additional “ending” bolted onto the story’s climax.
7. Hold onto your favorite ideas – you never know when they’ll come in handy.
There’s a certain plot twist to No Exit that I’d been literally waiting to use for years. I’d always wanted a chance to fit it into a story, and I finally got to.
8. The very first word of a novel probably shouldn’t be “F***.”
I have my editor to thank for that insight.
9. Suspense is about uncertainty.
With this novel, I used many of the techniques that worked with Eyeshot, but hopefully with more finesse. The story is more complex, and develops through more reveals and reversals. The setups are better drawn, I think, and the payoffs are richer.
10. Heroes should make mistakes.
Throughout the chaotic night, Darby screws up almost as much as she succeeds. But I hope the protagonist’s realistic stumbles – and the ways she digs in and overcomes them – make her eventual victories all the more badass.
11. Heroes are only as good as their challenges.
Every win should be hard-fought. Every loss should hurt. And ultimately, as in real life, no one is immune to the cruel whims of bad luck.
12. On that note, heroes don’t always survive to the last page.
I hope you enjoy…
Soooo, whatcha think? Isn’t it AMAAAZINGGG?? I totally loved the book. It kept me hooked till the very last page and I swear I am not exaggerating! If you are a crime Fiction fan, then you MUST read this book!
Click here to read my review of No Exit.
Book Details:
No Exit by Taylor Adams
On Sale January 22nd, 2019 from William Morrow Books
A kidnapped little girl locked in a stranger’s van. No help for miles. What would you do?
On her way to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets caught in a fierce blizzard in the mountains of Colorado. With the roads impassable, she’s forced to wait out the storm at a remote highway rest stop. Inside, are some vending machines, a coffee maker, and four complete strangers.
Desperate to find a signal to call home, Darby goes back out into the storm . . . and makes a horrifying discovery. In the back of the van parked next to her car, a little girl is locked in an animal crate.
Who is the child? Why has she been taken? And how can Darby save her?
There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, and no way out. One of her fellow travelers is a kidnapper. But which one?
Trapped in an increasingly dangerous situation, with a child’s life and her own on the line, Darby must find a way to break the girl out of the van and escape.
But who can she trust?
