January 8 – 14: “Plot, plan, or outline?”

We’re kicking off the 2018 with ITW Members Lynette Eason, Karen Ellis, Tim Waggoner, Susan Furlong, Marietta Miles, David Housewright, Thomas Perry, Kylie Brant, Sheila Lowe and Martin Roy Hill! Do you plot, plan, outline? Or, do you just go where your characters lead you? Why? Resolve to follow this thrilling discussion by scrolling down to the “comments” section to see what the authors have to say!

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Lynette Eason is the best-selling, award-winning author of over forty books. She writes for Revell and Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense line. Her Stolen Past was recently made into an LMN movie and airs February 2, 2018. Lynette is a member of ACFW, RWA, MWA, ITW, FHL, and KOD. One of her crowning achievements entails placing in the top ten in the James Patterson 2016 co-writer contest.  Lynette can be found online on her website, on Facebook, and @lynetteeasonon on Twitter.

Karen Ellis is a pseudonym of long time crime fiction author Katia Lief, whose 2013 novel THE MONEY KILL was nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark award. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her family.

Tim Waggoner has published close to forty novels and three collections of short stories. He writes original dark fantasy and horror, as well as media tie-ins, and his articles on writing have appeared in numerous publications. He’s won the Bram Stoker Award, been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award and the Scribe Award, his fiction has received numerous Honorable Mentions in volumes of Best Horror of the Year, and he’s twice had stories selected for inclusion in volumes of Year’s Best Hardcore Horror. He’s also a full-time tenured professor who teaches creative writing and composition at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio.

Susan Furlong was introduced to the American Irish Traveller community when a family of Travellers worked on her home. After extensive research, her fascination with this itinerant subculture became the basis for her new suspense series. Susan contributes to the New York Times bestselling Novel Idea Mysteries, under the pen name Lucy Arlington, and is the author of other mysteries as well. Raised in North Dakota, she graduated from Montana State University. She and her family live in central Illinois.

Marietta Miles’ shorts and flash can be found in Thrills, Kills and Chaos, Flash Fiction Offensive, Yellow Mama, Hardboiled Wonderland and Revolt Daily. Her stories have been included in anthologies available through Static Movement Publishing and Horrified Press. She is rotating host for Noir on the Radio, Dames in the Dark and contributor to Do Some Damage Writer’s Blog. Her first book, ROUTE 12, was released February of 2016. Born in Alabama, raised in Louisiana, she currently resides in Virginia with her husband and two children.

A former president of the Private Eye Writer’s of America (2014-15), David Housewright has published 19 crime novels, including What the Dead Leave Behind (June 2017, St. Martin’s Minotaur). He has earned an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America (Penance) and three Minnesota Book Awards (Practice to Deceive, Jelly’s Gold and Curse of the Jade Lily). His 20th novel – DARKNESS, SING ME A SONG – will be published in January, 2018 (St. Martin’s Minotaur). His work has also been featured in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and True Romance Magazine as well as mystery anthologies including Silence of the Loons, Twin Cities Noir and Once Upon a Crime. Housewright has also published a collection of short stories entitled Full House (Down & Out Books). In addition, Housewright has taught novel-writing courses at the University of Minnesota and Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, MN.

Thomas Perry is the bestselling author of 25 novels, including the critically acclaimed Jane Whitefield series, Forty Thieves, The Old Man and The Butcher’s Boy, which won the Edgar Award.

Kylie Brant is a native Midwesterner and resides in Iowa. She has the distinction of selling the first book she ever wrote. That began a career that has spanned forty novels. She’s garnered numerous nominations and awards, including twice winning the overall Daphne du Maurier Award for excellence in mystery and suspense, and a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times. Kylie is a three-time RITA nominee and has been nominated for five RT awards. Her recent novel, PRETTY GIRLS DANCING, was a #1 Amazon bestseller. She’s a mother of five, a former elementary special education teacher and an accomplished multi-tasker. Her books have been published in twenty-nine countries and translated into eighteen languages.

The mother of a tattoo artist and a former rock star, Sheila Lowe figures she’s a cool mom. She lives in Ventura with Lexie the Evil Cat, where she writes the award-winning Forensic Handwriting series. Like her fictional character Claudia Rose, she’s a real-life forensic handwriting expert who testifies in court cases. Despite sharing living space with a cat, Sheila’s books are “medium boiled,” psychological suspense, definitely not cozy. She puts ordinary people into extraordinary circumstances and makes them squirm. Her non-fiction books about handwriting include The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Handwriting Analysis, Handwriting of the Famous & Infamous, and Handwriting Analyzer software.

Martin Roy Hill is the author of the Linus Schag, NCIS, thrillers, the Peter Brandt thrillers, and the award-winning short story collection DUTY, and EDEN: A Sci-Fi Novella. Martin’s short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, ALT HIST: The Journal of Historical Fiction and Alternative History, Mystery Weekly Magazine, Crimson Streets, Nebula Rift, Devolution Z, and others. A former national award-winning investigative journalist, Martin is now a military analyst.