About the Author

Elizabeth George is the New York Times bestselling author of sixteen novels of psychological suspense, one book of nonfiction, and two short story collections. Her work has been honored with the Anthony and Agatha awards, the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere, and the MIMI, Germany's prestigious prize for suspense fiction. She lives in Washington State.

Reviews

Here's a useful book for the novice writer battling the fears and insecurities that attend when she contemplates her first novel. Highly successful as the writer of a dozen novels of suspense (A Place of Hiding, etc.) and a teacher with significant experience, George reveals that those same fears and insecurities still bedevil her. She quickly moves beyond that to a consideration of the craft of writing-mastering the tools and techniques that a writer needs in order to create art. While George illustrates her points with passages from both her own works and those of numerous writers she admires (Martin Cruz Smith, Barbara Kingsolver, Louise Erdrich, Michael Dorris), this remains more of a how-I-do-it book than a how-to-do-it book. Thus George will typically discuss an aspect of writing, such as creating the landscape of a novel, illustrate it with examples from various writers and then show how she approaches it. The result is an informative, instructive and idiosyncratic examination of the structure of the novel and of one writer's rigorously disciplined approach to creating one. George makes clear that writing is a job and that mastering the tools and techniques of the craft can go a long way toward making a writer successful. Finally, she advocates self-discipline, or what Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One) calls "bum glue." As George puts it, "A lot of writing is simply showing up... day after day, same time and same place." Both aspiring writers and fans of George's novels should enjoy the author's insights into the creative process. (Mar.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

"A fabulous book for writers."--Birmingham News
"A useful book for the novice writer....Both aspiring writers and fans of George's novels should enjoy the author's insights into the creative process."--Publishers Weekly
"An impressively thorough and down-to-earth guide...a perfect DIY guide for the determined new novelist."--Sunday Times (London)
"An inclusive and enlightening examination of George's thoughts on the craft of writing."--Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"Ms. George breaks down the elements of a mystery novel with such clarity....Even for a reader who doesn't dream of writing, it is useful to understand this principle because it will enhance the reading experience of good books and enable you to recognize more easily what is wrong with the bad ones."--New York Sun
"You should buy the book to learn her novel-writing specifics. They're there in spades."--Orange County Register