PRESENT TENSE: Suspense, Mystery, Thriller Craft and More

PRESENT TENSE: Suspense, Mystery, Thriller Craft and More

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Welcome to our Eight-Week Summer School Series
Genre, Character, Voice, Setting, Tension, Containment, Theme, and Twists—direct to your inbox
 • 
Andromeda Romano-Lax
How To Stay Sane Juggling Two Novels At Once
On the strange balancing act of debuting and drafting at the same time
 • 
Kristin Offiler
The Querying 411
Not sure where to begin? Who to query? How to do it? I’ve got you covered.
 • 
Kristin Offiler
I Didn’t Know I Wrote A Thriller Until I Queried It
Did you know that was even possible?
 • 
Kristin Offiler
How many times can you revise a novel?
For me, the limit does not exist
 • 
Kristin Offiler
How Limitations Spark Creativity by Jamey Bradbury
Show us less and we will fear much, much more. Our chance to scare you during your Labor Day beach weekend.
 • 
Andromeda Romano-Lax
Writing from the wound
instead of waiting for the scar
 • 
Jen Waite
When a Novel is a Masterclass in Suspense
Lessons from Tracy Sierra’s debut thriller, NIGHTWATCHING
 • 
Kristin Offiler
Why Books Shouldn’t Depend on Twists
A guest post from Erin Flanagan
 • 
Caitlin Wahrer
Genres Aren't Boxes, They're Planets by E.K. Sathue
How contributor E.K. Sathue found her way into horror, with help from podcasts, movies, and books
 • 
Andromeda Romano-Lax
How Limitations Spark Creativity
Plus an accidental Hollywood discovery about suspense: show us less and we will fear much, much more. Guest post by Jamey Bradbury!
 • 
Andromeda Romano-Lax
Reverse outlining lessons from an Edgar winner
PLEASE SEE US author Caitlin Mullen shares one of her essential craft tools for developing and revising suspense fiction
© 2025 Andromeda Romano-Lax and Caitlin Wahrer
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