Blog - Page 5 of 8 - J. Carson Black

Learn from bestselling thriller authors

Back in Michelangelo’s day, artists were apprenticed to the masters. They spent years copying the paintings of the great artists.

By doing so, they learned. They learned where to put which kind of detail, they learned color, brushstrokes, composition, perspective. They absorbed it all by doing—until it came naturally. They developed a sure hand.

The best teachers are the finest writers in your genre—the ones who resonate with you. In my case, they are bestselling thriller authors. You can learn from them for the price of a hardcover or even a paperback book. The only other thing you need is a pen.

I would buy the hardcover books of the great authors in my genre—the four or five I could relate to, and then I would dissect their books, looking for the signposts of their craft, and marking up the pages of their print editions. I didn’t want to sound like any one of them, I just wanted to learn what they did and how they did it. What I learned was the rhythm of the type of book I most wanted to write.

A book covers a lot of ground. There’s a beginning, a middle, and an end, with many other points in between. You read and study enough great writers in your genre, and you start to catch on to that rhythm: what goes where, when. You absorb it so that it comes naturally. And you learn to give little gifts to your reader along the way.

My teachers have been numerous. Michael Connelly, Jeffery Deaver, Robert Crais, James W. Hall, T. Jefferson Parker, Stephen King, John Lescroart, and C.J. Box. All different from one another, but great teachers, and all bestselling thriller authors.

My advice to you: buy the books written by the masters in your genre. Get out your pen, write in the margins (sorry, Mom!), and figure out what they’re doing and why. When I was preparing to write The Shop, I knew I really had to step up my game, and I leaned on these masters to glean what I could to hone my craft.

Teach yourself. Learn from the very best, and who knows? You could join the ranks of bestselling thriller authors.

It only costs the price of a book and a pen.

Categories: Writing

Why I Write a Male Character, Cyril Landry

I’ve been asked why I write a male character, many times.

And I’m not alone in writing a character of the opposite sex. My good friend, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Michael Prescott writes primarily female characters. Tough, strong, witty, smart female characters, like the star of his Bonnie Parker series. He’s got millions of copies in print, so clearly, whatever he’s doing, it’s working.

Is there a barrier to thinking like someone of the opposite sex? I guess it depends on the person. People are all different from one another, but in many ways men and women aren’t all that different at all.

Of course that depends a lot on upbringing, religious beliefs, their station in life, whether or not people have been cossetted and loved, raised strong, or been abused. Those things can happen to males and females, depending on where you live and what religion you belong to. But people are people, and the tiny shoot of green in their souls will handle even terrible experiences, all according to who and what they have become as individuals.

Bluelight Special Free Short Story from J. Carson Black

In this short story, Cyril Landry stands up for the little guy on the racetrack backside.

As an author, I just see people as people. I take into account their experiences. For instance, my character Cyril Landry was a Navy SEAL. He grew up on the horseracing circuit in a trailer with his brothers and sisters. There were aspects of Cyril Landry I understood to begin with, and parts of him that became real as I wrote him. And since individuals are individuals—he is what he is.

What’s nice for me (and I suspect this is the case with both male and female characters who write opposite-sex protagonists) is there’s just the tiniest bit of separation there, which, conversely, makes a writer feel unfettered. I can go all the way with a male character. There aren’t the bonds on me that came from kindergarten and grade school and high school and yes, Catechism; all the little signals that tell a child they need to conform to a certain norm.

In many ways, it’s a relief to write a male character. There are not as many “shoulds” and “shouldn’ts”

Which is a big reason why I enjoy writing the opposite sex. Cyril Landry lives.

Categories: Cyril Landry Writing

The Toolshed makes it a Hard Return

Sounds innocuous, doesn’t it? Almost boring. You picture some metal shed near a lawn and a strip of driveway. Where you keep the rake, the shovel, and the fertilizer.

But what if a “toolshed” is not what it seems?

What if you need certain tools that aren’t on sale at Ace Hardware?

Like a guy who can take out somebody you don’t like.

If you’re connected the right way, you can go to the Toolshed, and pick out your tool.

In Hard Return, Cyril Landry wants to attract the attention of certain people who are looking for such a service. So he puts himself out there. And someone comes a’calling: his old friend, a former Navy SEAL named Eric Blackburn.

Here’s the scene:

Eric said, “Your picture was floating through the Toolshed, so I snagged it…. Got your contract, too.” He set the phone down, leaned back, and stretched out his legs, crossing his tennis-shoed feet at the ankles. “Seriously, dude, the people I work with wouldn’t be happy about the way you’re sniffing around.”

According to my source (wow, I just said “according to my source!”), when you want someone done yesterday, there’s a place you can go: the Toolshed. You put out feelers. It’s kind of like a forum, kind of like thin air, where some tough characters and assassins with good resumes are available to get the job done. You go to the Toolshed and pick out the right tool.

And if you’re selling your wares, sometimes, you just hang out in an outdoor café in Austria, and look like you mean business. Which is what Cyril Landry does in Hard Return and then makes his “hard return.”

So how do you get access to The Toolshed?

That’s above my pay grade.

Is the Toolshed for real? Is it for REALLY real?

That’s for you, dear reader, to decide.

Categories: Cyril Landry Hard Return

Jerry Boam shows up in Spectre Black

While I know the general direction of a story, I don’t know everything.

In Spectre Black, Cyril Landry is parked under a big tree that hides his car, waiting to meet up with his friend and former lover, Tobosa County Sheriff’s detective Jolie Burke.

Jolie used the pay phone there–yes, it still worked.

Jolie disappeared a few days ago, and the last phone call she made was to Landry, asking for his help. She gives him the place to meet: an abandoned Circle K convenience store along a lonely highway in New Mexico.

Landry waits there, but Jolie is a no-show.

Someone does show up, however.

When I write, I have a general idea of the scene and where I think it will go, and then I just … go. I write in a sort of trance, but I’m cognizant of the actual writing, the story, and how the words sound.

So I’m typing away on Spectre Black, and Jolie still doesn’t show up, and then an old rancher pulls in to the empty lot. I have no idea why he showed up. He says a couple of things to Landry, nothing that would be helpful, then drives off. His name? Jerry Boam. I just typed whatever drifted in through my transom. Which, in my trancelike state, became a big bottle of wine called a Jeroboam.

I get to about a third of the way through the book and it still bothers me that this old rancher type said a few words to Landry and drove away. What good did THAT do Landry? Or me, for that matter?

Much later, I realized that Jerry Boam was no accident. His name was no accident, either.

I had to change this character in Spectre Black from a walk-on part to someone more important in the scheme of things. I had to go back and change a bunch of stuff, but then it all trued up.

So I have to raise a glass to Jerry Boam, for showing up.

And sticking around.

Categories: Cyril Landry Spectre Black

Things that go BOOM! and a tin star

Many times my character, former Navy SEAL Cyril Landry, finds himself in need of (yet) another weapon.

In The Shop, he walked into a Mom & Pop gun store in Alabama to purchase some weapons. The place was a little frayed at the edges. There was a faded trout diorama in the window, along with a stuffed animal or two, and a rack of fishing poles. Landry plunked a goodly amount of money on the counter, and the guy was happy enough to go for a walk so Landry could place his order. I had a lot of fun writing that scene.

In Spectre Black, Landry starts out in another little cave of a store, this time in San Clemente, California. The owner, a grizzled Viet Nam war vet, purveys tennis balls. Not just any tennis balls. These explode when they are armed by the right racquet (Thanks to fellow author Will Graham for that idea, which seemed ridiculous at the time, but grew on me. Just goes to show he has a better imagination than I do). The tennis balls make their mark onstage toward the end in Spectre Black.

Also in Spectre Black, Landry and two friends, former homicide cop Jolie Burke and a former special ops pal of his from their tour in Afghanistan, “Eric The Red,” go shopping for a new sniper rifle at a local gun show. Landry finds a good one, checks it over, and buys it. On their way out of the gun show he notices a box-full of tin stars on a table—the kind a TV sheriff might wear. Gold ones, silver ones, all of them cheap. On a whim, Landry buys one for 25 cents.

I don’t know why I had him do that.

But later, the 25-cent badge comes in handy, because as cheap as it is, the thing still looks real. And Landry, who is good at impersonation of law enforcement and military personnel at all levels, sells it like nobody’s business.

Categories: Cyril Landry Spectre Black

Breaching the border fence with Spectre Black

Donald Trump wants to build a wall on the border between Mexico and the United States. That’s a big project, since the border between the U.S. and Mexico is 1,989 miles with more than 600 miles already fenced.

In SPECTRE BLACK, I needed to have a big scene set on the border. I spent a lot of time researching three towns/cities on the border between Mexico and New Mexico, and the nature of the fences and barriers there. Like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, I needed the one that was just right. I found it in Columbus, New Mexico.

For my story, I had to learn how to breach the border fence so that semi trucks containing contraband could drive through.

Fortunately, I have a guy.

My guy told me exactly how to do it. It included a blowtorch, precise timing, teamwork, and know-how.

I was able to breach the fence in Spectre Black in the course of three minutes, thanks to the crew and some precision tools (virtually, of course). I populated the scene with two guys who knew what they were doing, someone to drive the semi trucks through the border fence, and a precise way to return the fence back to its original position—

So that no one would be the wiser.

I don’t ask how my guy knows these things. But I am so glad.

I am so glad that I have a guy.

Categories: How Do I Get My Ideas? Spectre Black

Airport Fiction

When I started my first big thriller, THE SHOP, I wanted it to be (to quote Donald Trump): HUGE. Glenn and I tossed around words, and the best word that came to mind was “Airport Fiction.” A book that grabs you and doesn’t let go.

I’d had two eye-opening experiences with those kinds of books. On a trip to Florida to see our relatives, I picked out Jeffery Deaver’s THE BLUE NOWHERE in paperback. I wanted a shiny new book to take across country.

Turned out, I literally couldn’t put it down. I read that darn thing everywhere. In line with luggage, in line for the flight, at the bar where I nibbled on my sandwich, on the flight. I barely looked up to meet with my brother-in-law and his family, as we sat at an airport bar and I just read and read and read.

Frankly, I was rude. I feel bad about it now, but it was kind of like a fever. I couldn’t stop myself. There I was, meeting my father-in-law’s wife for the first time, and before you knew it I was sitting on a chair reading THE BLUE NOWHERE while everyone around me talked.

Warning: THE BLUE NOWHERE can lead to rudeness!

Fast-forward to another airport. This time I was flying to New Zealand. There was the Incredible Spinning Rack, and a beautiful blue and red paperback caught my eye. Florida! Boats! Murder! I read the first page of MEAN HIGH TIDE by James W. Hall, and was hooked like a hapless grouper. Airport Fiction.

This book changed the way I wanted to write fiction. It made me want to write crime fiction. It made me want to put hard characters on stage, bigger-than-life characters. It made me want to get visceral. MEAN HIGH TIDE opened up a whole new world. It led to Robert Crais and Michael Connelly, and so many great crime fiction authors. I’d written a romantic suspense—my agent thought it would sell well. Now I can fully admit I wasn’t very good at it.

Write what you LOVE. That’s the way to fly high with Airport Fiction.

Everything changed. I knew the kinds of books I wanted to write. Whether I’ve been successful or not in writing books in that vein is not for me to say.

All I can say is that those books gave me the passion to write what I love.

Categories: Books Cyril Landry

Thriller writer journey a long and winding road

I wrote stories all my life, but my two college degrees were in operatic voice. Which is funny, because as a kid from sunny Arizona, I wasn’t big on late nights, crowds of people, and big cities. Plus, even though my pipes were pretty good, I suffered off and on from stage fright all my musical life. I guess I got into singing by taking the path of least resistance. Everyone said I had such a good voice. I had some success (between bouts of terror) and talked myself into being an opera singer way longer than I should have.

After a summer in Austria, I finally realized it wasn’t for me. I wanted to be what I always was in my heart: a writer. At that point, I had no idea I was to become a thriller writer. I was going to write a book—a novel. Since I loved Stephen King, I wrote a ghost story. It took me three years to find an agent and sell it. I thought I would make millions (I’d bought the whole famous wealthy author story), but my first book garnered me 2500 bucks with Zebra Books, which I had to split with my agent.

So the book came out in mass market paperback. The cover was of a terrified woman with film tied around her neck. There was no “advertising budget.” But I got to do book signings in town and sold two more books to Zebra. A few more books followed, sporadically—as I went through five agents, one of whom died, and another who didn’t use email and sort of wandered away. But as I wrote, I got better. In between books, I received a ton of rejection. Every time I started a book, I tried to improve on the last one. I read the best in my genre, and studied a handful of authors who inspired me.

And I did get better. I was on my way to be a thriller writer.

Darkness on the Edge of Town was a huge step up, the first book in the Laura Cardinal series, and my agent sold that book for mid-five figures. Again, I thought: “This is It!” Made in the shade. The publisher bought the second book, Dark Side of the Moon.

The publisher declined more books.

Then Amazon came along. My husband got the rights back to all my books, and just in time. We put Darkness on the Edge of Town up on Amazon, and sold maybe one a month for five or six months. And then, one day, it exploded! The number of Kindle owners reached the tipping point. Just like that, I was selling ten thousand, then fifty thousand, then a hundred thousand books.

It was The Great Ebook Boom of 2011, and made a lot of authors household names. It made a lot of authors rich. People were filling their Kindles, and they went after the books that somehow rose above the babble. After that I sold five books to Thomas & Mercer, the publishing arm of Amazon.

They (who’s “they?”) always say “never give up.” The life of a writer–thriller writer, romance writer, science fiction writer, etc.–has a lot of ups and downs, but never count yourself out. Hone your craft and write a lot, and you WILL get better. And opportunities WILL come along. If you have a modicum of talent, if you write because you love writing, if you write because you can not NOT write, if you write a lot so you get better and better and better, if you find a genre you love, and keep at it consistently, you’re living in the best possible time to be successful.

Categories: Books Darkness on the Edge of Town The Writing Life

Spectre Black: taking the cloak off cloaking technology

When I started writing Spectre Black (which wasn’t called Spectre Black at the time) I started with the idea that Cyril Landry had to go in search of his friend and sometimes-lover, homicide detective Jolie Burke. She’s in trouble, but when he goes to meet her, Jolie’s not at their agreed rendezvous spot.

I am lucky enough to know a guy who knows everything there is to know about black ops and anything military. I was figuring out where to go after I started the book, and somehow, we got on the subject of cloaking technology. John knows a lot about it, and as I listened to him, I started getting excited by the idea. I knew there would be bad guys, and they would be hiding something, but cloaking technology?

This meant I’d have to describe it, and more than that, make sense of it. First, to myself, and then to others. I had to find a way to explain what it is, without writing a textbook about it. I needed to go for the neat stuff. Example: a small plane lands on a dirt airstrip, and all you can see are the puffs of dust coming up where the wheels touching down. In one instance, Cyril Landry encounters someone using cloaking technology (literally, the guy’s wearing a cloak). I had to describe it in such a way that Landry was looking at nothing, but that the “nothing” was, er . . . moving. That “nothing” had mass, but it looked just like the landscape—only moving at a walking pace.

It took some fancy footwork on my part, but I think (hope) I got the point across for Spectre Black. BTW, “Spectre Black” itself is not only the title of my latest Cyril Landry thriller, but is also drawn from the color of the Stealth Camaro made near-invisible by its Spectre Black coating. That took another concentrated exercise in creative explanation.

Categories: Cyril Landry Spectre Black

Write what you want

I’ve always been a picky eater. I drove my mom crazy. I liked this, but not that. Battles over vegetables were epic. So it stands to reason that I’m picky about where I set my books. I have to like the place. Or have some feeling for it. It has to mean something to me.

When I was a kid, we went all over the West in a camper, staying in national parks and campgrounds, driving through small towns, seeing all the landmarks like Yellowstone and Glacier National Park. I grew up in the West, and I love the West. I love the road. And because it’s my world, I set books in places I like to be. A lot of these places have long vistas under blue skies.

My latest Cyril Landry thriller, Spectre Black, takes place in southern New Mexico. Plenty of blue sky and long vistas. There’s one sequence on a long stretch of highway near the Mexican border that involves semi-trucks made near-invisible by cloaking technology. I’ll go into that in more detail in an upcoming post.

It’s not worth it to me to go to the inner city. I don’t understand the culture, and even writing about being hemmed in by tall buildings makes me nervous. Somewhere along the line I realized that if I want to write for joy, I could set my books where I wanted to set my books.

I spent one semester in the University of Arizona MFA program, having decided I didn’t want to be an opera singer after all. (Big cities, again, and late nights, and spending most of my time indoors. Nope.) The other students were younger than me. They wrote bleak stories. Angst. Misery. Ugly gray scenes. I think it might have been because that was what was popular. I realized pretty quickly that I didn’t fit in. But I didn’t stop writing.

My suggestion to anyone wanting to write a book: find a setting you want to set a whole book in. If you like bleak, go bleak. If you like the high Sierras, write about it. So much goes in to the Salad Shooter of our brains to make a book, and setting is an important part of it. Write what you want. Write the characters you want and the place you want. Don’t try to emulate someone else in that regard. Write for your soul. You get to build the world, so enjoy it, whatever it is you choose.

Write what you want.

Categories: Books The Leg Up The Writing Life

Learn from bestselling thriller authors

Why I Write a Male Character, Cyril Landry

The Toolshed makes it a Hard Return

Jerry Boam shows up in Spectre Black

Things that go BOOM! and a tin star

Breaching the border fence with Spectre Black

Airport Fiction

Thriller writer journey a long and winding road

Spectre Black: taking the cloak off cloaking technology

Write what you want

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