This past Monday was the Boston marathon. I’ve only run one marathon in my life and, because of an arthritic knee, that number will likely not get any bigger. The marathon is extremely humbling. It’s about 25% training. You put in the time and the miles but on the day itself, it’s 75% mental. It’s going to beat you up and you are going to want to quit more than once. What do you do when the question gets asked? Pack it in or push on?

Writing is a lot like the marathon in many ways. Talent can take you so far but then you need to push through the resistance and keep going. Trust the training. Trust the process.

Here are 3 crime fiction links, 2 quotes, and 1 question for this week:

3 LINKS

• The NYTs checks in with astronaut and now thriller author Chris Hadfield on writing, editors cutting a lot of words, Apollo missions, and retirement.
  
  
• The Guardian reviews the Penny/Clinton team up and finds a lot of thinly veiled score settling, insider research, and an efficient political thriller.
  
  
• I’m excited this series is back and according to USAT better than ever. USAT finds the return of the Best American Mystery series reinvigorated under Steph Cha and provides a good snapshot of the state of the genre.

2 QUOTES

Two quotes from Louise Penny:

• “Myrna could spend happy hours browsing bookcases. She felt if she could just get a good look at a person’s bookcase and their grocery cart, she’d pretty much know who they were.”
  
• “No good ever comes from putting up walls. What people mistake for safety is in fact captivity. And few things thrive in captivity.”

1 QUESTION

• What is your favorite mystery or thriller written by a ‘celebrity?’

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Until next Thursday, happy reading,

Mike

Author the Max Strong thriller series