I have the great pleasure of having Rick Chesler on my blog today. His new thriller, KiDNApped, is the second novel featuring FBI agent Tara Shores. The first in the series is Wired Kingdom, a book I highly recommend.
In this installment, when a renowned scientist with a solution for global warming is kidnapped at sea, FBI Special Agent Tara Shores must unravel a high-tech trail of S.O.S. messages encoded into the DNA of living cells. As each decoded message brings Tara nearer to the missing genius, it also takes her farther from help than she ever thought possible.
Rick holds a Bachelor of Science in marine biology and has had a life-long interest in the ocean and its creatures. When not at work as a research project manager, he can be found scuba diving or traveling to research his next thriller. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife, son and a cat.
Enough with the introductions, I give you Rick Chesler.
First off, thanks very much for having me as a guest on your blog. Let’s jump right in, the water’s fine:
Where you get your ideas?
There’s no IdeaStore™ as far as I know, so it’s strictly a do-it-yourself approach! Basically, I think a lot about stuff. That’s really all there is to it. I keep a file of ideas in my computer, so if I think of something on the way to work or in the shower or whatever, later I write it into the idea file. The ideas that are strong enough to support an entire book concept eventually get their own file. Then they get a sample chapter, and if they really seem promising, a first draft! So I’m constantly generating and evaluating ideas, premises, plots, characters. They say writers should write every day, which is certainly important, but actually creating something every day is important, too. If I’m waiting in line at the store and I know I have maybe 5 minutes, I’ll just play a game: “If you had to decide on a novel to write in the next 5 minutes, what would it be?” By the end of the 5 minutes, I think of a premise/plot, no matter how bad, just as an exercise. Later when I get home, if it’s good enough, you guessed it, it goes into the idea file. If I can’t even remember it later, well then it probably wasn’t that great.
How is writing the second book in a series is different from the first?
It’s a bit different not only for the obvious reasons of dealing with recurring characters, but also because you have an existing style and tone to maintain. And, hopefully, a reputation. It needs to be something that will please those readers who enjoyed the earlier books in the series, but with a fresh new storyline. Also, hopefully the protagonist grows in some way. The books in my Tara Shores series are not literally sequels—they can be read in any order, in much the same way as Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt series books can be, or Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels. It’s always fun, though, to include subtle references to the events of the first book, so that those readers will nod and smile in remembrance, but if you haven’t read book #1 yet, it doesn’t matter as far as understanding the story. Finally, you do need to consider to some extent how any irreversible events for your main characters in the current story could impact flexibility in plotting the future books of the series.
What is your process?
I covered part of this with the idea discussion above, but essentially I start with a premise first. The Tara Shores novels are plot driven, high concept action-thrillers, and so I like to start with an unique situation involving a serious crime that requires the protagonist to sleuth her way through it while avoiding death and serious bodily harm along the way. That’s what it’s all about. Exactly how it happens is figured out during the writing of the first draft. I don’t usually have a thorough outline, but I’ll have a carefully defined and thought out opening scene, a general ending in mind, and then a couple of stepping stone plot-points in between. When the first draft is done, I step away from it for a while, come back to it with fresh eyes and re-read it. Then the editing/revising/rewriting process begins; first independently, then with an editor/publisher. So by the time you hold the finished book in your hands (or in your Kindle), it’s probably been bouncing around in my head for 3 to 4 years. It’s not a quick process, and there are inevitable waiting periods in this business that I deal with by working on new stories: outlining them, writing sample chapters, generally moving things forward in some way.
If you have any questions or comments for Rick, feel free to leave them here and I’ll see he gets them. Be sure to check out his website at: http://rickchesler.com
Beth, I just wanted to stop by and say thank you for having me as a guest on your blog! If any readers have any questions for me, I’d be happy to answer them here.