Category Archives: Rob’s Posts

Rob Kelley here, thinking this week about the origins of our stories, but less “where do your stories come from?” and more “why the hell would you write about that awful stuff?” (I have a very dear friend, a kind, … Continue reading →

Rob Kelley here, thinking about scams and cons in fiction and real life. So I’ll start by saying a nonprofit I volunteer for was the target of a scam this last week. I’ll come back to that in a sec. Con … Continue reading →

Rob Kelley here, thinking about place detail in fiction. Dan Brown, whose book The Da Vinci Code has inspired numerous Paris tours, also changes several physical details about The Louvre to serve his plot (adding a window in the bathroom from … Continue reading →

Rob Kelley here, exploring real-time character development, which I didn’t think was about characters spiraling out of control, but maybe it kind of is. My initial character creation process has evolved some since my first novel in which I did detailed … Continue reading →

Rob Kelley here, thinking about upping the stakes in mysteries, suspense, and thrillers. I’ve been working on revising my third novel (title TBD) and have been thinking about the suspense-heightening technique “Enter Late, Leave Early” (ELLE), as illustrated with Dick … Continue reading →

Rob Kelley here, talking this last weekend with my crime writing colleagues about the increasingly chaotic world of publishing. Last weekend was our beloved New England Crime Bake. The sessions featured new authors, experienced authors, and legends, talking about craft, characterization, … Continue reading →

Rob Kelley here, continuing to learn what my actual writing process is versus what I imagine it to be. One of the books that was the talk of this year’s Maine Crime Wave was Matt Bell’s Refuse to Be Done: … Continue reading →

Rob Kelley here, writing this month’s entry on the road. I switched dates this month to accommodate another Maine Crime Writers’  travels and find myself writing this post while traveling. I was out in beautiful Albuquerque visiting with two of my … Continue reading →

Rob Kelley thinking about learning narrative structure. I’ll start with a clarification. I never (seldom) actually yell at the TV. But my wife, author Margot Anne Kelley, is extraordinarily tolerant of my habit of pressing pause while we are watching … Continue reading →