Margie Lawson

Instructor: Julie Rowe

July 1 - 31;  Fee: $100

Writing Thrillers and Other Dangerous Novels 

Whether it’s a romantic suspense, thriller or crime novel writing books with a dangerous edge have their own pros and pitfalls. Julie Rowe, author of the military thriller Biological Response Team series, will explore with participants the following topics:

1. Basic elements of a dangerous novel – what makes them different from other genres for good or ill.
2. Finding your focus – narrowing down your subgenre of dangerous novel to give you a solid base on which to build your novel.
3. Who’s driving this run-away train? Plot driven, character driven or event driven – Options for how you develop your novel.
4. Character archetypes – the good, the bad and the ugly and why you need all three.
5. How did we get here? Using setting to its fullest.
6. Wars, disasters and other bad luck – using traumatic events to supercharge the thrill.
7. Research – how real does your novel need to be?
8. Writing an outline that works…for you.
9. Sing loud and proud – turning up the volume on your writing voice.
10. Writing that first page – where to start your story.
11. BONUS: Outline and first five page critique – for all participants.

Julie Rowe

Full-time author and workshop facilitator, Julie Rowe’s first career as a medical lab technologist in Canada took her to the North West Territories and Fort McMurray, Alberta, where she still resides (despite a wildfire forcing the entire city to evacuate on May 3, 2016). Julie’s debut novel, Icebound, was released by Carina Press on Nov 14, 2011. Ten novels and eight anthologies have followed. Her most recent titles are the MEN OF ACTION boxed set and VIRAL JUSTICE book #3 of the Biological Response Team series. Julie’s articles have appeared in magazines, such as Romantic Times Magazine, Today's Parent magazine and Canadian Living.

Julie facilitates communication workshops at Keyano College in Fort McMurray, and has presented writing workshops at conferences in the United States and Canada. She’s also a strong supporter of life long learning and moderates a free announcement loop for the promotion of online classes, workshops and webinars.

You can find her at www.julieroweauthor.com, on Twitter @julieroweauthor, or at her Facebook page: www.facebook.com/JulieRoweAuthor.