Carolyn Wheat Quotes

Carolyn Wheat is a former criminal defense lawyer whose Cass Jameson mysteries take the reader into the gritty world of Brooklyn night court. Two of the books were nominated for Edgar awards. She is also the author of numerous short stories which have won her an Agatha, an Anthony, a Shamus, and a Macavity award. Her book How to Write Killer Fiction is a must-read for anyone writing a mystery or suspense novel. She teaches writing at UCSD Extension and conducts writing workshops.

Also known as Author

It's like a convent, the hospital. You leave the world behind and take vows of poverty, chastity, obedience.

Carolyn Wheat
- World
- Poverty
- Leave
We don't want to read a book. We want to live an experience.

Carolyn Wheat
- Live
- Experience
- Want

Writing the middle of a novel is a lot like driving through Texas. You think it's never going to end, and the scenery looks the same.

Carolyn Wheat
- Driving
- Texas
- Novel
I first heard the term "meta-novel" at a writer's conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The idea is that even though each book in a series stands alone, when read collectively they form one big ongoing novel about the main character. Each book represents its own arc: in book one of the series we meet the character and establish a meta-goal that will carry him through further books, in book two that meta-goal is tested, in book three - you get the picture.

Carolyn Wheat
- Character
- Book
- Read
One key to the distinction between mystery and suspense writing involves the relative positions of hero and reader. In the ideal mystery novel, the readers is two steps behind the detective.... The ideal suspense reader, on the other hand, is two steps ahead of the hero.

Carolyn Wheat
- Writing
- Hero
- Reader