Blog Archives - Rick Acker | Christian Legal Suspense Author

Where book covers come from

Posted by Rick on Aug 29, 2010 in Blog, Writing | 129 comments

“Love that cover!” “The picture of the girl with the hand over her mouth is sooo compelling!” “Great cover–it really makes me want to read the book!” And so on. People think they’re complimenting me when they say that sort of thing, and I suppose they are. After all, my name is on the cover. And I did create...

The Author as Terrorist #5: The Final Chapter

Posted by Rick on Aug 9, 2010 in Blog | 152 comments

This is it! We’ve talked about how suspense authors, like terrorists, want to start with a bang, cross some lines, and keep people guessing. Now you’ve done all that. You’ve knocked ’em dead and it’s time to sneak off into the sunset, leaving the quaking townfolk to a sleepless night. How do you do it? Terrorists who hang around to...

The Author as Terrorist #4: Keep Them Guessing

Posted by Rick on Aug 1, 2010 in Blog, Writing | 187 comments

Effective terrorists manage to keep their victims in constant uncertainty. Will the next attack be a car bomb at the mall, sarin gas in the subway, or anthrax in the mail? Their victims live in constant tension, knowing that they could be hit at any moment from any direction. Suspense writers need to be able to do the same thing to our victims, er,...

ACFW Conference Preview: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Law (But Couldn’t Afford to Ask)

Posted by Rick on Jun 10, 2010 in ACFW, Blog, Legal Scenes, Speaking, Writing | 146 comments

Ever wonder what all that legalese in a book contract means? Or when it’s okay to quote from someone else’s work—and when it’s not? Or how to research and write legal scenes like a professional? Or what to do if you find one of your books on a pirate website? Cara Putman and I will be answering those questions and more at the 2010 ACFW Conference...

The Author as Terrorist #3: Crossing a Line

Posted by Rick on Oct 25, 2009 in Blog | 147 comments

How do terrorists terrify? By being willing to commit disturbing acts that decent human beings would never consider. Aspiring suspense writer: Go thou and do likewise (at least in print). It’s hard to create tension if your readers can sense that there are lines you won’t cross. Once they know that you won’t let anything really bad happen to “good”...

The Author as Terrorist (#2): Starting with a Bang!

Posted by Rick on Sep 19, 2009 in Blog | 165 comments

Last month, we started this series by talking about how old-school terrorists and suspense authors are the same in one important way: Like terrorists, we want to create uncertainty and tension that makes it impossible for our victims (er, readers) to focus on anything except what’s going to happen next in the world we’ve created. Now we’re...