KEN PELHAM

Last I checked, I had close to thirty books on the art and craft of writing. It’s hard to be sure of the exact number because, being the most disorganized man alive (and I have a trophy to prove it), they’re scattered all over the place. Readers of my work might suspect I use them as doorstops, but that’s another issue. Bastards.

Most of these books are about craft…point-of-view, dialogue, balancing a sentence, and so on. Some are on markets. All indispensible, to be sure, but probably my favorites are on the sinister details of suspense fiction. These are from Writer's Digest Howdunit guides, including Forensics, by D.P. Lyle, M.D., Police Procedure & Investigation, by Lee Lofland; Armed and Dangerous, by Michael Newton; and Book of Poisons, by Serita Stevens and Anne Bannon.

For some reason, my wife seems nervous when I’m reading Book of Poisons late at night and glancing over at her with beady little eyes. Yes, very nervous indeed. She needs to learn to relax.