Jeff Lindsay: On Writing His New Thriller Novel
New York Times bestselling author Jeff Lindsay discusses the process of writing his new thriller novel, Three-Edged Sword.
Jeff Lindsay is the New York Times bestselling author of the Dexter novels, which debuted in 2004 with Darkly Dreaming Dexter. They are the basis of the hit Showtime and CBS series Dexter. He lives in South Florida with his family. Find him on Twitter and Instagram.
In this post, Jeff discusses the process of writing his new thriller novel, Three-Edged Sword, his advice for writers, and more!
Name: Jeff Lindsay
Literary agent: Michael Carlisle, Inkwell Mgmt.
Book title: Three-Edged Sword
Publisher: Dutton
Release date: December 6, 2022
Genre/category: Thriller
Previous titles: Just Watch Me, Fool Me Twice, and eight in Dexter series
Elevator pitch for the book: Master thief Riley Wolfe must enter a lethal secure facility to steal a flash drive—or the only two people he cares about will die.
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What prompted you to write this book?
It’s what I do for a living.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
About a year. The ideas always evolve—sometimes because the original doesn’t work, sometimes because I think of something better.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
With the Riley Wolfe books, I always learn interesting new things. For Three-Edged Sword, I learned about modern safe-cracking, Russian icons, and Botswana, among other things.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
I’m always surprised when I manage to finish a book—and even more surprised when people like it.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
A well-written, exciting story, with a few laughs along the way, and some interesting new factoids to trot out at holiday parties.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Find something else to do. You should only write because you can’t help it.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
