 PLOT, CHARACTER & CONFLICT:
How suspense and romantic suspense writers can create a multi-book "family series" similar to a series on TV, so readers will come back again and again for the next book--to find out what murder, romance and mayhem occur with the black sheep, the sexy older brother, the misfit, the spoiled daughter, the parents, the ex-wife, etc. etc.
About:
Joan Johnston has an eclectic background. Now the bestselling, award-winning author of forty-six novels, she was formerly an attorney with Hunton & Williams in Richmond, Virginia and Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in Miami, Florida. Joan also worked as a newspaper editor and drama critic in San Antonio, Texas, as a director of theatre in Southwest Texas, and as a college professor, most recently at the University of Miami, Florida. Joan has a B.A. in theatre arts from Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida, an M.A. in theatre from the University of Illinois in Urbana and received her J.D. with honors from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law.
 Joan loves to travel and visited England and Scotland to do research for her Captive Hearts series (Captive, After the Kiss, The Bodyguard and The Bridegroom). She also made journeys to Tahiti, Australia and Bali--for a South Seas, WWII novel that she hopes to write. Joan's books have appeared on the New York Times, USA TODAY and Publisher's Weekly Bestseller Lists.
For her Bitter Creek series, Joan toured the legendary King Ranch in South Texas and took a course on tracking (humans and animals!) from a Deputy Marshal deep in the Big Bend country of West Texas. She also traveled to Australia to tour the big cattle stations there and see what life is like Down Under.
Joan is a member of the Authors Guild, Novelists, Inc., International Thriller Writers and Romance Writers of America. She divides her time between homes in Colorado and Florida.
Look for Shattered, in stores now and Invincible, in stores September 2010. |
"Lessons Learned the Hard Way"
When I was growing up in the small town of Lucedale, Mississippi, I had big dreams. I wanted to be a cowgirl, a writer, and Nancy Drew. Life has surely thrown me more than a few twists, but dreams are hard to destroy. Today, I’m all three--sort of. Of course the only mysteries I solve are in Zinnia, Mississippi. And I have the help of Sarah Booth Delaney, Tinkie, Cece, Coleman, Millie and a host of other characters. They’ll be quick to tell you they do all the hard work--I’m just the writer.