Allison Pearl

Author of Cozy Whodunits, Romantic Suspense Novels, and Bookish Blog Posts

Villains: Those We Love, Hate, and Don’t Want to Live Without

In a lot of ways, the villain makes the hero, and there’s something so satisfying when a hero meets his match.

World Building: Don’t let it read like a textbook

I am by no means an expert in fantasy writing or world-building, but my lifelong love for the genre has led me to the conclusion that while there is no right way to build a fictional world, a wrong way is to give your reader a textbook instead of a story.

The Horror Genre: I can’t stay, but it’s a fun place to visit.

Thrillers and Suspense stories may keep you up at night, but Horror will haunt your dreams.

How I’d do it: Could Allison Pearl get away with murder?

The devil may be in the details, but Allison Pearl is not.

Books. How many is too many?

The better question is ‘How are you using your books?’

When it all goes off the Rails

Lost momentum does not have to stay lost forever.

The Greatest Girls are Gothic Girls: Why I’ll always love women’s Gothic Literature.

I find nothing scarier in a novel than a villain just as human as me.

Writing Action: Don’t Forget the ‘act’

Know everything. Until you know everything in an action scene, you can’t write anything.

Am I a writer who doesn’t write?

If I’m not doing this whole writing thing right, should I be doing it at all?

Writing Work isn’t always Remote Work

But for a writer, an isolated life equals isolated writing.