How far ahead do you plot Eden Thrillers?

When I read stories that keep me on the edge of my seat, like the Eden thrillers, I always wonder how far ahead the writers know what will happen. Do you create the stories as you go along, or is there a master plan? (Or are these actually true stories...:))--Thriller Fan

site of Sharon's panic

B.K.: I think there is always some truth underlying any work of fiction. Usually some incident, some event that we witness or experience in real life acts as a springboard for our stories. I couldn't create interesting characters without having met people who fascinate me, whose personalities are unique and hard to forget. And while we may know the final ending of a story while writing the first paragraphs, many of the details seem to unfold as it is penned. Sometimes Sharon surprises me with elements in a story I hadn't expected, and sometimes I even surprise myself when I get to the end of a page I am writing and discover something about the plot or a character I hadn't expected.

SHARON: While there is usually room inside a scene for characters or actions to surprise us, the truth is that the stories are very carefully plotted--they have to be when so many stories intersect, and information from each character's journey, or story arc, gives clues and impacts on others.

When we begin work on a thriller, all we really have is the basic plot and the large story arc: beginning, movement of the story and the ending. Starting to bring in the characters at that point is THE FUN PART. Once that heady period of discovery is over, THE SLOGGING WORK PART sets in, as all those cool characters and fun story lines have to be meticulously plotted so that we, as the authors, know who does what when and when information is revealed. Thrillers are really an intricate series of set-ups and pay-offs, with the stakes rising as you go along.

Then, for me, the PANIC STAGE sets in as we figure out how we get to that big climactic scene and pull it off. ("We've got a girl, we've got a helicopter, we've got a bad guy, and this certain thing has to happen with other characters, how does it all come together???") That's when you've got to work and work and work to make it not only fit, but make perfect sense, and be the perfect denouement. But even now, when I'm really really happy with the denouement of TREASURE, I remember clearly an afternoon of pacing the grounds of a certain French chateau, saying to B.K., "But--arrgh..." for several hours running.

Once you have the order of the scenes, you're back to where the life of the characters and the book itself can start to surprise you once again. Which doesn't mean it's not still slogging!