10 tip-offs that you're into crime fiction

by Colby Marshall

Author of the McKenzie McClendon novels

I was recently on an anniversary trip with my husband, and while we were taking a romantic river  walk, we stopped to look out onto the water.  As we leaned our heads together in the moonlight, I whispered to him, "What is we saw a dead body in the water right now?"

 

Luckily, he's used to this sort of thing with me being a thriller writer and all, but this got me to thinking that mystery and thriller writers and readers are definitely an eccentric bunch.  Therefore, I give you the Top Ten Ways to Know You're a Mystery/Thriller Reader or Writer:

 

10.) You assume the power company representative who knocks on your door to tell you he will be trimming limbs too close to the power line is a government agent/serial killer/robber casing your house.  In fact, you often won't answer the door in case that is so.

 

9.)  You have an escape plan to get away from a killer chasing you in your house.

 

8.) When you read a book, you automatically distrust any character who gains your trust too much.

 

7.) Every time you start to crank your car, you subconsciously hold your breath in case you hear that little sound that means turning the ignition has set off a bomb (as if you could do something about it).

 

6.) Having a panic room built into your home does not seem like paranoia.

 

5.) You see a really large spiral staircase and feel the need to mention that it would be very easy for a killer to use said staircase to plan a death that looks like an accident.

 

4.) You eye the car in your rearview mirror every time you turn to make sure he's not tailing you.

 

3.) You've arranged a code word with your spouse/kids to signal that text messages are really coming from you.

 

2.) When you go out of town, you leave three lights on so the robbers will think someone's still home.

 

    1.)  More than once, you've contemplated the fastest way you could get dressed to run away from a killer if you are in the shower/in bed/in the bathroom should an intruder/a mysterious fire/a nemesis out for revenge happen upon your house.  

 

What habits do you have that show your mystery reader or writer colors?

 

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Writer by day, ballroom dancer and choreographer by night, Colby has a tendency to turn every hobby she has into a job, thus ensuring that she is aperpetual workaholic.  In addition to her 9,502 regular jobs, she is also a contributing columnist for M Food and Culture magazine and is a proud member of International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime.  She is actively involved in local theaters as a choreographer and sometimes indulges her prima donna side by taking the stage as an actress.  She lives in Georgia with her family, two mutts, and an array of cats that, if she were a bit older, would qualify her immediately for crazy cat lady status.  Her debut thriller, Chain of Command is about a reporter who discovers the simultaneous assassinations of the President and Vice President may have been a plot to rocket the very first woman—the Speaker of the House—into the presidency.  Chain of Command is now available, and the second book in her McKenzie McClendon series, The Trade, is due for publication by Stairway Press this month. You can learn more about Colby and her books at www.colbymarshall.com.