Guest Blog by Jeremy Bates: The Situational Thriller Vs. The World!
I write situational thrillers. You know, those books or movies you've seen when the protagonist is smack-dab in the middle of something nasty, and you're thinking: that could happen to me. One of my favorites is Scott Smith's A Simple Plan. Why? Because as I read it I was thinking, Yeah, I would have taken the money too. A couple prominent films along the same lines that come to mind are Open Water—what would you if your scuba diving boat has left you stranded in the middle of the ocean? And Frozen—two guys and a girl stuck on a ski lift in freezing weather. Oh, and some hungry wolves far below!
What would you do?
Why do I like situational thrillers? Because, like legal thrillers with courtroom drama, the suspense is inherent. Why do I write them? My lighthearted answer: because they're easier for me to write than other thrillers, such as action-adventure, medicine, legal, etc. I love reading action-adventure, but, man, does James Rollins and the crew do their homework. Same with the other genres I mentioned. You have to know your stuff. And truthfully, I like telling the story, not doing the research. Sure there is research that goes into situational thrillers. But you're usually dealing with regular characters in regular environments (albeit exceptional situations), which makes it easy to take that initial "What if…?" idea and run with it.
My novel White Lies, which will be released by Oceanview Publishing in spring, 2012, is about a woman who tells a single white lie which quickly spirals out of control until her life and the lives of all those close to her are in jeopardy. What I enjoyed about writing it (aside from taking morbid amusement in sinker the protagonist deeper and deeper into trouble), was the fact that it touched on some pretty significant themes, namely the existential theme you are what you do, not what you say. Or, simply put, action speaks louder than words. In the end, it comes down to realizing you've muffed up and taking responsibility for your actions. After all, everyone has told a lie at some point. Who cares? The real judge of character is how you handle that muff up when it begins to turn sour. Do you take the apparent easy way out and tell another lie? Or do you man up and bite the bullet? It's an interesting question, one in which the answer might not be what you would have yourself believe.
Jeremy Bates
http://jeremybatesbooks.blogspot.com
Tweet
