How much would it take for you to walk through this gate at night – alone? 

As I mentioned in previous articles, I’m a very visual person and many things can actually trigger storylines and chapters.  I can be driving in my car and see an old abandoned house or a creepy gate and think… Who lived there?  What happened?  What’s their story?  Why is it abandoned now? 

Everyone and everything has a story.  That’s what is so wonderful about being a writer.  You can create a storyline from practically anything.  It’s true that a picture is worth a thousand words – probably more.  I love to read and write stories that make you think twice before moving forward.  Weighing thoughts of what you have to loose.  To me, that’s what a thriller is all about.

My heroine Emily Stone in Compulsion had some quick decisions to make…

Emily eases her body closer to the farmhouse in a crouching position down the steep hillside, but she still can’t get a visual on the pedophile.  There are thick bushes and sharp thorns on some of the undergrowth catching on her jeans and scratching the inside of her forearms. 

She loses her footing and tumbles a few feet, but a stout bush abruptly stops her descent.  Her Glock sticks in the bush and she hastily recovers the weapon.  She’s covered in thick dust and has skinned her left palm trying to stop the fall.  Blood begins to seep through the wounds.  She stops and listens attentively, but she is stumped as to where the man went.  He couldn’t have gone far because he wouldn’t have left the little girl alone. 

Emily decides to climb back up to her car and get another vantage position.  A bad feeling begins to creep into her body that she can’t seem to shake.  It’s not anxiety, but rather a real feeling of danger.  Her throat becomes dry and constricted, and her pulse elevates.  She climbs faster; it’s only another few feet to the top. 

In Award Winning Dead Game, Emily Stone has even more quick decisions to make with wisecracking, sometimes annoying Jordan Smith.

The gunfire sprayed across the conference room and more windows blasted out of the office building.  The glass showered down and crackled with intensity for several seconds.  Emily wouldn’t be able to hold the assassins off much longer with the few bullets she had left.  She knew that she had to make a difficult choice, if she wanted to live.

Jordan pleaded with her.  “Trust me.  We can do this.”

Emily looked at Jordan and her dark eyes conveyed a look that there had to be another choice. 

Any choice. 

Anything at all.

 “We have to go now Emily.”  Jordan looked at the window opening and estimated how far it was to the sculpture from the windowsill, it couldn’t have been more than six feet.  “It’s now or never.”  He stated as matter of fact. 

In Silent Partner, K9 Deputy Jack Davis had to make split second decisions to get the bad guys.

Diligently, Jack searched the cluttered and partially dilapidated top floor with Keno. 

Flashlight beams bounced throughout the fourth floor in every filthy corner, extended gap, and potential hiding spot. 

The second suspect remained at large. 

Jack’s gut tightened.  His internal, suspicious voice whispered to him the suspect was close.  That familiar headache tension squeezed his temples in a vice.  His minor cut from an hour ago throbbed in perfect timing with his elevated heart rate.     

Quick decisions.  Heightened tension.  Plot pacing help to drive a thrilling story forward.  My characters had to make some fast decisions. 

What quick decisions would you make?  Do you agree with the heroes in my thrillers in their decisions?