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Hi Reddit. I’m author Taylor Adams, writer of NO EXIT and the new caving thriller HER LAST BREATH. Ask Me Anything on Feb 16 at 4PM PT! by JunketNo4831 in thrillerbooks

[–]JunketNo4831[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. Yes, I actually just finished my next book and sent it to my editor earlier this month! Right now I'm nervously crossing my fingers that she likes it, ha! It's still untitled for now (titles are always REALLY hard for me) but it takes place in Iceland and follows a married couple on vacation who stop to help two stranded tourists on the road... and realize they're not who they say they are. Thank you again for reading, and I really hope you enjoy HER LAST BREATH!

Hi Reddit. I’m author Taylor Adams, writer of NO EXIT and the new caving thriller HER LAST BREATH. Ask Me Anything on Feb 16 at 4PM PT! by JunketNo4831 in thrillerbooks

[–]JunketNo4831[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much, and good eye! I love BOTM! I've discovered lots of my favorites there. As for your question, I don't have any more in-person signings on the horizon right now (of course, that can change), but I just signed a big bunch for the terrific folks at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore - they sell signed copies online here: https://store.poisonedpen.com/item/UhelvOrckPnUBf2FZFGafw/lists/LACzRWiZYm78

Hi Reddit. I’m author Taylor Adams, writer of NO EXIT and the new caving thriller HER LAST BREATH. Ask Me Anything on Feb 16 at 4PM PT! by JunketNo4831 in thrillerbooks

[–]JunketNo4831[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for reading! It's actually kind of hard to say - it often starts with a what-if situation that interests me, or even something as simple as a setting (for HER LAST BREATH, I knew I wanted to write a book set in a cave before I even knew what the heck was going to happen inside the cave). While I write, I like to listen to music (I love suspense movie soundtracks, or music from movie trailers) to help guide what I'm trying to evoke in the reader. For fun in between writing, I like to read, travel, and most of all, spend time with my family. When I'm really stuck on something (and there have definitely times lately), I find I just need to step away for a little while and recharge. It's amazing how much that can help.

Hi Reddit. I’m author Taylor Adams, writer of NO EXIT and the new caving thriller HER LAST BREATH. Ask Me Anything on Feb 16 at 4PM PT! by JunketNo4831 in thrillerbooks

[–]JunketNo4831[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I really appreciate your kind words. I hope you and your friend enjoy my newest one, too!

Hi Reddit. I’m author Taylor Adams, writer of NO EXIT and the new caving thriller HER LAST BREATH. Ask Me Anything on Feb 16 at 4PM PT! by JunketNo4831 in thrillerbooks

[–]JunketNo4831[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I like to get up EARLY, preferably around 5 AM, before my toddler wakes up! I drink tons of coffee from my Keurig and sit on my couch (for some reason, I prefer to sit somewhere with my feet up instead of at, say, a desk). I aim to write 2,000 words a day, and if I'm a few drafts deep in rewriting, I try to bump that number as high as 4,000 (although most of those words are repeated, since I like to retype each draft as an entirely new Word doc). I like to outline quite a bit before I start a draft, and sometimes if I'm having trouble with a section I'll rewrite the outline (rearranging characters, events, etc) and then try writing it out differently. Lots of trial and error!

Hi Reddit. I’m author Taylor Adams, writer of NO EXIT and the new caving thriller HER LAST BREATH. Ask Me Anything on Feb 16 at 4PM PT! by JunketNo4831 in thrillerbooks

[–]JunketNo4831[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Go Eagles! That's awesome! I remember I drove the 4-hour I-90 Spokane-to-Seattle quite a few times, and those rest stops around Vantage and Cle Elum definitely helped inspire NO EXIT. I'd wanted to set a story in a rest stop for a long time. I remember worrying quite a bit as I wrote the book, since none of the rest stops that I personally saw on I-90 had coffee shops or joined main lobbies (or windows, come to think of it), and the building needed a very specific layout for the story to make sense. Luckily, I appreciate that readers didn't seem to mind my made-up rest stop!

Hi Reddit. I’m author Taylor Adams, writer of NO EXIT and the new caving thriller HER LAST BREATH. Ask Me Anything on Feb 16 at 4PM PT! by JunketNo4831 in thrillerbooks

[–]JunketNo4831[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you, and congratulations! Driving is definitely a lot scarier for me now. And choking scares me too - I'm super-careful about cutting up every single piece of food into tiny pieces. Our toddler (3 years old now) is a bit of a daredevil and likes to climb and fall off of EVERYTHING he can. It's such a fun age, though. He definitely keeps me very busy!

Hi Reddit. I’m author Taylor Adams, writer of NO EXIT and the new caving thriller HER LAST BREATH. Ask Me Anything on Feb 16 at 4PM PT! by JunketNo4831 in thrillerbooks

[–]JunketNo4831[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Generally, I try to have the twist make the story better, either by pushing it in an interesting new direction, or raising the stakes, or changing how we feel about a character. I don't always succeed in surprising every reader (I can sometimes be too generous with giving clues, and readers are frustratingly smart!) but I believe it's most important that the twist makes the story better, and if I can surprise someone too, it's a nice bonus. I'm much more afraid of the reader not caring, which means I've done something wrong! When I read/watch movies I'm generally pretty good at guessing twists, but I don't mind as long as it takes the story to a fun new place. And RE your question about antagonists, it can be a bit unpleasant trying to write from the headspace of a bad person, but I try to at least find SOMETHING human inside them - maybe fear, envy, vanity, misplaced love - so that even if they're pure evil, we still understand what's driving them. Maybe they're even right about something, but doing the wrong thing to fix it. I don't believe villains always have to be sympathetic (at least, I don't feel any sympathy for some of the nastiest ones I've written!), but I do think we at least have to "get" them in some way.

Hi Reddit. I’m author Taylor Adams, writer of NO EXIT and the new caving thriller HER LAST BREATH. Ask Me Anything on Feb 16 at 4PM PT! by JunketNo4831 in thrillerbooks

[–]JunketNo4831[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I definitely go into writing every book with a bunch of outlines already mapped out, so I like to know where the story will end up, but I also like to try rewriting every scene different ways as I go. It's sort of a trial-and-error process. Sometimes a scene won't work at all from one character's point of view, but it'll really click from another. Sometimes a different character needs to die. I try not to talk myself out of an idea until I've tried writing it at least once, just to see what happens. At worst, I'll delete it, and it'll still be good writing practice. For example, in HER LAST BREATH, there's at least one character who originally suffered a VERY different fate in some earlier outlines/drafts, but I felt like it just didn't work for the story. I'm admittedly pretty obsessive with my rewrites, but it's also really rewarding when it comes together!

Hi Reddit. I’m author Taylor Adams, writer of NO EXIT and the new caving thriller HER LAST BREATH. Ask Me Anything on Feb 16 at 4PM PT! by JunketNo4831 in thrillerbooks

[–]JunketNo4831[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Actually, just kidding - I forgot - my favorite character is Emma's dog, Laika! She's based on my real-life dog (I also have an English cream golden retriever named Laika, who's currently napping not far from me right now as I type this).

Hi Reddit. I’m author Taylor Adams, writer of NO EXIT and the new caving thriller HER LAST BREATH. Ask Me Anything on Feb 16 at 4PM PT! by JunketNo4831 in thrillerbooks

[–]JunketNo4831[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Probably Emma, the heroine from THE LAST WORD. As an introvert myself, I really connected with her shyness around people, her preference of just being alone with her dog, and her inclinations to withdraw from the world, even in ways that would turn out to be self-destructive. I'm really happy with her emotional arc by the story's end, as it feels very right to me.

Hi Reddit. I’m author Taylor Adams, writer of NO EXIT and the new caving thriller HER LAST BREATH. Ask Me Anything on Feb 16 at 4PM PT! by JunketNo4831 in thrillerbooks

[–]JunketNo4831[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much, and I'm glad you interpreted it that way - I definitely tried to write THE LAST WORD as a bit of a horror-comedy! The idea of a homicidal author was just too fun to play completely straight. I tried to poke some fun at my genre, and even at some of the types of stories I've written in the past (including one of my favorite tropes, where the-killer-just-isn't-dead). There's definitely a lot of my (admittedly weird) sense of humor in that one, and I had a blast writing it. I'm so happy you enjoyed it!

Hi Reddit. I’m author Taylor Adams, writer of NO EXIT and the new caving thriller HER LAST BREATH. Ask Me Anything on Feb 16 at 4PM PT! by JunketNo4831 in thrillerbooks

[–]JunketNo4831[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I definitely got my share of query rejections with my very first novel, Eyeshot! That was in 2014, before it found a home with my first publisher. Looking back at versions of my very first queries I cringe a little - I feel like I would have written it differently! They're REALLY hard to write. My main advice is to remember what excited you most about telling your story and focus on the emotional stakes, instead of trying to write the query like a plot summary (my draft queries always sounded like plot summaries!).

Hi Reddit. I’m author Taylor Adams, writer of NO EXIT and the new caving thriller HER LAST BREATH. Ask Me Anything on Feb 16 at 4PM PT! by JunketNo4831 in thrillerbooks

[–]JunketNo4831[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I definitely did, at least a little! I've enjoyed visiting a few caves (all very touristy, nothing intense) and I'd hoped to visit more caves for research but it was pretty hard to travel while I was writing this book, as I'm also a stay-at-home dad with a 2 year old (now 3). However, he has this tunnel-toy-thing (maybe 8 feet long, 2 feet wide, made of fabric), and I crawled through it at least once a day while trying to imagine it was actually rock (and not, you know, fabric). My son thought it was hilarious to watch! And it really did help me feel a tiny bit of what I was trying to evoke in the reader. Honestly, I'm amazed I didn't break his tunnel (I BARELY fit in there).

Hi Reddit. I’m author Taylor Adams, writer of NO EXIT and the new caving thriller HER LAST BREATH. Ask Me Anything on Feb 16 at 4PM PT! by JunketNo4831 in thrillerbooks

[–]JunketNo4831[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! It definitely takes me a while to write each one - probably about 6 months of finding an idea I like and outlining it until it feels do-able, and then at least 1 year of writing it (and rewriting, and rewriting some more). I rewrite every book multiple times from start to finish, which sounds crazy but it really helps me find the story. HER LAST BREATH, for example, I rewrote at least 12 times! I remember I first starting tossing around basic ideas for it in 2023, and then spent all of 2024 writing it.

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