From Victors to Villains: Creating Memorable Characters in Noir

Hercule Poirot, Kinsey Millhone, Nancy Drew. You may have never read The Hound of the Baskervilles, but I bet you can tell me how the detective on the case behaves. Mysteries and thrillers are only as interesting as their characters. In this presentation, Erica will talk about what makes memorable protagonists, antagonists, suspects, and allies. And how you can bring them to life in your own novels.

Erica Wright's latest crime novel Famous in Cedarville was called "a clever little whodunnit" in The New York Times Book Review. Her debut The Red Chameleon was one of O, The Oprah Magazine's Best Books of Summer 2014. She is also the author of the poetry collections Instructions for Killing the Jackal and All the Bayou Stories End with Drowned. She is the poetry editor at Guernica Magazine as well as a former editorial board member for Alice James Books. She grew up in Wartrace, TN and now lives in Washington, DC.