Ah, the crisp, refreshing zing of a cold glass of Tang. Is there anything better than that in the morning? Can’t kick things off without an astronomical dose of orange-ish vitamin C.

Wait, we’re talking about knives? In that case, stop drinking Tang (uppercase T) and start thinking tang (lowercase t).

A knife’s tang is an important feature to consider whenever assigning a character a hard-use blade. By that I mean the kind of knife slated for a workout slashing and slicing its way through a story. Continue reading →

In the first of what I hope to be a recurring segment, UK author Richard Butchins has the helm today to discuss how he selected the weapons featured in his crime novel, Pavement. The piece, due out in September but available for pre-order now, focuses on a loner who turns to killing.

What’s interesting to me – and hopefully others – is the thought process that goes into assigning a character a certain firearm or knife. Plots in thrillers and crime fiction pivot on firearms and knives. Their selection can be very important. I detail my own step-by-step process in my upcoming book from Writer’s Digest. Continue reading →