The New Husband fits that mold, while The Perfect Daughter is more of a traditional mystery, a whodunnit. Some of my books lean more towards the thriller genre in plotting, meaning it’s less of a question of who did the crime and more about how the characters will escape some peril. What kinds of books do you feel like you write?ĭ.J.: I mostly write suspense using elements of a good mystery or thriller to drive the plot. Thriller, suspense, and mystery are all sort of nebulous terms. You’ve got to write the story you believe in, and you’ve got to believe that you’re the best one to tell it.

The second most important lesson I’ve learned is to be fearless. When your name is on a book, it’s hard to be that objective, but over time you learn to thicken your skin and keep going. Whenever a website of mine received critical feedback from a user, I took it as an opportunity to improve the product.

With writing, there’s a level of internal doubt built into the process that makes you question if the work is any good, coupled with fears it won’t resonate with readers. Building websites was undoubtedly challenging, but you can always tell if the system is working as designed. One of the first lessons I learned along the way is that this hard. I began writing while working in web development, but it took me twelve years before my debut novel was published. What did that journey look like?ĭ.J.: It was a very long transition. You made the transition from ecommerce entrepreneur to writer. Writing may be a solo endeavor, but this book benefited from a lot of great suggestions along the way. My first traditional mystery would not have earned the raves it did without a great team in my corner of editors and early readers who helped shape the narrative. In addition to all that, this was the first WHODUNNIT I’ve ever attempted. I needed a way to develop each personality while at the same time showing the reality of the condition and the challenges associated with treatment, the impact of mental illness on the family, and do all this without losing momentum or becoming overly didactic. Typically, I have to juggle character, plot, and pacing throughout the novel, but The Perfect Daughter had the unique challenge of having one character with multiple personalities. I didn’t realize how big a bite of the apple I took when I came up with the story. How have elements of mental illness, secrets, and danger combined in this mystery/thriller to get critics raving?ĭ.J.: I’ll be honest this book nearly did me in.

The Perfect Daughter is due out this month (April 2021), and is already baking in praise.

Dj palmer the new husband