Killer Weekend, Ridley Pearson

I got to seen Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson speak at NCTE (my New York trip). They were great. I found their discussion of the writing process amazing. Anyway--this is Pearson's first mystery set in Idaho. He does have a vacation home in Sun Valley. He usually sets his novels in Seattle, but this is a nice alternative. I hope he writes a second book. He is a meticulous researcher. Barry told a very funny annecdote about the differences in their writing style, particularly their planning. Barry sort of doesn't plan, in fact he admits that there often isn't a theme to be found. Meanwhile he claims Pearson works from a spreadsheet over his desk which is taller that Pearson (bigger than 6 feet). In each row, column, and cell he tracks what every character in his book does each hour of the novel. He does this even when the character is not in the plot at the moment.