Vicki Pettersson (Author of The Scent of Shadows)

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Vicki Pettersson

老虎机稳赢方法 Author

Born

in Las Vegas, The United States

Website

Twitter

Genre

Mystery & Thrillers, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Influences

Diana Gabaldon, Dennis Lehane, Nora Roberts, Janet Fitch ...more

Member Since

August 2011

URL

/vickipettersson

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Vicki Pettersson is a NYT and USA Today bestselling author of ten novels, most set in her hometown of Las Vegas. Though she'll ever consider that glittering dustbowl home, she now divides her time between Vegas and Dallas,Texas, where she's learning to like good Tex-Mex (easy) and the Dallas Cowboys (easier than you'd think).

Her most recent release is SWERVE, aptly titled as it's both a chase book and a hard departure from her fantasy work. A pure adrenaline, white-knucked thriller, Swerve releases on July 7, 2015 -- perfect for the novel's Fourth of July setting. If you're looking for a romance with little to no violence ... this is not your novel. If, as with her other work, you're looking for a strong female protagonist who comes out sw ...more

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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Vicki Pettersson Writing SWERVE actually started as a pure technical challenge. I was finishing up my previous trilogy, starting to think forward to my next project, a鈥辞谤别Writing SWERVE actually started as a pure technical challenge. I was finishing up my previous trilogy, starting to think forward to my next project, and I thought, Hmm. What would be the hardest book in the world to write? I actually said that to my husband. What would even other commercial fiction authors consider technically hard? I mean, I didn鈥檛 have a new contract on the horizon, nobody was waiting for me to write something specific, so I felt like I could do whatever I wanted. After nine novels in which I鈥檇 had to do complex world building, fully realized mysteries, and hard action I felt like I could use those tools to tackle something completely new.

So I decided that for me the hardest book to write would be:

1) a big, propulsive thriller, because the reader is looking, almost daring, for you to thrill them.

2) But not just any thriller. I wanted a true edge of your seat, cat-and-mouse, one-sitting read. I wanted it to be a very insular, almost claustrophobic book despite the wide-open desert setting, with essentially only two characters in the entire novel, and the scales tipping back and forth between them from one page to the next.

3) I wanted to put the reader in a chokehold (no offense!), a la Dean Koontz, but I wanted to see a female lead. I wanted her action and agency driving the narrative because that鈥檚 what I enjoy reading: strong women.

4) It also couldn鈥檛 have any supernatural elements because I鈥檇 done that before. If Kristine (my protagonist) was going to prevail, she was going to have to do so as an Everywoman. This was harder than I thought, and not because I couldn鈥檛 depend on paranormal elements to augment her skills, but because when you write an Everywoman, then every single woman reading it is thinking, 鈥淲hat would I do if that were me?鈥� So your character鈥檚 actions better remain true. If the reader is thinking, 鈥淲hy wouldn鈥檛 she just pick up the phone? Why wouldn鈥檛 she just call for help?鈥� then you鈥檇 better have a very good reason why that can鈥檛 happen.

5) Finally, I鈥檇 never written a stand-alone novel, so I threw that into the hopper as well.

As for the plot, SWERVE was conceived while I was driving from Las Vegas to California鈥檚 beach cities one summer. The I-15 really is one of the bleakest and most boring drives ever. It鈥檚 particularly brutal in the middle of June and July, which is when I generally try to escape Vegas鈥檚 heat for the cool kiss of the Pacific. So I was passing through these little desert towns, bored out of my gourd, and I thought, 鈥淲hat could possible make this worse?鈥� And the worst thing I could come up with was having to make the drive while being chased by a relentless killer. I also hate desolate rest stops with every cell of my being. They freak me out and I鈥檒l do anything to avoid them鈥攁nd my bet is that most women feel the same鈥攕o I threw that in there, too.

Between that creative kernel, and the technical challenge, I was ready to write a book.(less)

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I know you're on sabbatical for 2017, but since it's all about ME . . . what are you plans for you next book?? ETA? Thank you!

Vicki Pettersson Hi Cheron! Thank you for writing. It's good to see your pixels. Actually I'm writing a proposal for my next thriller now and really loving the charact鈥辞谤别Hi Cheron! Thank you for writing. It's good to see your pixels. Actually I'm writing a proposal for my next thriller now and really loving the characters and world. That entails three full chapters and a synopsis and even once it's done he'll have to see it before we can set a date. That's all long tail stuff and something that has to be endured when you do actually take time to hop off the treadmill. You lose all momentum.

In the meantime, however, I did write an entire novel in 16 just to see if I still wanted to, and it got me excited about craft and stories again. I'm going to talk about that on September 9th in my google chat with the Pixel Project (a non-profit that works to help stop violence against women and girls. ).

So if you're able to catch that (6 pm PST) I will reveal all, but even if not you'll find out the next day. I'm super exited about it.

Thanks again for poking me. I've been traveling and hiking and family-omg (what? That's an action word!) and just filling the well in general and now I'm brimming with words, happy to make pages once again. (less)

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Vicki Pettersson鈥檚 books

Average rating: 3.8 · 58,485 ratings · 3,846 reviews · 30 distinct works 鈥� Similar authors

	The Scent of Shadows (Signs of the Zodiac, #1) 3.53 avg rating — 10,070 ratings — published 2007 — 22 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Taste of Night (Signs of the Zodiac, #2) 3.78 avg rating — 5,852 ratings — published 2007 — 24 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Touch of Twilight (Signs of the Zodiac, #3) 3.86 avg rating — 4,292 ratings — published 2008 — 20 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	City of Souls (Signs of the Zodiac, #4) 3.93 avg rating — 3,419 ratings — published 2009 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cheat the Grave (Signs of the Zodiac, #5) 4.05 avg rating — 3,110 ratings — published 2010 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Neon Graveyard (Signs of the Zodiac, #6) 4.06 avg rating — 2,450 ratings — published 2011 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Taken (Celestial Blues, #1) 3.44 avg rating — 2,523 ratings — published 2012 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Swerve 3.53 avg rating — 1,539 ratings — published 2015 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Lost (Celestial Blues, #2) 3.85 avg rating — 803 ratings — published 2013 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Given (Celestial Blues, #3) 4.21 avg rating — 479 ratings — published 2014 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Vicki Pettersson…

184 posts
Vicki Pettersson's Blog

Burnout, pt 2 鈥� or, finding your way back.

Below is a modified and updated transcript of a keynote I gave back in 鈥�15 at the Surrey International Writers Conference, and given my last post on burnout, I thought I鈥檇 post it here because it seemed to help people when I spoke of it then. I鈥檓 going to press send before I chicken out. Fair warning: this is a longform piece so you might want to have a seat.

滨听do hope it helps.

Vx.

###########

听

When

Series by Vicki Pettersson

Signs of the Zodiac (6 books)
by

Vicki Pettersson (老虎机稳赢方法 Author)

3.83 avg rating — 50,916 ratings

Celestial Blues (3 books)
by

Vicki Pettersson (老虎机稳赢方法 Author)

3.62 avg rating — 3,805 ratings

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Vicki鈥檚 Recent Updates

Vicki Pettersson is now friends with Pamela
Jun 17, 2024 12:21PM · like

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Quotes by Vicki Pettersson (?)

“There's nothing wrong with you..not even the darkest corner of that beautiful soul. ~ Hunter”
― Vicki Pettersson, City of Souls

tags: city-of-souls, hunter, jo, olivia, zodiac

38 likes

“Just because someone tried to make you into a victim didn鈥檛 mean that鈥檚 what you had to be.”
― Vicki Pettersson, The Scent of Shadows

21 likes

“Looks can鈥檛 hide your true identity. It鈥檚 the eyes that give you away鈥he soul behind them. The intent. The Shadows.”
― Vicki Pettersson, The Scent of Shadows

18 likes

See all Vicki Pettersson's quotes »

Polls

June 2021 General Poll

We ask that you only vote if you are planning on participating in our discussion should your choice win.

Which Crime, Mystery or Thriller would you like to read in June?

A Murder of Principal by Saralyn Richard

36 votes, 30.3%

The Quiet American by Graham Greene

28 votes, 23.5%

My Sister's Grave (Tracy Crosswhite #1) by Robert Dugoni

24 votes, 20.2%

Death in the Family (Shana Merchant #1) by Tessa Wegert

22 votes, 18.5%

The Way of All Flesh (Raven, Fisher, and Simpson #1) by Ambrose Parry

5 votes, 4.2%

Swerve by Vicki Pettersson

4 votes, 3.4%

119 total votes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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Who's Your Author?: Don't read that book?	72	182	Sep 05, 2009 08:45AM
Paranormal & Urba...: Signs of the Zodiac	8	21	Sep 27, 2009 11:31AM
Who's Your Author?: Jessa Slade	10	31	Oct 13, 2009 05:28PM
Paranormal Romanc...: November 2009 Reading Challenge	856	813	Dec 05, 2009 01:03PM

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老虎机稳赢方法 Author

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Vicki Pettersson鈥檚 books

184 posts
Vicki Pettersson's Blog

Burnout, pt 2 鈥� or, finding your way back.

Series by Vicki Pettersson

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老虎机稳赢方法 Author

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