Chevy Stevens quotes:

I didn't go to university or get a degree, but I hired somebody as a mentor - and that I considered my university education.

I try to only read light things when I'm working on my books, and in the evenings I watch a lot of mindless TV. I have to break up the 'dark,' or I wouldn't be a very happy person.

As much as writing is an emotional experience, it is a business as well. Coming from a business background, I treat it as such.

I was supposed to be cleaning out the barn, but I was usually reading romance novels. That's how you grow up to be a thriller writer.

Unfortunately, there's still a lot of beginning writers who think you can just write your first draft and hand it in.

It feels wonderful to get praise from other authors who I admire, but with each new book, my confidence is always the thing I struggle with the most until I start getting positive feedback from readers.

Before I start a book, I talk over my characters with a friend who is a counselor. I like to make sure I have the right dynamics in place and understand each character's belief system, fears, coping mechanisms and things like that.

Read everything you can on writing. Join online forums and critique groups, go to conferences, get feedback, and learn, learn, learn!

When I started 'Still Missing,' I had a few key plot points in mind, which I played around with mentally for a couple of months, then one day I just started writing. Not having an outline led to some cool plot twists, but also many rewrites! A lot of the plotting happened on subsequent drafts.

Each day when I'm walking with my dog through the damp forest, I'm thinking about the atmosphere, and it often works its way into my next scene somehow.

My [story] outlines are usually about 5-6 pages long. I'm essentially telling myself the story in short form. I try to make it clear who the major characters are, what they want, and what obstacles they face.

For me, it's important that I experience and feel what the characters are feeling. So I put myself in those moments, in their thoughts, and let it happen naturally. I write what I feel.

I always write too long in the beginning, then it is a matter of going through it over and over again on subsequent drafts, looking for anything that slows down the narrative. It can be hard, cutting out parts I love, but I try to make the book as tight as possible so that the reader doesn't get bored.