Author: Nick Chiarkas

Nick Chiarkas is the author of thrillers Weepers and Nunzio's Way. You can find out more about him on his website www.nickchiarkas.com, or by clicking here, read his last post here, and buy his books here. In the late 1960s, my NYPD partner (Tom Kenney) and I responded to a killing on a subway platform. The killer was transported to the precinct by detectives. Among the witnesses were two men in their late 40s who lived in the abandoned subway tunnels under NYC. My partner and I drove the two men to our police precinct for questioning. The men sat…

Nick Chiarkas is the author of Weepers and Nunzio's Way. You can find out more about him on his website, www.nickchiarkas.com, or by clicking here, read his last post here, and buy his books here. I was recently interviewed about my experience at Woodstock in 1969 as an NYPD cop providing security. Among other things, I was asked, what did I take away from that experience? What did I learn, if anything? The brief history is that in 1969, Police Commissioner Howard Leary originally agreed to provide NYPD cops for security at Woodstock. However, he was embarrassed by a front-page…

Nick Chiarkas is the author of Weepers and Nunzio's Way. You can find out more about him on his website www.nickchiarkas.com, or by clicking here, see his last post here, and buy his books here. On October 7, 2022, I was the guest on House of Mystery (NBC) with Alan Warren. Among other topics, we discussed the primary inspiration for my novels Nunzio's Way and Weepers. I had to think about it for a while since each of my books can stand independently, but they are part of the Weepers Series. So, what was my primary inspirational thread? It was…

Nick Chiarkas is the author of Weepers and Nunzio's Way. You can find out more about him on his website, www.nickchiarkas.com, or by clicking here. See his last post here, and buy his books here. On May 4 – 5, 2023, I was a speaker at the Lakefly Writers Conference, where I discussed writing a Crime Thriller/Mystery. At a sidebar later in the day, I was asked about the use of deadly force by the police from a writer's standpoint. (This might also be helpful for all of us to know). The discussion veered from my writing to my police…

Nick Chiarkas is the author of crime thrillers Weepers and Nunzio's Way. You can find out more about him by visiting his website www.nickchiarkas.com, or by clicking here, see his last post here, and buy his books here.  (With some adjusting, these steps can be applied to other genres as well.) Here are my Seven Touchstones* for writing a ​Crime Thriller​. Finding the idea and scribbling it down. Two often repeated pieces of advice on this topic is to write about what you know; and your idea can come from anywhere. 1. I think you should write what you want to know. It…

Nicholas Chiarkas is the author of Weepers. You can find out more about him on his website, www.nickchiarkas.com, or by clicking here, see his last post here, and buy his book here. In May, I had the honor of presenting my 10-step plan for self-editing at the Lakefly Writers’ Conference in Oshkosh, WI. The feedback was positive, and so I thought I would discuss my self-editing process here in this blog. As we all know, a poorly edited manuscript is certain death. However, don't obsess over perfect grammar. In the words of Stephen King, "Language does not always have to…

Nick Chiarkas is the author of the thriller Weepers, and is working on the sequel. You can find out more about him here, visit his website here, and see his books here. This is his first post as a Blackbird Writer. I am writing a sequel knowing full-well I am not talented enough to do this…but for some reason, while having tea and pound cake with my insecurities…I must go on. Countless horrors from “Breaking News,” fill my head. My loving cats, and needy Golden Retriever, fill my lap and arms, demanding my almost constant attention while I research, write,…