Boyd Morrison is an actor, engineer, Jeopardy! champion, and the #1 New York Times bestselling author of fourteen thrillers, including six collaborations with Clive Cussler in the Oregon Files series. His debut novel, THE ARK, was an Indie Next Notable pick and has been translated into over a dozen languages. Before becoming a writer, he worked at Johnson Space Center, RCA/Thomson, and Microsoft’s Xbox group. His latest thriller THE LAST TRUE TEMPLAR is the second book in the Tales of the Lawless Land series of historical adventures co-written with his sister, expert medievalist Beth Morrison.

https://boydmorrison.com

New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Allison Brennan believes that life is too short to be bored, so she had five kids and writes three books a year. She lives with her family in Arizona where she enjoys hiking, baseball Spring Training, and (of course) reading. Best known for her long-running Lucy Kincaid FBI series, Allison is currently writing the Quinn & Costa thrillers (Make It Out Alive, Jan 2026) and Angelhart Investigations (Don’t Say a Word, Sept 2025). Her first romantic mystery, Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds, will be out June 17, 2025

https://www.allisonbrennan.com/

POINT OF VIEW IN CRIME FICTION

Who is telling the story? Is he/she also the protagonist or an observer?

Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird

Nick in The Great Gatsby Is he/she reliable?

How many POV characters is too few/too many? Which characters know too little to drive the story/or know too much and might spoil the story?

TYPES: FIRST PERSON POV: The “I” Character Advantages: Close tie to reader Narrator is the “Star”

Good for mysteries-reader learns as the I character does

Disadvantages: I character must be present Can lead to

awkward plotting

Can’t supply suspenseful information to reader Not good for

thrillers

SECOND PERSON POV: The “You” character—very tricky to use

THIRD PERSON POV: The “He/She” Character

SINGLE: Similar to First person except he/she is used Similar Advantages/Disadvantages as First Person

MULTIPLE: Jumping from head to head Allows reader to get inside several characters Allows reader to have “Superior Knowledge”--Suspense Great for thrillers

CLOSE: Camera in character’s head DISTANT: Camera external and watching the action These distances aren’t either/or but rather a continuum. The “camera” can shift along a line from far behind or above the character to inside the character’s head.

OMNISCIENT POV: The AUTHOR as GOD Jump from head to head at will Can be confusing Requires more writing skill than seems apparent

MIX & MATCH: Can combine POVs if you are good and careful