I imagine writing a crime novel is close to the middle of human experiences ranked by difficulty. It isn't brain surgery, but neither is it a walk in the park (although, conceivably, you could write a novel while doing either of those things, and I'm sure plenty have). I was fortunate to come from a family that loved books, and lucky to go to good schools, where books were bountiful. I was less lucky in that, when I started writing, I didn't have much in the way of sympatico teachers, mentors, friends or even, really, acquaintances who knew anything about writing books, finishing them, and publishing them. Which is to say, I learned how to write from reading. One of the joys of my adult professional life is the opportunity to be a friendly and encouraging (if busy, occasionally cranky, sometimes unpleasant, not-so-rarely angry-well, no one's perfect here) older friend to younger writers when they need one. But as writers, our best friends aren't people; they're books. If we got along with people so well, we'd be out there among them, instead of home alone, writing. Here's some of my best friends, and the crime writing lessons I learned from them; I hope these introductions will make new friendships, and I hope these friendships will serve you as well as they've served me.