I just realized how I could make this a better book, if a less commercial one.

The whole point of me writing thrillers is to try to catch on with a mainstream publisher. I have, or I used to have, a big editor who was interested in my writing and encouraging me to submit non-supernatural material.  "Deadfall Ridge" and "Takeover" were my first two attempts.

Never heard back from him.

The WIP is my third and last attempt, this time a sort of Noir-hardboiled storyline.

I'm about 6K words in and the big worries I have are: it is pretty much a pastiche of all the hardboiled books I've read in my life. And I'm not sure there is enough plot.

Ultimately, this is how I felt about "Deadfall Ridge." There just didn't seem to be enough zing.

In the past, I simply would have added a supernatural element to the story. It wouldn't have to be overbearing. "The Last Fedora: the Gangster Golem Chronicles" is like that. Mostly a thriller with a Golem involved.

Or "Led to the Slaughter" which is three quarters a straight story about the Donner Party, and maybe a quarter about werewolves. "The Darkness You Fear" which is about abuse and murder, with ghosts only moderately involved. (Ghosts who Hauntings are to elicit real-life emotions.)

"Blood of the Succubus" started off as a story about a female serial killer, then morphed.

And so on.

That seems to be my natural inclination, where I'm most comfortable. The real world with a touch of the uncanny.

I'm seriously considering, if I can ever find the time, of going back and adding Bigfoot to "Deadfall Ridge." I sort of teased at the idea but never went there. But I can see a way to include it. Change the name to the setting: "Bigfoot Ranch."

With "Takeover" I'd bring in some sort of Indian curse, because the occupiers dig up a graveyard.

As it happens, a major part of the plot for the WIP is an old Victorian house that is being renovated. It occurs to me that there is a bit of gothicness to the idea. The twist would be that what the main character sees isn't real. The house is broken down and dilapidated, the neighborhood kids stay away from it, but the main character sees something else, interacts with the woman who is renovating, but only he can see it or her.

Sort of "Hardboiled Haunting." (Possible title?)

If I do this, it probably makes the book unsaleable to the big time editor.

But damn it, the book is way more interesting that way.