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Chelsea Cain

Goodreads Author

Born

in Iowa City, Iowa, The United States

Website

http://www.chelseacain.com

Twitter

ChelseaCain

Genre

Mystery & Thrillers, Biographies & Memoirs, Nonfiction

Member Since

July 2007

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/chelseacain

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Chelsea Cain is the New York Times bestselling author of the Archie Sheridan/Gretchen Lowell thrillers Heartsick, Sweetheart, Evil at Heart, The Night Season, Kill You Twice, and Let Me Go. Her next book One Kick (August, 2014) will be the first in her Kick Lannigan thriller series. Her book Heartsick was named one of the best 100 thrillers ever written by NPR, and Heartsick and Sweetheart were named among Stephen King's Top Ten Books of the Year. Her books have been featured on HBO's True Blood and on ABC's Castle. Cain lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and daughter. ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

OMG!!!!! Chelsea I can't believe that you are answer questions. So good!!!!!!!!!!!! I am currently reading your 6 book of Archie and Gretchen series and it will be a book seven?? And if yes,Can we have more Archie and Gretchen moments?? My favorite book of yours is Sweetheart,I love it!!!!!!!!!

Chelsea Cain That is the most exclamation points I've ever received in an email. Careful. You only get 1000 of those and they have to last your whole life. Pace yo…moreThat is the most exclamation points I've ever received in an email. Careful. You only get 1000 of those and they have to last your whole life. Pace yourself. You'll run out. I'm delighted that you love the books. And I promise that there will be more. I've got to get my new series through infancy so it doesn't get colicky and die. That's means ONE KICK this Aug, and another Kick Lannigan book after that, and then I will return to Archie and Gretchen, and after that I'll alternate between the two. But I know the wait will be aggravating. I have been in your shoes. I get murderous when my favorite authors have the audacity to write books that aren't the ones I want them to be writing. So I will come up with some short stories or chapters or maybe just 5000 words of full-on-x-rated-hot-serial-killer-on-cop action and then post these somewhere so readers can get their fix. Thanks for writing! It's my first Ask the Author question. I think it went pretty well, don't you? (less)

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Welcome to Goodreads! I'm a big fan of your books and talk about them often here in various groups. I saw over on Facebook that you said this was the new means by which you'd like to communicate with the public, but had yet to get many messages, so I thought I'd write you one, say I'm looking forward to One Kick, and ask if you had any advice for a lowly little independent author?

Chelsea Cain Thank you, Rick. It looks like you're figuring out the independent author thing pretty well on your own. Your average star rating is higher than mine!…moreThank you, Rick. It looks like you're figuring out the independent author thing pretty well on your own. Your average star rating is higher than mine! I think you should be giving me advice. But here goes: 1) Never have your book jacket printed on bookmarks. It doesn't sell books, and it's bad for the environment. 2) Write what makes you nervous - if the idea of other people reading a scene makes you hunch and cringe, you are doing it right. 3) Write what you want (don't fear the cliche; embrace it, stick your tongue down it's mouth, and make it yours ) 4) Find a writing group of people who make a living writing or are desperate too. No hobbyists. 5) When the group, or your editor or agent, gives you an edit suggestion and your face turns red and you get up and excuse yourself and cry in the bathroom for ten minutes, that means that they are right. Whenever I get an edit that makes me sure that the person offering it is drunk and hates me, it always ends up making the book better. But I never see it until I actually implement it. 6) Outline a chapter by writing the dialogue first. It provides an easy scaffolding. Then add layers. 7) An object accrues significance every time it's mentioned. On a related note, try to use the phrase "objective correlative" as much as possible in casual conversation. It will make you seem writerly. 8) Put characters in danger quickly. If someone's not chloroformed and stuck in a trunk by page 30, I'm tossing the book aside. 9) Don't promote like everyone else does - break the mold. Burn the podium and the folding chairs. Throw events in bars or in swimming pool or from the back of a food truck. If your publisher isn't reaching out to media, do it yourself. If you give them a fresh angle and a good photo op, you'll get coverage. 10) Introduce yourself to everyone you can (you're doing a really good job at that one). 11.) Go to conventions - spend the entire time in the hotel bar drinking with other writers. 12.) Don't be a dick. Mistakes will be made. Don't send angry emails. Send thank you notes, send flowers to bookstores, remember the birthdays of the people who work for/with you. 13.) Never pass a bookstore without going in and signing stock. 14.) Be shameless. Ask everyone you know to promote your book. Be specific. 15.) Use a Uniball Impact 207 as your signing pen. It's got great action, doesn't bleed or smear, and lasts a long time. Get a blue one. Blue ink stands out better, so potential readers see that it's signed when they're leafing through in the bookstore.
That is all I have, my friend. I'll see you at the hotel bar.
~c. (less)

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Chelsea Cain’s books

Average rating: 3.99 · 166,518 ratings · 16,650 reviews · 89 distinct works • Similar authors

	Heartsick (Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell, #1) 3.93 avg rating — 43,130 ratings — published 2007 — 91 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sweetheart (Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell, #2) 4.05 avg rating — 21,404 ratings — published 2008 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Evil at Heart (Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell, #3) 4.04 avg rating — 16,101 ratings — published 2009 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Kill You Twice (Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell, #5) 4.15 avg rating — 12,657 ratings — published 2012 — 29 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Night Season (Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell, #4) 3.90 avg rating — 12,269 ratings — published 2011 — 37 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	One Kick (Kick Lannigan, #1) 3.79 avg rating — 10,568 ratings — published 2014 — 47 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Let Me Go (Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell, #6) 4.02 avg rating — 9,697 ratings — published 2013 — 24 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mockingbird, Vol. 1: I Can Explain by Chelsea Cain (Goodreads Author), Sean Parsons (Illustrator), Rachelle Rosenberg (Illustrator) 4.15 avg rating — 3,577 ratings — published 2016 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Man-Eaters, Vol. 1 by Chelsea Cain (Goodreads Author), Kasia Nie (Illustrator), Lia Miternique (Illustrator) 3.90 avg rating — 3,166 ratings — published 2018 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mockingbird, Vol. 2: My Feminist Agenda by Chelsea Cain (Goodreads Author), Kasia Nie (Illustrator), Sean Parsons (Illustrator) 3.90 avg rating — 2,100 ratings — published 2017 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Chelsea Cain…

104 posts
Chelsea Cain's Blog

Heartsick named in the top 6 serial killer books by S.A. Cosby in the NYT

This is rather thrilling.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/books/serial-killer-novels.html

View more on Chelsea Cain's website »

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Published on February 25, 2025 17:18

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Series by Chelsea Cain

Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell (6 books)
by

Chelsea Cain (Goodreads Author)

4.00 avg rating — 115,447 ratings

Kick Lannigan (2 books)
by

Chelsea Cain (Goodreads Author)

3.79 avg rating — 10,619 ratings

Mockingbird (Single Issues) (8 books)
by

Chelsea Cain (Goodreads Author),

Joëlle Jones (Cover Art),

Kasia Nie (Artist)

4.08 avg rating — 6,763 ratings

Mockingbird (2016) (2 books)
by

Chelsea Cain (Goodreads Author),

Kasia Nie (Illustrator),

Sean Parsons (Illustrator),

Rachelle Rosenberg (Contributor),

Katie Kubert (Editor)

4.05 avg rating — 5,747 ratings

Spy Island (5 books)
by

Chelsea Cain (Goodreads Author),

Lia Miternique (Co-creator),

Elise McCall (Artist)

3.45 avg rating — 471 ratings

More series by Chelsea Cain…

If you love a page-turning mystery, you are in for a treat this month. We're seeing a great assortment of highly anticipated mysteries and...

Chelsea is Currently Reading

Chelsea Cain is currently reading

Saga, Volume 1

by Brian K. Vaughan (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Jun 18, 2014 10:19AM

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Chelsea’s Recent Updates

Chelsea Cain wrote a new blog post Heartsick named in the top 6 serial killer books by S.A. Cosby in the NYT This is rather thrilling. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/bo... Read more of this blog post »
Feb 26, 2025 12:16AM · 11 likes · like