I enjoy how Clive Cussler and other thriller writers write a prelude from the deep past to set up the story and provide what you’ll need to understand later which eliminates the need for flashbacks while creating it’s own kind of interest and story questions. A good, focused prelude crushes the need for flashback.

Sorry. Nevermind my last quesition about the difference is. I was having trouble wrapping my head around the difference, but I just went and reread you blog. I think I’m doing a parallel structure.

What is the difference between flashbacks and a parallel timeline structure?

Book-wise, I really enjoyed The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, and recently I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid – similar structure (a journalist/writer working on a biography of a mysterious lady with stories to tell), both delicious. The Thirteenth Tale was confusing at times, but The Seven Husbands was a delight from start to end. I actually can’t think of a book that didn’t work for me, because in all probability I got too frustrated to read further and moved to something else.

I’m working on a novel of my own that goes back and forth in time in a similar way to those two (that was very pleasant research to do), so this post is going into my endless list of bookmarks. Thank you!