Yesterday I was prowling the Amazon Top 100 Paid list and stumbled across a collection of novels for $1.99 titled THE PERFECT TEN, by a handful of authors. The number of novels bundled into this pack looked like it was worth the price, since I didn't know any of them, so I gave it a shot and downloaded the massive tome to my Paperwhite.
Before I go on, I have to explain a little about my weekend/part-time job. I am a supervisor at a local movie theater. Yes, I was around when we actually had to put the six reels of film together with tape. It is a lost art that I miss dearly. I'm still a projectionist, but now it's digital, and I also do everything else about the place that needs doing. It's mindless manual labor - to a point.
Anyway, the reason I explain this is because there's a small period of time that's considered "down-time" which is the hour and a half between closing down the place and waiting for the last movies to finish. Essentially it's just waiting to be sure that nobody gets left in the building (which would be completely scary in the dark) after we leave! So, to fill this time, I usually carry my notebook around, and lately, my Kindle since it has a backlight.
Well, I opened up THE PERFECT TEN and started reading Last Chance To Run by Dianna Love.
Let me just say, WOW.
This book is my kind of book!
The suspense from the very first page was electric. I was skeptical until about the fifth page - honestly, I can't lie. I'm very unforgiving on the female protagonists of late. If the story is too involved in her brain and not enough in the actual movement of the plot, then I lose interest. Miss Love gave me just enough of her heroine, Angel's, thought process and raised the stakes immediately with just the right amount of explanation as to what happened before the first page. I've been exploring the whole idea of starting your story at the right spot, and man, this book was sprinting the moment it hit the ground, and I was unable to put my Kindle down.
I haven't finished the book yet, but I'm a quarter of the way finished. It kept me up a lot later than I anticipated. If you want to check it out, as well as read the other books in this bundle, please purchase it at Amazon while it's still on sale - the description said it was for a limited time.
If you're looking for a great example of giving the audience just enough information to move forward, as well as how to handle lots of action, give Last Chance To Run a shot. I have a feeling I'll be sad when it's over!
For more about Dianna Love, visit her website here.
Showing posts with label #Suspense. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #Suspense. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Monday, September 9, 2013
What Jessica Sorensen Taught Me
Recently I purchased Jessica Sorensen's The Coincidence of Callie & Kayden. I'd been watching it on the Kindle Top 100 paid list, and decided that for $1.99 I could give it a shot. I don't read a lot of chick lit (which I consider this to be) but it's been very interesting, if a little melodramatic so far, and it's taught me a few things about writing voice and what you can and can't get away with.
Firstly, this book had thousands of great reviews on Amazon, and that's partially the reason that I decided to click "buy" when I was browsing. I'm notorious for reading all the reviews I can before deciding on a purchase, and in this case, since I couldn't read all 3,000+ reviews, I read a few from each star point (five stars, one star, etc.). Most of the reviews praised the characters and their struggles with different inner demons and scars, so I anticipated an emotional read.
The first thing that surprised me was how simple the story is. The book begins at a point in time before the main bulk of the book's timeline (don't worry, no spoilers for those interested in reading the book!) where Callie witnesses Kayden in an abusive situation. She rescues him from the situation and then resigns herself to the fact that she will never see him again. On top of that, Kayden will most likely not even remember her.
Fast forward six months to move-in day at a college. Callie has been there with her flamboyant new guy friend, Seth, and is getting over her eating disorder. As predicted, Kayden is also going to the same school and he remembers her! The rest of the story follows them building up a relationship despite Kayden being taken by a stereotypical cheerleader and Callie not willing to open up and be herself around an attractive guy from her past.
So, back to my surprise at the simplicity of the story. What did this teach me?
Well, it taught me that I don't need to jump through a million hoops to keep my reader interested. My plots tend to be pretty intense, but what really matters in the case of Miss Sorensen's book - and any work of fiction, for that matter, is the characters and their inner demons. What are they struggling with? What do they have to overcome to get x? It's very cool to see that a story about two college kids can be so engaging. True, it wasn't masterful writing, or even that involved stylistically, but it still kept me coming back when I had spare moments to dip into the book.
The second thing that this book taught me was that it is possible to pull off first person narration with two separate characters telling the story. I haven't written anything publishable yet in the first person, but I love using the character's voice to tell their own story. I guess I'm a sucker for the unreliable narrator. Sorensen differentiates the two narrators by beginning each section with his or her name in bold. I liked this, and if you are wondering if her two voices were unique enough for each character, I can say that yes, they were. Kayden sounded rugged and was peppered with curses, and Callie was shy and introverted.
Lastly, this book taught me that simply withholding the details of the past event that made the character so scarred and damaged is enough to keep the reader moving forward through the story. More than once in the first quarter of the book, Callie continually mentions "that day years ago" that led to her eating disorder. What is she talking about? I had to read to find out. I wanted to know! If I can get a hook like that into my own work, maybe it will be all the better for it. Suspense is excellent.
There is a sequel to this book that I will most likely be checking out, as well as an expanded universe of sorts with side characters getting their own books later this year and in 2014. I applaud Miss Sorensen for being able to flesh out so many characters and franchise her work. It's something that I hope to try one day with my own characters (the ones that demand their stories to be told, of course! Sometimes they won't shut up until I write them down.).
Firstly, this book had thousands of great reviews on Amazon, and that's partially the reason that I decided to click "buy" when I was browsing. I'm notorious for reading all the reviews I can before deciding on a purchase, and in this case, since I couldn't read all 3,000+ reviews, I read a few from each star point (five stars, one star, etc.). Most of the reviews praised the characters and their struggles with different inner demons and scars, so I anticipated an emotional read.
The first thing that surprised me was how simple the story is. The book begins at a point in time before the main bulk of the book's timeline (don't worry, no spoilers for those interested in reading the book!) where Callie witnesses Kayden in an abusive situation. She rescues him from the situation and then resigns herself to the fact that she will never see him again. On top of that, Kayden will most likely not even remember her.
Fast forward six months to move-in day at a college. Callie has been there with her flamboyant new guy friend, Seth, and is getting over her eating disorder. As predicted, Kayden is also going to the same school and he remembers her! The rest of the story follows them building up a relationship despite Kayden being taken by a stereotypical cheerleader and Callie not willing to open up and be herself around an attractive guy from her past.
So, back to my surprise at the simplicity of the story. What did this teach me?
Well, it taught me that I don't need to jump through a million hoops to keep my reader interested. My plots tend to be pretty intense, but what really matters in the case of Miss Sorensen's book - and any work of fiction, for that matter, is the characters and their inner demons. What are they struggling with? What do they have to overcome to get x? It's very cool to see that a story about two college kids can be so engaging. True, it wasn't masterful writing, or even that involved stylistically, but it still kept me coming back when I had spare moments to dip into the book.
The second thing that this book taught me was that it is possible to pull off first person narration with two separate characters telling the story. I haven't written anything publishable yet in the first person, but I love using the character's voice to tell their own story. I guess I'm a sucker for the unreliable narrator. Sorensen differentiates the two narrators by beginning each section with his or her name in bold. I liked this, and if you are wondering if her two voices were unique enough for each character, I can say that yes, they were. Kayden sounded rugged and was peppered with curses, and Callie was shy and introverted.
Lastly, this book taught me that simply withholding the details of the past event that made the character so scarred and damaged is enough to keep the reader moving forward through the story. More than once in the first quarter of the book, Callie continually mentions "that day years ago" that led to her eating disorder. What is she talking about? I had to read to find out. I wanted to know! If I can get a hook like that into my own work, maybe it will be all the better for it. Suspense is excellent.
There is a sequel to this book that I will most likely be checking out, as well as an expanded universe of sorts with side characters getting their own books later this year and in 2014. I applaud Miss Sorensen for being able to flesh out so many characters and franchise her work. It's something that I hope to try one day with my own characters (the ones that demand their stories to be told, of course! Sometimes they won't shut up until I write them down.).
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