Guilty Pleasure

Well, I did it. After yesterday's post, I started thinking more about a sequel to "Dabblers" and writing down some notes about the plot. The exercise served to increase the excitement, and the next thing I knew, I was writing it.

So perhaps I've embarked upon writing two novels at once, possibly switching back and forth with the political thriller I mentioned starting a rewrite on. I've never done it this way before, but who knows? It might work out for the better. The down side is I could wind up distracted and not completing anything, and if that seems to be happening, I can always shelve one book until the other gets done.

I've also been trying to find more time to read books by other authors, with the intention of writing reviews and maybe generating a little reciprocity. I know a lot of readers are skeptical of hype by the producers of a book and place more credence with reviews from other readers. When I'm selecting a book to read, I actually don't look at reviews. Really. I read the blurb to see if the story line piques my interest. Depending on the book format, I'll read a bit of the first chapter. At times, writing style will sour my interest. I picked up a science fiction novel, one of a box full of books given to me by a friend, because it was the first of a series and I thought I would give it a try. After a couple of pages, I quit. Intriguing premise, yes, but the style was meant to take the POV of a "redneck," a young man of low education and questionable socialization. The sentences were all over the place, changing subjects, inserting unrelated details. Or maybe they would be related later, but the disorganization put me off.

Another thing that will make me put a book down within the first chapter is a failure to see the story emerging. It's a rule of writing that I cannot ignore. Something has to happen right quick or I lose interest. I realize I may have stretched this rule in the first chapter of "Stranger Faces," but the first passage is a setup for something that comes along later. With that being said, by the end of Chapter 1, Tracy has an injured spy sleeping on her couch, and I think that takes care of getting the story started "right quick."