Adventure novels, at least the really good ones like Peter Heller’s The River, take up a permanent home in our imagination. They rise up from a literary jungle of suspense, following a path cut by the best adventure books of all time. Early childhood friends helped to beat down this well-trodden path: Twain’s Huck Finn,…
Tag: Books
Books don’t sell themselves–or do they?
No, they don’t. They really, really don’t. I hear writers say all the time how great their book is, and yet, no one seems to be buying it. And they can’t figure out why? As a writer, no matter where you are in your journey, it’s important to remember that like most consumer products, your…
Addictive Storytelling
The other day I downloaded a book from Amazon onto my Kindle and began to read. About 50 pages in, I suddenly got a vague sense of deja vu, and as I read further, I kept getting that feeling and it kept getting stronger. Finally, about halfway through I couldn’t escape the realization that I’d…
Return on Investment
Event: A four-hour slot to sell books at Off the Beaten Path bookstore in downtown Steamboat Springs. Date: Friday, February 15. Time: 4 to 8 p.m. Expenses: Seven hours of driving (354 miles round-trip, including the return home through a major snowstorm via Wolcott and Interstate 70). $79 for a room at the Travelodge in…
Why in the world did you give your character that name?
I’m learning names can be tricky. I created a protagonist with the surname of Lawley because he lives by the letter of the law. (However, in order to survive he must bend a few rules.) Character names are often self-explanatory. Think Sleeping Beauty; Bugs Bunny; Old Yeller; Prince Valiant; and Superman, the Man of Steel….