MMWUC: Literary Guild Gives Thumbs-Up for "One Promise Too Many"

On Thursday evening, 02/09, I met with the Oxford Hunt Ladies Literary Guild. They had chosen One Promise Too Many as their February read and invited me to their first grilling of the author. Fortunately, the spit I rotated on turned out to be only warm and toasty, peppered with interesting and probing questions, and seasoned by some insights to my book that warmed my heart. They read and understood the story, even down to some rather subtle details. What did I take away from the wonderful evening with the bakers dozen of avid readers? They loved the details; research counts kiddies. They loved the suspense; hold back, hold back, hold back turns of fortune or vital information--make the reader sweat with concern. They loved the hint of more to come; leave them wanting more. And in the end, I got brave. I asked, "What could I have done better?" I think the question surprised them, but I want to give my readers my best. After a long minute, they thought of two things: fewer named characters to follow and consistency when mentioning a character by name, that is, either the first name or last name, but don't alternate in a pattern only the author sees. Live and learn. Write and write better. Write on!

Bonus. Doubleday's Literary Guild page picked up my tweet. Sweet!

Double bonus. Writing buddy, Ron D. Voigts, published on Saturday the third book in the YA mystery Penelope series, Penelope and the Movie Star.