Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Writing and Reading

My science-fiction story turned into a novelette, perhaps even a novella (I'm not sure where the dividing line is, wordage-wise). That comes as no surprise to me, since I tend to write long. Anyway, I finished the story this morning, then went ahead this afternoon and started the next novel on the schedule. As the old saying goes, no rest for the wicked.

And speaking of wicked, I just read IMMORAL, a debut novel by Brian Freeman. It's a well-written, complexly plotted mystery about a cop's search for two missing teenage girls who disappeared at different times and seem to have no connection between them. Most of the action takes place in Duluth, Minnesota, an area about which I know nothing, and Freeman does an excellent job with the setting, rendering it vividly for the reader.

Currently I'm reading TRAIL OF THE RENEGADE, the third Western novel by my friend Jim Griffin. I'll have some comments on it in a day or two.

2 comments:

Andy J said...

I'm sure it's unintentional but do you have any idea how much pain you're inflicting on struggling writers when you announce that you finished a novelette in the morning only to start on a novel in the afternoon? Why even seasoned pros like Crider probably turn a shade of Gator Green after reading that. And how about the great unpublished? Why I can envision manuscripts being tossed off bridges if not writers themselves.

James Reasoner said...

I wouldn't want to discourage anyone with my obsessive behavior. I've just had a run of good luck with getting contracts and am determined to take advantage of it. Those opportunities could all go away without much warning.

Mainly, though, I just like to write.