Ask the Author: Golden November
Answered Questions (3)
Golden November
The idea for the book series came from two characters in another book series I authored. I thought the characters were intriguing. There was good chemistry in their dialogue, as their storylines were full of exciting drama and action. I thought these two characters needed a book series to tell their story.
Before I can talk about where the idea for the book came from, my books need an explanation about its unique and original formatting. My novels have been described as nontraditional. I’m an indie writer, to me, a book is like a blank canvas and the words are the paint. My books are not for everyone, especially if nontraditional book formatting is not what the reader is used to reading. The readers who were able to figure out the character-driven dialogue format, and got into character, have enjoyed the books, and became immediate fans of my work.
As an indie writer, my goal is to develop characters that the reader can follow their storylines and learn about them. I also enjoy writing amazing action scenes with a lot of drama. The best way to read any of my books is to drop any preconceived notions about the non-traditional formatting before the reader opens the book. I’m an indie writer; I do not have a team of editors. I do every aspect of the book design and editing myself. I also have authored more than one book. When I write a chapter, I visualize it like it’s a movie set. The most obvious thing about the book is when the reader opens it has a dialogue with the character's name above it. This is similar to a screenplay. Here’s an example.
G
How’s your day?
JBT
It’s great. How is your day?
Above the dialogue is a photo that sets the scene. There are no descriptive narratives in the books. There is only character-driven dialogue. As the reader gets into character and reads the dialogue like an actor, they say “How’s your day?” “It’s great. How is your day? The reader knows from page one, it’s a conversation. A conversation about how your day is. It’s a conversation that once the reader starts getting a sense for who the characters are, they quickly become familiar, and reading the book, starts to feel like they are watching a movie or television series. Suddenly the action and drama kick in, and the reader can’t put the book down, wanting to know what will happen next. These four professional book critics had summed up my writing style perfectly. Let’s take a look.
“Author Golden November has such a refreshing and different narrative style. The pictures above each page set of dialogues give a nice background for readers, it shows that you don’t need to write long, winding descriptions and paragraphs to set the tone and explain how the action occurs.”
“When Flower Rose puts up the lost book for sale, two business partners, JBT and G, who specialize in recovering lost valuables, are hired to retrieve it. And thus begins a challenging quest filled with several unexpected and unforgettable experiences: parking an airplane at a gas station, hosting a popular podcast show, a high-energy concert, and much more.
From the repeated beautiful pictures to the dialogue-based format and the short, unpredictable conversations, Characters of Milestoneville is like no other book I've read. After getting past the initial surprise I had when I opened the book, I was able to discover its brilliance and noteworthiness. In fact, the wild, hilarious, and unpredictable events match the uniqueness of the book's appearance. Author Golden November's book includes several memorable characters and many brilliant, comical additions. I still chuckle when I remember how one such character is manipulated to collect the only copy of a music album by being called cool. Readers who seek a book that will cheer them up instantly and make them laugh uncontrollably should check out The Characters of Milestoneville: Collector’s Edition now.”
“The Characters of Milestoneville series by Golden November, a character-driven, action-packed story that follows characters residing in Milestoneville as they fight each other over a cryptic book. Accompanied by colorful images, the story follows the characters JBT, G, Flower Rose, Dr. Yes, and others on a rollicking ride that is filled with drama and banter and in a world with its unique moral code.
This is a novel that is written in an inimitable style. The author writes scripts that are accompanied by colorful and symbolic images. The characters are well-developed and readers will want to follow Wallace, the scammer who destroys people’s lives without remorse, and Flower Rose, the eccentric book collector. The drama is intense and the entire narrative is stocked with tension. Readers are hardly aware of what could happen next as the intrigue mounts with characters having hidden agendas. Apart from the drama, readers will enjoy the author’s superb handling of character development. These characters come alive on the pages and they feel as real as though they lived next door to readers. The beauty of the writing is elevated by the realism infused into it and the creation of characters that are genuinely flawed and believable. There is no prose in The Characters of Milestoneville: The Team; it is filled with dialogues and the images give readers the liberty to imagine the setting. This is a work of art that is creatively imagined and excellently executed.”
“The book is an action-packed rollercoaster following various residents of Milestoneville as they start searching and fighting each other over a mysterious book while a potential sibling imposter has come to town. Told using non-traditional prose methods such as movie scripts with images, The Characters of Milestoneville book series tells a highly kinetic story by putting the audience in a unique position to gain perspective on the plot and characters.
I’ve got a lot of time for books that use non-traditional storytelling methods to create a unique experience for the reader, and as with all installments in the Characters of Milestoneville series, this book experiments with interesting approaches for compelling storytelling. The script-like formatting feels like I’m reading a transcript of the story’s events, as if Golden November and I are covertly watching the events take place together from a nearby unmarked van. In addition to the exciting new perspective this grants, it allows the story to move at an unmatched pace creating a fast and dynamic story that will surely excite readers as they follow the residents of Milestoneville on their latest adventure. The experimental and exciting storytelling that fans of Milestoneville and its residents have come to expect with action, drama, excitement, and adventure in equal measure. A must-read for action fans and those curious about the potential of non-traditional storytelling.”
Now that the reader has a general understanding of my writing style. I can now talk about the idea of how I came up with this book series. G and JBT jump out of an airplane, skydiving, and have a conversation through their headset in another book series I wrote. It was then that I knew I wanted to write a book series that evolved around these two characters. Flower Rose and Dr. Yes, are also characters from that series who ended up in the new book series. The series was written with complex layers of character development. The best comparison would be watching a television series and wanting to know everything about the characters. As I authored this book series, that is the view I took, and it’s the view the reader should take as the storylines unfold. The complete series is now available. Someone asked me why I write in a dialogue format? The answer is, I don’t like to write “He said, she said, the car is blue, they walked down the street.” Yeah, like, I just can’t do that.
Before I can talk about where the idea for the book came from, my books need an explanation about its unique and original formatting. My novels have been described as nontraditional. I’m an indie writer, to me, a book is like a blank canvas and the words are the paint. My books are not for everyone, especially if nontraditional book formatting is not what the reader is used to reading. The readers who were able to figure out the character-driven dialogue format, and got into character, have enjoyed the books, and became immediate fans of my work.
As an indie writer, my goal is to develop characters that the reader can follow their storylines and learn about them. I also enjoy writing amazing action scenes with a lot of drama. The best way to read any of my books is to drop any preconceived notions about the non-traditional formatting before the reader opens the book. I’m an indie writer; I do not have a team of editors. I do every aspect of the book design and editing myself. I also have authored more than one book. When I write a chapter, I visualize it like it’s a movie set. The most obvious thing about the book is when the reader opens it has a dialogue with the character's name above it. This is similar to a screenplay. Here’s an example.
G
How’s your day?
JBT
It’s great. How is your day?
Above the dialogue is a photo that sets the scene. There are no descriptive narratives in the books. There is only character-driven dialogue. As the reader gets into character and reads the dialogue like an actor, they say “How’s your day?” “It’s great. How is your day? The reader knows from page one, it’s a conversation. A conversation about how your day is. It’s a conversation that once the reader starts getting a sense for who the characters are, they quickly become familiar, and reading the book, starts to feel like they are watching a movie or television series. Suddenly the action and drama kick in, and the reader can’t put the book down, wanting to know what will happen next. These four professional book critics had summed up my writing style perfectly. Let’s take a look.
“Author Golden November has such a refreshing and different narrative style. The pictures above each page set of dialogues give a nice background for readers, it shows that you don’t need to write long, winding descriptions and paragraphs to set the tone and explain how the action occurs.”
“When Flower Rose puts up the lost book for sale, two business partners, JBT and G, who specialize in recovering lost valuables, are hired to retrieve it. And thus begins a challenging quest filled with several unexpected and unforgettable experiences: parking an airplane at a gas station, hosting a popular podcast show, a high-energy concert, and much more.
From the repeated beautiful pictures to the dialogue-based format and the short, unpredictable conversations, Characters of Milestoneville is like no other book I've read. After getting past the initial surprise I had when I opened the book, I was able to discover its brilliance and noteworthiness. In fact, the wild, hilarious, and unpredictable events match the uniqueness of the book's appearance. Author Golden November's book includes several memorable characters and many brilliant, comical additions. I still chuckle when I remember how one such character is manipulated to collect the only copy of a music album by being called cool. Readers who seek a book that will cheer them up instantly and make them laugh uncontrollably should check out The Characters of Milestoneville: Collector’s Edition now.”
“The Characters of Milestoneville series by Golden November, a character-driven, action-packed story that follows characters residing in Milestoneville as they fight each other over a cryptic book. Accompanied by colorful images, the story follows the characters JBT, G, Flower Rose, Dr. Yes, and others on a rollicking ride that is filled with drama and banter and in a world with its unique moral code.
This is a novel that is written in an inimitable style. The author writes scripts that are accompanied by colorful and symbolic images. The characters are well-developed and readers will want to follow Wallace, the scammer who destroys people’s lives without remorse, and Flower Rose, the eccentric book collector. The drama is intense and the entire narrative is stocked with tension. Readers are hardly aware of what could happen next as the intrigue mounts with characters having hidden agendas. Apart from the drama, readers will enjoy the author’s superb handling of character development. These characters come alive on the pages and they feel as real as though they lived next door to readers. The beauty of the writing is elevated by the realism infused into it and the creation of characters that are genuinely flawed and believable. There is no prose in The Characters of Milestoneville: The Team; it is filled with dialogues and the images give readers the liberty to imagine the setting. This is a work of art that is creatively imagined and excellently executed.”
“The book is an action-packed rollercoaster following various residents of Milestoneville as they start searching and fighting each other over a mysterious book while a potential sibling imposter has come to town. Told using non-traditional prose methods such as movie scripts with images, The Characters of Milestoneville book series tells a highly kinetic story by putting the audience in a unique position to gain perspective on the plot and characters.
I’ve got a lot of time for books that use non-traditional storytelling methods to create a unique experience for the reader, and as with all installments in the Characters of Milestoneville series, this book experiments with interesting approaches for compelling storytelling. The script-like formatting feels like I’m reading a transcript of the story’s events, as if Golden November and I are covertly watching the events take place together from a nearby unmarked van. In addition to the exciting new perspective this grants, it allows the story to move at an unmatched pace creating a fast and dynamic story that will surely excite readers as they follow the residents of Milestoneville on their latest adventure. The experimental and exciting storytelling that fans of Milestoneville and its residents have come to expect with action, drama, excitement, and adventure in equal measure. A must-read for action fans and those curious about the potential of non-traditional storytelling.”
Now that the reader has a general understanding of my writing style. I can now talk about the idea of how I came up with this book series. G and JBT jump out of an airplane, skydiving, and have a conversation through their headset in another book series I wrote. It was then that I knew I wanted to write a book series that evolved around these two characters. Flower Rose and Dr. Yes, are also characters from that series who ended up in the new book series. The series was written with complex layers of character development. The best comparison would be watching a television series and wanting to know everything about the characters. As I authored this book series, that is the view I took, and it’s the view the reader should take as the storylines unfold. The complete series is now available. Someone asked me why I write in a dialogue format? The answer is, I don’t like to write “He said, she said, the car is blue, they walked down the street.” Yeah, like, I just can’t do that.
Golden November
Thank you; I truly appreciate that you enjoyed reading my books and were able to understand, and figure out my writing style. As you are aware, I'm not a traditional author. To answer your question about my methodology when I write a book: I get into character, and I act out each scene. I see a book like it's a movie set. There is a lot of set design in my books and formatting the pages. Many of the characters are fun to play the role of; I do laugh-out-loud when I'm writing a scene and getting into character, taking on the accents and dialects. My goal is for the reader to get past the untraditional book format and feel the character and the storylines. Thanks again for your kind words.
Golden November
I'm glad you enjoyed the books. My newest 4-book series, The Characters of Milestoneville Book Series, is now available in Paperback, and on Kindle. The fourth book in the series: The Characters of Milestoneville: The Thrill Ride was just released. I'm also ready to announce that I'm a Kindle Vella Author. Kindle Vella is coming soon and will be the latest way for reading serialized stories.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more