Subliminal messages?

I’m a fast reader, but I know I have to pay attention to details because I don’t waste my time reading trivia (most fantasies, romances, and cozy mysteries are in that category). That’s because, as a writer, I know an author I’m reading can add things that aren’t obvious but provide hints and clues about characters and their motivations, attitudes, and hang-ups, not to mention complexities of plot or unusual settings.

In ads, these hints and clues are often subliminal, although some think of tha...