Brent’s answer to “i want to start reading Lee child , will it be a good idea to start from his first book Killing flo…” > Likes and Comments

I have to agree. Reacher sees the cops pull up outside the diner, come inside, walk over, get him to exit his booth, cuff him, take him outside to the cop car, put him in it, get in themselves, drive him to the police station, let him out, walk him inside, etc, etc. The action is painstakingly boring at times. When it's good, it's really good though but it seems to take forever. His next 2 books are even worse for this at times. However, the character of Reacher almost makes up for it. The character is brilliant. Just wish his tendency to flesh out insignificant data in a scene could be reigned in. I might give his 4th book a try but really don't expect much different.

Hey Trevor, it's nice to know others appreciate novels with a faster pace. I'm almost ready to publish my sci-fi action thriller called Galaxy Fire. Although I've had 8 to 9 others tell me they really liked it, I'm always trying to get more feedback. Here's a link to the summary and book:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/49az8rq4c9...

honestly, I barely read SciFi. I did read Ender's Game but that was a one off as it was referenced several times and very specifically in "Writing Fiction for Dummies." great book by the way. My favourite book on writing though is Dwight Swain's book on writing. As far as your summary; it's difficult to really tell anything from a summary but I did find yours to be a bit vague. But who cares... I think a writing sample is a much better indicator ofa person's writing than a query or a summary, but that's just my opinion. Best of luck in publishing your book.

Thanks for the fiction writing suggestions. I've read many, including the Dummy's one. I just bought Swain's on your recommendation and the glowing Amazon reviews. Ender's Game is solid, but a bit predictable I thought. Thanks for the feedback on the summary. It's meant to be a teaser that's designed to not give away the book's twists. The first chapter represents my writing style, but if you're not into Sci-fi, it may not appeal to you.

My bad. I didn't realize the files were different when they popped up. Just thought they were different format. So I went back and found your writing sample. I like the "sassy" tone in your writing but honestly, I didn't get further than a bit into the second page. You start out with a character stroking his chin at a podium and then you launch into backstory for a page... and then back to the guy at the podium. I've been told this is certain death. Obviosly you need to establsh a setting but GOAL is important. I don't see a goal here other than a guy at the podium. And the action gets totally suspended to explain backstory. It's interesting backstory but it needs to come later. I had nothing to identify with initially so after about half a page, I lost interest. That being said, as I said before, I really liked the tone of your writing.
Since backstory is something that happened before, it suspends your story and I can't identify with what's happening with Derrick. I think you need to introduce Darrick without the page of backstory so we can get to know him and invest in him before we can even care about his backstory. As for Ender's Game, I thought it was kind of similar to the Jack Reacher books in that they both write a really strong main character. My problem was with the rest of it. They both seem a little long and lacking in other areas. But those main characters... they did what they were supposed to. They made me FEEL something.

Thanks Trevor! I’ve tightened the first page by amplifying the tension and mystery while interlacing the protagonist’s current physical actions during his opening thought process. Without this, I can see how it might come across as backstory when it is relevant to the book’s universe, the protagonist’s unique voice, and page one’s surprising punchline, which now comes a bit sooner. The character dialogue begins at the end of page one, followed quickly by the chapter’s action. I think you’ll find the book to move at a surprisingly fast pace compared to most novels, but thanks to you, I’ve improved the first page while retaining its “sassy” tone. Mysteries, tensions, setting, characters and mini-goals are created in Chapter 1 (and an action cliffhanger), but the overarching quest (goal) begins to take shape after the setup of Chapter 2, which I believe is not unusual for a novel. That said, this book targets sci-fi action/thriller fans also looking for a healthy dose of humor. My email is in the revised book (same link) if you have more comments. If not, thanks again!

If you think the pace of this is slow, don't read Jo Nesbo!

Good to know.

This did not answer the question at all and was kind of spoilery, not cool my man. Not cool.