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Readalong and Q&A with Eldon Farrell - Stillness
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Just wanted to thank the group for this opportunity and say that I look forward to answering any and all questions you may have!!Happy reading :)
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Sean wrote: "Hi started the book, yesterday"Enjoy :)
Hi. I'm also hoping to participate. Could somebody please explain how this group works? Will there be a weekly target, a certain amount of the book to be read? Sorry if this is obvious, but it's my first read-a-long...Thanks
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Hope you enjoy it. :)
Prologue: Well that was a intriguing beginning
Perri wrote: "Prologue: Well that was a intriguing beginning"It's what I aim for! Here's a little insight that shouldn't spoil anything. I ended the prologue without explicitly saying what he found in the coffin because at the time I wasn't sure which way to take it...empty or not :)
When I decided I just never changed it; feeling it works better this way.
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Lots of characters
Sean wrote: "Read about 25% now.Lots of characters"
Valid point Sean. If I might, my thoughts on the characters has always been that I wanted the reader to have a feel for the town before the outbreak begins. That way they have some emotional stake in the outcome as opposed to the victims simply being faceless.
Eldon wrote: "Perri wrote: "Prologue: Well that was a intriguing beginning"It's what I aim for! Here's a little insight that shouldn't spoil anything. I ended the prologue without explicitly saying what he fou..."
So did you write this not knowing exactly what would happen ?
Perri wrote: "Eldon wrote: "Perri wrote: "Prologue: Well that was a intriguing beginning"It's what I aim for! Here's a little insight that shouldn't spoil anything. I ended the prologue without explicitly sayi..."
Great question! I always write with a general outline of what will happen start to finish. But it's just a general outline and lots of times when I'm writing things change; a new idea occurs to me or a new direction presents itself. I don't want to be tied down to an outline in these situations.
So yes, at the start I didn't know for sure how it would end.
Sorry, just found this thread. Will try to find a copy and join along!
Great to find out it's in the Kindle Unlimited library!!
Kirsten *Dogs Welcome - People Tolerated" wrote: "Great to find out it's in the Kindle Unlimited library!!"It's a wonderful thing :)
I have read and enjoyed "Stillness" and I promise not to give anything away. My question for Eldon is: why did you pick Iowa as the setting when the infectious disease in the story is not normally found there? Seems like that would immediately indicate something was amiss.
Alex wrote: "I have read and enjoyed "Stillness" and I promise not to give anything away. My question for Eldon is: why did you pick Iowa as the setting when the infectious disease in the story is not normally ..."Great question Alex!
I chose Iowa for 2 reasons. First, I wanted the setting of small town America and felt like the cornfields of Iowa perfectly captured that image. And second, (view spoiler)
I started this afternoon and took notes on the characters so it was slow going for me. I only got to 26% but I am glad I took my time and took notes as I can move right along now knowing the inhabitants of Stillness and how they related to each other. It's really starting to get good now.
Karen B. wrote: "I started this afternoon and took notes on the characters so it was slow going for me. I only got to 26% but I am glad I took my time and took notes as I can move right along now knowing the inhabi..."Glad you're enjoying it Karen!
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I am on 82 % and has been fast paced, very fast paced since 70%.
Lots of action now
I am 40% through and I found this novel captured my attention right from the beginning. Lots of characters as mentioned in previous comments, I believe this makes what's to come all the more interesting.
I am really enjoying this read.
Can't wait to read what happens next.
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Lisa wrote: "I am 40% through and I found this novel captured my attention right from the beginning. Lots of characters as mentioned in previous comments, I believe this makes what's to come all the more inte..."
Glad you're enjoying it Lisa :)
Any questions feel free to ask.
I'm curious how you came up with the town name,Stillness-cool name. Is it to contrast with the mayhem to come? :)
Perri wrote: "I'm curious how you came up with the town name,Stillness-cool name. Is it to contrast with the mayhem to come? :)"I wish I could say it was because that's pretty cool! But no, the origin of the name comes from the original title of the book "Stillness of the Heart" (a Lenny Kravitz song title as it turns out). I then shortened it and realized it sounded like a real small town name :)
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Review will follow
4 stars.
The last third of the book raised this to a four star book, with the pace and action.
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Firstly, thank you to the author Eldon Farrell for offering this book free to my group " A Good Thriller" for our monthly "Readalong" for November and a Q & A's.
Stillness is the story of a small town in Iowa laid waste by a genetically engineered virus and the efforts of an inexperienced CDC doctor, Lynne Bosworth, and an FBI agent, Caleb Fine, to get to the bottom of the outbreak.
Many questions surround the outbreak, not the least of which is how did plague find its way to the heartland of America? Determined to find the answers and her own way out of the long shadow cast by her father, Lynne embarks for Iowa. Unable to isolate an index case of bubonic plague, patient zero is traced to Nikolai Markov; an old Russian bio warfare scientist.
Under examination, the bacteria present Lynne with many anomalies but few answers. The antibiotic resistance noted in the field is absent in the lab, while a synthetic gene is found that seemingly has no purpose. For her superiors it’s enough to deem the outbreak a biological attack, a conclusion that Lynne does not share. For her, something about the whole incident remains…elusive.
In search of evidence to either prove or disprove the bioterror claim, she crosses paths with FBI Special Agent Caleb Fine. Together, they come to believe that something other than a biological attack is going on in Stillness, and that the answer to what may lie in solving the fifteen year old murders of Bobby and Maggie Sullivan.
The complicated subject matter in this book also deals with some well researched medical and scientific issues., mixed it with a wide selection of characters, a complex story, than builds to a great fast paced action thriller for the last third of the book.
Four stars.
Only fault to this book is the amount of characters and complex story to follow, but saying that a well researched debut from this author.
Sean wrote: "I have finished the book.Review will follow
4 stars.
The last third of the book raised this to a four star book, with the pace and action."
I appreciate the rating and review Sean; glad you enjoyed it!!
I am about 60% through this book, and am enjoying it. You've done a good job with a difficult subject.I do wonder about the research you did regarding CDC and its policies/practices. As a 24 year employee of CDC (in disease investigation, although not EIS), I am finding some of the inaccuracies hard to get past. I'm sure most people wouldn't notice, but still.....
Karen wrote: "I am about 60% through this book, and am enjoying it. You've done a good job with a difficult subject.I do wonder about the research you did regarding CDC and its policies/practices. As a 24 year..."
Hello Karen,
Let me start by saying that I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying the read.
All of the research that I did is included in the selected bibliography at the end of the book. I have no actual experience in any medical field being an accountant by trade and thus for realism had to rely largely upon what I read in those books. Obviously this cannot compare to the actual hands on experience that you have amassed over 24 years of working in the field. If you say there are inaccuracies I would defer to your judgment and would love to hear of some examples so that I might see about correcting them. For me, writing is a process that is about continual improvement of the craft and I am always open to honest and valid criticism.
If you would like to provide some examples I would love to hear them. If you feel posting them here would contain spoilers please feel free to private message me with them.
Thank you for the question and for taking the time to read Stillness.
I'm about 1/3 through and though I really like the science and the thriller aspect, I do want to mention the attention to character and the feelings of those under the panic of this disease.Especially the death of young Cody, it brought me to the edge of tears. Great job!
Kirsten *Fighting Nazis Is An American Tradition - Stop the Alt-Right* wrote: "I'm about 1/3 through and though I really like the science and the thriller aspect, I do want to mention the attention to character and the feelings of those under the panic of this disease.Espec..."
Thank you Kirsten; always nice to hear when my writing has an effect on the reader :)
As the month draws to a close I just want to thank the group once again for this opportunity. I've enjoyed the discussion and hope everyone enjoyed the read as well.As a token of my appreciation starting tomorrow until the end of the month the second book of this series will be free on Amazon. For those who want to see where the story goes I encourage you to check out Taken
Thanks again :)
A Good Thriller
Books mentioned in this topic
Taken (other topics)Stillness (other topics)
Hope some members will join in and hopefully enjoy our next readalong.
Happy reading!