What Genre Do You Like to Read?

Each genre of fiction has its own set of rules. In a horror or thriller like Hags, you spend a portion of the book figuring out what’s wrong and who or what is causing the problem. The second part of the plot is about how you destroy the monster causing the problem. The key questions are: What’s Happening? And how do we kill it? Such stories usually move quickly, especially the thriller.

Where monsters are involved, the story often starts slower and then speeds up as you progress through the story. The genre or type of story you enjoy reading has basic rules like these.

A mystery story is always about a crime that happened either in the past or at the beginning of the story. Otherwise, it’s a thriller if the crimes are still happening.

Romance novels always have a happy ending. Otherwise it’s a literary story or love story, but not a romance.

Genre rules exist for two reasons. They give you, the reader, a platform for understanding and enjoying the novel. And they give the author rules to break. When you catch an author breaking the rules, consider how it adds to the story?

Read a healthy chunk of Hags free by clicking on the book cover icon after you click over to the Kindle version on Amazon. Available for your Kindle reader by clicking here.  The paperback version is available by clicking here.

Don’t have a Kindle reader? Download the free version for your computer, tablet or smart phone from Amazon by clicking here.

Here’s another novel idea…
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Meet Micah Probert

As a young man, Micah Probert is found guilty of committing a horrible crime for which he is sentenced to a lengthy prison term. Like many prisoners, he protests his innocence to no avail. After his release, he cares for his dying father. Micah inherits his father’s fortune and returns to his home town on a quest to clear his name and discover his purpose in life. My new novel, Hags, begins on Micah’s first night back in Naperville, Illinois.

From the outset, life works against Micah in his quest of self-discovery. He confronts evil forces beyond his imagining. The dark horror thriller pits Micah and his new-found friends against these evil powers in a battle for the heart, soul and mind of a city.

The evil cabal arrayed against Micah includes a serial killer, a hag who keeps her youth by means of human sacrifice, a demon masquerading as a philanthropist, and a bunch of minor horrors.

As if the evil mounted against him isn’t bad enough, a hidden danger lurks in Micah’s life in the form of a second hag. Can Micah discover her existence before it’s too late?

Read a healthy chunk of Hags free by clicking on the book cover icon after you click over to the Kindle version on Amazon. Available for your Kindle reader by clicking here.  The paperback version is available by clicking here.

Don’t have a Kindle reader? Download the free version for your computer, tablet or smart phone from Amazon by clicking here.

Here’s another novel idea…
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It’s a Horror

One of my first readers for Hags emailed that he had completed the novel in about four hours. He found he couldn’t put it down once he began. Hearing that makes me feel good, of course. But more importantly, it tells me the story is doing what it’s supposed to do.

Hags is a horror story. It’s a fast moving story like my suspense/thriller stories. Horror stories involve monsters or evil-doers so the action is often unpleasant, immoral and illegal. The good news is I try to avoid detailed descriptions of criminal activity. I like to have the bad stuff happen “off stage” with the reader jumping in immediately after the event. The dastardly villain may have his way with the young maiden off camera or off stage, but you find out about it when you figure out that the hole the villain is digging is intended to be a secret grave.

If you also like to read an occasional romance novel, you’ll find a love story in the midst of the action.

Quest is a genre unto itself with specific rules and required character archetypes. Hags follows the quest model for those who love such tales. If you think about it, demons and hags are characters you would expect to find in a medieval tale so it makes sense to include a quest in the story. Like any good quest story, Hags is about spiritual warfare in the age old battle of good versus evil.

You can read a healthy chunk of Hags free by clicking on the book cover icon after you click over to the Kindle version on Amazon. Available for your Kindle reader by clicking here.  The paperback version is available by clicking here.

Don’t have a Kindle reader? Download the free version for your computer, tablet or smart phone from Amazon by clicking here.

Here’s another novel idea…
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Does Your Life Have a Purpose?

My new novel, Hags, involves a journey of discovery as Micah Probert solves the mystery surrounding a series of killings and the true nature of the enemies aligned against him. He also learns the secret of the power within him so that he can resolve the horror plot while discovering forgiveness and a calling to move his life forward, rather than back. Another sub-theme is purpose. The central premise of the world of Hags is we all have a purpose in life.

What makes a story like Hags interesting to read from a thematic standpoint is seeing how the author explores the theme and sub-themes. If a character like Micah Probert struggles with forgiveness and is focused on past wrongs rather than his role in life, than he is a prime subject for growth. As Micah struggles against the evil aligned against him, observe how he changes.

While reading Hags, consider your purpose in life. You have a calling to discover and pursue.

You can read a healthy chunk of Hags free by clicking on the book cover icon after you click over to the Kindle version on Amazon. Available for your Kindle reader by clicking here.  The paperback version is available by clicking here.

Don’t have a Kindle reader? Download the free version for your computer, tablet or smart phone from Amazon by clicking here.

Here’s another novel idea…
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Move Forward, Not Back

How many people do you know who are hung up over some wrong that occurred to them in the past? In Hags, the main character, Micah Probert, is focused on the horrors in his past to the extent that it paralyzes him from making forward progress in his life. In this way, forgiveness becomes the theme of the novel.

The key for Micah, as well as all those folks you know who are struggling with past wrongs, is forgiveness. We have to forgive those who hurt us as our last act of looking back. With forgiveness behind us, we become free to move ahead to celebrate the life we’ve been given and to pursue the calling God has placed in our hearts.

Hags explores this concept of turning from past wrongs to face a brighter future through forgiveness. You can read a healthy chunk of it free by clicking on the book cover icon after you click over to Amazon. Available for your Kindle reader by clicking here.  The paperback version is available by clicking here.

Don’t have a Kindle reader? Download the free version for your computer, tablet or smart phone from Amazon by clicking here.

Here’s another novel idea…
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Don’t Look Back

Some Book May Be Gaining on You (to paraphrase Satchel Paige).

When reading a story, notice how the author paces you through the plot. Good pacing tends to behave like a symphony. At the beginning of the story, the author sets a certain pace. It could be fast or slow or somewhere in between. As you move through the story, notice that it picks up speed or slows down at times.

The fast pace emphasizes or highlights the danger and action of the plot. It tends to keep you reading and interested. The author slows the pace down to stress character and scene. When it’s time for romance, the author slows the story down so you can take it in. This slowing down and speeding up helps you enjoy reading the story. The slower moments allow you to mentally catch your breath by giving you a pause or time to internalize what is happening. During the fast scenes, the author builds excitement with an emphasis on the action and what the action means for the story.

Hags is fast-paced action from the get-go so it's more like rock and roll than a symphony. You can read a healthy chunk of it free by clicking on the book cover icon after you click over to Amazon. Available for your Kindle reader by clicking here.  The paperback version is available by clicking here.

Don’t have a Kindle reader? Download the free version for your computer, tablet or smart phone from Amazon by clicking here.

Here’s another novel idea…
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Happy anniversary to my bride, Lynn Zuk-Lloyd.

Why Some Authors Use a Real Place

Some authors like to create their own world in their fiction. Doing so gives them complete freedom to control the environment of the story. Would your plot benefit from adding a mountain nearby? Like magic, it appears on the pages of the story exactly when needed. The downside of creating your own locale is no one from there is going to purchase the book.

Other authors, me included, prefer to use real locations. Readers enjoy learning about places they’ve never been to. Real places create a better sense of reality in the story. And real places have readers who like to read about their home town or favorite place to visit.

An actual location, like Naperville, Illinois, where my new novel Hags is set, makes the fantastic or magical aspects of your story a little more realistic.

In Hags, I chose a local place I was familiar with. It made it easy for me to describe the setting. I was able to spill the story into nearby locations so Warrenville, Oak Brook and Chicago’s Magnificent Mile all serve as backdrops for the fast-paced action. Hags is about an ex-con who is accused of serial murders while battling a human-sized faerie and a couple of hags as evil as any from the Middle Ages. As the body count mounts, will he learn the secret of the hags before he becomes their next victim?

Hags is available for your Kindle reader by clicking here.  The paperback version is available by clicking here.

Don’t have a Kindle reader? Download the free version for your computer or smart phone from Amazon by clicking here.

Here’s another novel idea…
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