I was pleased to receive a favourable comment by Darlene Foster about my latest novel ‘A Marriage of Convenience‘.  Darlene had kindly agreed to beta read the book, and she mentioned that it is ‘ Easy to read and not cluttered with unnecessary words‘.  She has published her review on Goodreads, and the link is below:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2418454829

Easy to read and uncluttered is how I like to write.  I prefer to let readers use their own imaginations as much as possible, and I came to this conclusion after reading a traditionally published thriller (I suppose I’d better not mention the author) in 2016 which was set in the Isle of Wight.

Of course the location made me want to buy the book in the first place, but I was very disappointed when I began to read it.  The plot moved along at a snail’s pace and everything was described to the nth degree; towns, landscapes, weather, streets, shops and people.  Nothing was left to the imagination, and it did occur to me at the time that perhaps the tedious descriptions were only there to increase the word count.  The book has 321 pages, and I’d say that at least 80% of it is describing something or other.

It currently ranks at 57, 291 on ‘Zon, but looking at some of the reviews, people have complained that the book is boring, and that there are too many descriptions.  I can only agree, and despite this author’s success and high rankings,  this particular book has stayed in my mind as an example of how not to write.

Readers prefer a plot that moves along at a good pace.  I’m sure they don’t care a fig if the run-down street has a line of unusually tall lime trees with branches reaching up to a pure azure sky and with verdant leaves rustling and shimmering in the salty sea air.  What they want to read about is what is happening in the street as regards the plot!

Anyway, thanks again Darlene for such an encouraging comment.  ‘A Marriage of Convenience’ is available on pre-order at a temporary bargain price of $0.99 / £0.99 and will be published on 6th July:

http://bookShow.me/B07D7Z37DR

For those who would also like to vote for it to be made into a cine-book, the link to cast your vote is given below:

https://cine-books.com/projects/stevie-921f9/a-marriage-of-convenience?utm_source=promote_author