I fell into a book this morning and it wasn't my own. It was The Footprints of God by Greg Iles. I try to avoid his writing when I'm under the gun because he sucks me in so completely. It's a combination of characters, story and writing style.
Like Susan Wiggs, Iles is difficult for me to dissect. I've tried analyzing both authors in an attempt to understand what drives me to keep reading long past logic dictates I should. It would be much wiser to shut off the light, get some sleep or finish my own writing. Instead I fall into a fictional world that engages all of my senses. I suspend disbelief for the hours it takes to work my way through to the end. In the case of Iles' work, I'm usually exhausted at the end. Yet satisfied.
That satisfaction is what keeps me plugging away at my own manuscript. I want readers to put my book down at the end of a wild ride with fascinating characters and feel like it was worth the investment of their valuable time. That, and the hope that some day Gerard Butler will star as one of my heroes in the film version of that book. Dreams are good. They're an essential element in creating a satisfying book.
How do you classify a good read?
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Interesting, Keziah. That may be indefinable.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, I used to sneak into the hall late at night and read under the night-light plugged in at the baseboard. That was a great read.
Now, anything that keeps me reading through a meal, through sleep hours; anything that makes me tear up or causes my throat to constrict from trying not to cry; anything that sends an emotional shiver along my skin. I guess when my body reacts as much as my brain does to what is written on the page, that's a great read.
Yep. It's indefinable!