David Callinan's Blog - Posts Tagged "thriller"
Should I slit her throat? You decide.
I plan to slit her throat.
The fact that she's a nun and a bride of Christ makes little difference.
Or rather, I plan to have my nasty, twisted, weird creation Oswald Dante (who keeps his long dead mother embalmed in a viewing coffin in his basement) creep in and cut her white flesh. And feel her pulse of life ebbing in a tide of blood.
Before you run away with the idea that Oswald is my alter ego, I must tell you that he is only one of the characters in my new Mike Delaney thriller 'Good Girl Bad Girl'.
And therefore I have multiple alter egos.
I turned to beta readers for their opinion on the manuscript and was unprepared for the floodgates of conflicting opinions about the death of such an endearing, beautiful main character, someone readers had loved and identified with throughout the book.
"You can't murder her," some screamed. "How could you even dream of killing her, you monster."
Others were far more practical. "I can live with that,' they said. "One of them had to go so it mght as well be the nun."
It's a tricky balancing act and t has set me a dillemma. If I stick with the current storyline it might go against me with publishers and agents. Or it might have the opposite effect.
What do you think? Have you ever read a book when an important character (not the lead) has been brutally murdered when you least expected it? Someone you had grown to love and who you thought was one of the heroes or heroines.
It happens on TV. It happened in 'Luther' the other night when his partner was blown away by a bolt action shotgun. But then, I don't think viewers had the same connection with that character than they would with my innocent bride of Christ.
If you would like to help me out and give me your opinion you could offer to beta read the manuscript (a free copy for you to report on) although I have rather given some of the game away (there are many other unexpected twists and turns in 'Good Girl Bad Girl'.
The fact that she's a nun and a bride of Christ makes little difference.
Or rather, I plan to have my nasty, twisted, weird creation Oswald Dante (who keeps his long dead mother embalmed in a viewing coffin in his basement) creep in and cut her white flesh. And feel her pulse of life ebbing in a tide of blood.
Before you run away with the idea that Oswald is my alter ego, I must tell you that he is only one of the characters in my new Mike Delaney thriller 'Good Girl Bad Girl'.
And therefore I have multiple alter egos.
I turned to beta readers for their opinion on the manuscript and was unprepared for the floodgates of conflicting opinions about the death of such an endearing, beautiful main character, someone readers had loved and identified with throughout the book.
"You can't murder her," some screamed. "How could you even dream of killing her, you monster."
Others were far more practical. "I can live with that,' they said. "One of them had to go so it mght as well be the nun."
It's a tricky balancing act and t has set me a dillemma. If I stick with the current storyline it might go against me with publishers and agents. Or it might have the opposite effect.
What do you think? Have you ever read a book when an important character (not the lead) has been brutally murdered when you least expected it? Someone you had grown to love and who you thought was one of the heroes or heroines.
It happens on TV. It happened in 'Luther' the other night when his partner was blown away by a bolt action shotgun. But then, I don't think viewers had the same connection with that character than they would with my innocent bride of Christ.
If you would like to help me out and give me your opinion you could offer to beta read the manuscript (a free copy for you to report on) although I have rather given some of the game away (there are many other unexpected twists and turns in 'Good Girl Bad Girl'.
All things must change
I've decided it's time to make some changes.
Firstly, my fingers are crossed that agents will respond well to my pitch for a new thriller, with a new character. Title is 'Or Else She Dies'. The lead character is Harry Chance, a safecracker, jewel thief and former cage fighter but with a heart of gold. He likes to rob rich people and help the downtrodden (after he's helped himself to a few trinkets) and he has a few emotional issues.
I won't be self-publishing this title at this point.
Because I was heavily involved in a property project this last year my marketing of self-published titles took a dive along with sales.
And publishers look at low or no sales when you pitch a new book and get all sniffy. If you have a poor track record (irrespective of the quality of your books) then they are inclined to dismiss your new pitch out of hand.
Short sighted and unfair but in the dog eat dog world that is publishing today maybe it's understandable.
It's an uphill battle to find ways to become visible to buyers and readers with the overwhelming number of titles to choose from and the regular changes made by Amazon to its algorithms.
So, it is time to breathe new life into my self-published titles: new book titles, new covers, restructured website etc.
Then it will be time to pay much more attention to launching books properly, maybe even advertising.
So the longest journey begins with one small step.
Firstly, my fingers are crossed that agents will respond well to my pitch for a new thriller, with a new character. Title is 'Or Else She Dies'. The lead character is Harry Chance, a safecracker, jewel thief and former cage fighter but with a heart of gold. He likes to rob rich people and help the downtrodden (after he's helped himself to a few trinkets) and he has a few emotional issues.
I won't be self-publishing this title at this point.
Because I was heavily involved in a property project this last year my marketing of self-published titles took a dive along with sales.
And publishers look at low or no sales when you pitch a new book and get all sniffy. If you have a poor track record (irrespective of the quality of your books) then they are inclined to dismiss your new pitch out of hand.
Short sighted and unfair but in the dog eat dog world that is publishing today maybe it's understandable.
It's an uphill battle to find ways to become visible to buyers and readers with the overwhelming number of titles to choose from and the regular changes made by Amazon to its algorithms.
So, it is time to breathe new life into my self-published titles: new book titles, new covers, restructured website etc.
Then it will be time to pay much more attention to launching books properly, maybe even advertising.
So the longest journey begins with one small step.
