James Patterson and Me
James Patterson and I have a lot in common.
When I queried my agent back in 2006, I compared my writing to James Patterson's in an effort to lure an offer of representation. It worked (though I doubt very highly that likening myself to JP marked the main reason why. I'd also written the best book I could).
Fast-forward five years and James Patterson and I share the same publisher in the UK - Century and Arrow, an imprint of Random House UK.
As fate would have it, James Patterson and I both had our thrillers released in the UK on the same day - Jan. 20, 2011. Mine (my debut) is titled KILL ME ONCE. His is TICK TOCK.
Incredibly, both our thrillers feature a serial killer recreating some of the most despicable murders in history.
Coincidence? Of course it is. But I still think that's pretty neat.
Having so much in common with James Patterson is certainly nothing to shy away from. I enjoy reading James Patterson mostly because he features ingenious killers with thoroughly warped minds. To my mind, those characters are infinitely more interesting to read about than the ones chasing them. I feel the same way when I'm writing my own books. I enjoy writing the bad guys way more than I enjoy writing the good guys.
It just feels so good to be so bad, I guess.
And it's because of James Patterson that I consciously try to keep my chapter-lengths short, though not quite as short as his.
His immense readership proves that a lot of people like short chapters. You can dip in and out of a Patterson book easily, and you feel like you're making some real progress along the way. This fact is hammered home to me each time my 14-year-old stepdaughter, Madison, reads a Patterson book - proudly pointing out to me how many chapters she's read. Often, the page number and chapter number are roughly the same.
No need to re-invent the wheel there, right?
How do you, as a reader, feel about short chapters? Like them? Hate them? Couldn't care less just so long as the story is good?
Join me on Facebook at Jon Osborne Books.
When I queried my agent back in 2006, I compared my writing to James Patterson's in an effort to lure an offer of representation. It worked (though I doubt very highly that likening myself to JP marked the main reason why. I'd also written the best book I could).
Fast-forward five years and James Patterson and I share the same publisher in the UK - Century and Arrow, an imprint of Random House UK.
As fate would have it, James Patterson and I both had our thrillers released in the UK on the same day - Jan. 20, 2011. Mine (my debut) is titled KILL ME ONCE. His is TICK TOCK.
Incredibly, both our thrillers feature a serial killer recreating some of the most despicable murders in history.
Coincidence? Of course it is. But I still think that's pretty neat.
Having so much in common with James Patterson is certainly nothing to shy away from. I enjoy reading James Patterson mostly because he features ingenious killers with thoroughly warped minds. To my mind, those characters are infinitely more interesting to read about than the ones chasing them. I feel the same way when I'm writing my own books. I enjoy writing the bad guys way more than I enjoy writing the good guys.
It just feels so good to be so bad, I guess.
And it's because of James Patterson that I consciously try to keep my chapter-lengths short, though not quite as short as his.
His immense readership proves that a lot of people like short chapters. You can dip in and out of a Patterson book easily, and you feel like you're making some real progress along the way. This fact is hammered home to me each time my 14-year-old stepdaughter, Madison, reads a Patterson book - proudly pointing out to me how many chapters she's read. Often, the page number and chapter number are roughly the same.
No need to re-invent the wheel there, right?
How do you, as a reader, feel about short chapters? Like them? Hate them? Couldn't care less just so long as the story is good?
Join me on Facebook at Jon Osborne Books.
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Thanks for the response, Beth. KILL ME ONCE has 89 chapters over 404 pages - so fairly short chapters.
A couple of questions: Why do writers like you and James Patterson prefer short chapters? Is it because the stories move quickly and are told from multiple points of view? And how do you decide how long to make each one? If I recall correctly, KILL ME ONCE had a one-pager.Also, how do novelists like you and Patterson come up with these "thoroughly warped" characters? Do you base them on real people about whom you've read or about whom you've written as a reporter? Or do you just have thoroughly warped minds, too? :)
I write short chapters because I think readers like them. And, yes, you must have a thoroughly warped mind to come up with this stuff. Haha.
"It feels so good to be so bad, I guess."As I always say, it's fun to be bad, it's easy to be crazy, but it's no fun being good. :)
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So my answer is (c), "Couldn't care less just so long as the story is good", although my teenage self would have disagreed. Short chapters (and short books) were preferable in the days of assigned reading.
Loved 'Kill Me Once', by the way, and I have no idea how many chapters it has.