Status Updates From Dream Date

Much to think about. I do roundly like the Mr Nasty / Little Boy / Mr Wonderful Dias they have for Heath Granger.I think it is a very evocative way to educate young people on love bombing and trauma bonding in an effective way that doesn’t become too after school special because Katie is still being run through he’ll with the cockroaches and skin melting off her face illusions Heath is doing

I do kind of need Sinclair Smith to give me more details on this house at the edge of town that’s been abandoned for years that our MC has moved into. Is this supposed to be like a busted old ranch built in a subdivision in the 50’s or is this a old farmhouse next to a 80-90’s conservation subdivision with a ridiculous fake pastoral name

I'm in an everything slump, a life slump, really. Hopefully I can get into this creepy little book.

Wow, so much was packed into 213 pages. THIS is how to write a YA thriller novel! Excellent pacing, nothing repetitiveness, and every sentence is there for a purpose, not as filler. The scary parts are scary, the tense parts are tense, etc. The author really maximizes the word limit.

71 out of 213 pages done, and the author has covered so much! It’s amazing. So much happens (yet the pacing is never rushed) in this small book than those 400- 600-page books we have these days, where the authors just meander on and on. The secret to early-‘90s YA thrillers? The authors don’t repeat themselves. A fact maybe be stated twice, maybe three times (a rarity), but typically only once 95% of the time. Love!

Early-‘90s YA thrillers were small in size and low in page numbers (typically under 200 pages, unless very special), yet their authors really knew how to pack in a fully developed and atmospheric story while maintaining pacing! “Dream Date” moves along at a rate that maintains the focus of its teenage readers, yet at no point feels rushed.

This book is a perfect example of quality over quantity. At only 213 pages (and it’s a small paperback!), the author manages to set everything up - from plot to characters, to setting - in such a short time. This is all due to good pacing and action-oriented prose. The book is actually the perfect training tool on pacing.