Calling all Readers

"So what are those magic ingredients that make a novel a page-turner? What sustains the interest of the reader? What makes the reader care about what happens? What gives the reader a sense of involvement? What makes you buy a novel?"

I saw these questions on a writing forum today and they really grabbed my attention. I'm a writer, but before I was a writer, I was a reader.  It just makes sense that if I answer these questions as a reader, I will be a better writer...right?

So, I'm curious...as a reader, how would you answer these questions? I would love to hear your answers, because your opinion will make me a better writer, too.

Jan


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(Copyright© 2011 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)

Alive and Kickin'

Bet you all thought I'd fell off the face of the earth. Nope, I'm still here.

My last post was August 12th - a week before I started back to work at Camelback Academy, then just as I was getting used to my new schedule, my brother's car broke down and I started driving him to work every day (2 hours in the morning and 2 hours at night). So, you can see that I haven't had much time to write lately.

The good news is that my brother got his car back today, so starting tomorrow, I get 4 hours added back into my day...plenty of time to write, but I just couldn't wait until tomorrow to post, so I'm doing it now!

Lots of fun things coming up for me. My book, Wake Up Your Muse - 1001 Story Starters for Fiction Writers is due out the first week of October and a devotional I wrote is being published in Gary Chapman's Love is a Verb Devotional, also due out the first of October.

I'm attending the American Christian Writer's conference in Phoenix at the end of October and will be participating in NaNoWriMo in November (writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days). I'm really excited about NaNoWriMo this year because my publisher, Written World Communications has arranged for Wake Up Your Muse to be a sponsor of NaNoWriMo this year.

As you can see - I've got a busy couple of months ahead of me, but I'm excited about what God's doing in my life and looking forward to all the fun.

So, what have YOU been up to lately? Leave me a comment so we can catch up with one another.

Jan

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(Copyright© 2011 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)