Judging a book by its cover

When you read a book, you make an economic decision about how to spend your time and money. Life is too short to waste on a book that may disappoint, so before the decision to read and/or buy, a book goes through your filter, which is informed by taste, experience, word of mouth, etc.

The cover is part of this evaluation. The cover conveys information about the book's genre, style, characters, and story. If the cover looks unprofessional, or if the copy on the back doesn't grab you, it's wise and necessary to give the book a pass and look for something more appealing to you.

This isn't "judging a book by its cover," as the oft-misused aphorism goes; that implies a book sucks because the cover sucks. You've simply chosen not to read it, just like you choose what movies to see, or what to eat, or what to wear, or who to ask out on a date. Discernment is an elemental part of life. If you don't filter books this way, you'll find yourself reading a lot of books you don't like.

Only someone who's read a book can judge it. That's why it's important to have an appealing cover, to get through readers' filters so they can be in a position to judge it, good or ill.

As always, let me know what you think in the comments. I'll reply as soon as I can.

I designed the cover art of Seeds of Calamity in Inkscape. Does it pass your filter? If so, I invite you to read the first 4 chapters or get yourself a copy at Amazon.

For a free digital copy of my debut book, Tendrils to the Moon, sign up for the mailing list on the right side of the blog page. Or, if you're viewing the mobile site, click here.

A pedantic children's book review

I used to think children's books aren't serious art, but once I started reading books to my daughters I realized my mistake. There are good children's books and bad children's books. It doesn't take less effort to entertain a 3 year-old for 2 minutes as it takes to entertain a 30 year-old for 12 hours.

One of the best children's books I've read is Locomotive by Brian Floca. It's a sensory journey across the Old West via steam engine. It flows like poetry. The descriptions are accurate and fun. The artwork is detailed, immersive, and gorgeous. Best of all, Locomotive fires up the imagination of complex machinery and exploring new frontiers, worlds of technology and wonder.

But that's not good enough for some people.

Imagine being so "woke" that you find fault in children's books for not gutting the target audience's curiosity and sense of wonder. Misery loves company, I suppose, and the best way to make a person miserable is to teach them early.

There are too many people in the literary world who think like this, and I've come to accept the naiveté of ignoring clear ideological splits in the book market. I do not write for this kind of person. I want to take my readers on adventures, not jade their thinking with droll pedantry.

You can judge for yourself whether I've succeeded by reading the first 4 chapters of Seeds of Calamity for free. If it piques your interest, get yourself a copy at Amazon. I appreciate the support!

For a free digital copy of my debut book, Tendrils to the Moon, sign up for the mailing list on the right side of the blog page. Or, if you're viewing this on the mobile site, click here.

And as always, let me know what you think in the comments. I'll reply as soon as I can.

On 3rd person limited

This is a continuation of a previous post on my writing goals for my newest book, Seeds of Calamity. One of those goals was to limit the POV to Felton, the protagonist. This was to simplify the storytelling and tell a compelling growth arc for a single character from start to finish. Aside from the prologue, which is told from a secondary character's POV, I succeeded. Along the way, I learned a few things about writing.

Limited perspective has mystery and surprises built in. Much of the tension is in not knowing what will happen next, or not knowing what is really happening beneath the surface of the other characters' actions. In my first book, Tendrils to the Moon, the tension came from the reader knowing more than the hero did. In Seeds, it comes from the reader knowing only as much as Felton.

A small effect of this was my decision to not title Seeds's chapters. I did this for Tendrils's 12 sprawling chapters, and it made sense in the context of that story, where process and detail were featured as much as the plot and characters. The chapter titles I used back then gave a sense of progress as well as foreboding. With Seeds, chapter titles would have taken away the story's unpredictability.

This style demanded more from me as a writer. I had to stage scenes "off screen" without the benefit of showing them, so they had to flow by a logic that I didn't entirely have control of. I was tempted to explain things long after they happened, and there wasn't a lot of room to work with in the moment.

Whereas I could get away with more telling in Felton's POV, I had to find more direct ways to show the other main characters' growth and conflicts. I was forced to be efficient in their presentation, for too much information would have muddied those characters to the point that they wouldn't be identifiable.

It was fun writing minor characters who served their purpose after a couple of chapters—or one scene, as they case may be. It feels true to life. I liked adding dashes and quirks that I didn't feel pressured to sustain over the whole book.

Finally, the limited perspective imposed plotting discipline on me. I didn't have the option of cutting to another POV when a scene ran its course. I had to either advance the plot or cut to a new scene that did. The result was a dense, meaty plot and no real second act doldrums to speak of.

To see what I mean, read the first 4 chapters of Seeds of Calamity for free. If it piques your interest, get yourself a copy at Amazon. I appreciate the support!

For a free digital copy of my debut book, Tendrils to the Moon, sign up for the mailing list on the right side of the blog page. Or, if you're viewing this on the mobile site, click here.

And as always, let me know what you think in the comments. I'll reply as soon as I can.