Reviewing BLUE MOON by Lee Child Considering what works and what could work better in Jack Reacher # 24

[by Ross Browne]

Author’s note: As a reader, I’m a loyal fan of the Jack Reacher series, awaiting each release with rabid anticipation. As a professional editor, I’m a longtime admirer of what Lee Child does well and, at times, a constructive critic of what I believe he could do better. I write about Lee Child often […]

By |2024-01-06T22:42:02+00:00|Book Reviews|Comments Off on Reviewing BLUE MOON by Lee Child Considering what works and what could work better in Jack Reacher # 24

GRISHAM vs. GRISHAM: How a Master Storyteller Honors (and Flaunts) Convention Within the Confines of Genre Fiction

[by Ross Browne]

Did a bestselling master of his genre write the same novel twice?

On first glance, it might look that way. The premise and plot setups of John Grisham’s 1999 release The Testament and his 2013 release Sycamore Row are remarkably similar. Both novels feature:

  • The suicide of a wealthy man with a terminal disease, right […]
By |2024-02-08T19:09:03+00:00September 10th, 2019|Behind The Bestsellers|Comments Off on GRISHAM vs. GRISHAM: How a Master Storyteller Honors (and Flaunts) Convention Within the Confines of Genre Fiction

What Book Editors (Really) Do A guide for authors, by Editorial Department founder Renni Browne

So in one of my favorite New Yorker cartoons by Sam Gross, we have a cat maniacally clawing an upholstered chair, obviously not for the first time, and its owner explaining to her guests: “We believe that in a former life she was an editor.”

Over the fifty-plus years I’ve been an editor, I’ve met plenty of people […]

By |2024-01-20T17:05:08+00:00|The Editor’s Craft and Process|Comments Off on What Book Editors (Really) Do A guide for authors, by Editorial Department founder Renni Browne

THE EDITORIAL PROCESS 101: A Step-by-Step Guide to Readying a Book for Quality Self-Publication

These days, it seems everyone wants to self-publish a book. And that is both a tremendous freedom afforded to all who have the desire, and a scary proposition for a market now flooded with books and no process for quality control. This means a lot of people are publishing books who don’t necessarily know what part editors […]

By |2024-01-07T18:35:12+00:00|Self Publishing|Comments Off on THE EDITORIAL PROCESS 101: A Step-by-Step Guide to Readying a Book for Quality Self-Publication

How Susie Steiner Handles Characterization, Craft, and the Conventions of Mystery Writing in a Stunning Series Debut

[by Ross Browne with Susie Steiner]

One thing the editor in me loves about mysteries is seeing how successful authors navigate the challenge of writing entertainingly in a style of novel that’s inherently formulaic. For all its boundless appeal, mystery is a genre whose stories can be very similar in plot and structure, […]

By |2024-01-06T20:52:50+00:00June 14th, 2018|Behind The Bestsellers|Comments Off on How Susie Steiner Handles Characterization, Craft, and the Conventions of Mystery Writing in a Stunning Series Debut

Reviewing SUDDEN PREY by John Sandford Considering characterization and its impact on story in a bestselling crime series

[by Ross Browne]

Anyone familiar with my taste in books probably knows how much I love John Sandford and admire his skills as a writer. One reason I like his Lucas Davenport series so much is that these deftly plotted novels usually go deep into the minds of deranged killers in seriously […]

By |2024-01-19T23:23:47+00:00|Book Reviews|Comments Off on Reviewing SUDDEN PREY by John Sandford Considering characterization and its impact on story in a bestselling crime series
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