Recently a friend was reading a book, which shall remain nameless, and when she finished, she wanted to throw the book across the room. Why, you ask? Because the ending made absolutely no sense.
The author spent the whole book having the hero search for the person who attacked him, only to have the attacker be someone the hero paid to do it.
That got me to thinking and I came up with 5 plot devices readers hate (at least this reader).
1. The villain turns out to be someone’s evil secret twin no one knew about.
2. At the end of the book, everything turns out to be a dream.
3. The hero uses a ‘hidden’ talent that has never been mentioned.
4. The cavalry swoops in and saves the day.
5. Having your heroine be TSTL (too stupid to live). You know, a serial killer is on the loose and she sees something in the woods outside her cabin...
Now it’s your turn. What do you wish authors would not do?
One more thing…September 5, Justice Buried, the second book in my Memphis Cold Case Novels releases! Here’s the back cover copy: In an effort to get her security consulting business off the ground, Kelsey Allen has been spending a lot of time up in the air, rappelling down buildings and climbing through windows to show business owners their vulnerabilities to thieves. When she is hired to pose as a conservator at the Pink Palace Museum in order to test their security weaknesses after some artifacts go missing, she's ecstatic.
But when her investigative focus turns from theft to murder, Kelsey knows she's out of her league--and possibly in the cross hairs. When blast-from-the-past Detective Brad Hollister is called in to investigate, Kelsey may find that he's the biggest security threat yet . . . to her heart.
Leave a comment, along with your contact information. One winner will get a $10.00 gift card for Amazon!
One thing about authors I don't like (When books are a series>) is that sometimes they take to long to write the next book! I read the one book when it first comes out and then it seems like it's forever before the next one comes out.
ReplyDeletePatricia Bradley, I preoreded this book a few days ago. And, I can;t wait until it gets here!
Why does the person in trouble's phone either fall where they can't reach, have a dead battery or have no signal? Pet peeve! Do enjoy reading suspense anyway.
ReplyDeleteWell here's the thing--that goes with suspense, right? It wouldn't be very suspenseful if calls go through just fine and police show up to save the day. Would it? Now be honest. :) Where's the fun in that? LOL All the bad things have to happen to increase the tension. Truth is stranger than fiction too--I have often found when I NEED to make a call, my battery is dead. LOL!
DeleteThank you, Beverly! One thing, though. It's not always the author's fault a book doesn't come out for a year. I know with my books, my publisher sets the date and the only reason my first two books came out seven months apart is that the first book, Justice Delayed, was pushed from November 2016 to February 2017. And I didn't change the due date of the manuscript of the 2nd book, Justice Buried, and that allowed it to release just 7 months later. Usually it's almost a year between books. :-)
ReplyDeleteRight. Publishers only want to release their books once a year, maybe twice, right?
DeletePatricia, it's one of an author's great frustrations--it may take 6 months to a year to write a book, and the reader goes through it in a few days. Wish there were a better answer.
DeleteI agree with that list completely. However suspense is my very favorite genre.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Stella!
DeleteI wish there were more stories where there no widowers or widows with a kid as that theme seems to be used a lot. I agree with the list too...sudden endings leave me frustrated that would be on my list too
ReplyDeleteI think one reason for widowers and widows is so the hero/heroine can be free to fall in love. Thanks for stopping by Donita!
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DeleteI hate how the heroine is always a "slender" beauty, and usually the villainous woman of the story is fat and or loud. And why are all heroines young when most readers are 40 and above? I'd really like to read about a heroine who is more attainable.
ReplyDeleteNext, I hate it when the names in the book are some awful name you can't figure out how to pronounce. Zheleposes is not a good character name. Not that everyone has to be named Fred or Charlotte, but if it just made some phonetical sense, that helps.
Also, I hate it when the authors pick a location and then get all the details wrong. Don't use a location you don't know about. Don't write about camping if you've never been, or about using a gun if you've never held one. Try to use deeper vocabulary if possible.
Last, I just want to say how much I appreciate that the writers here listen to and respond to their readers. What an awesome thing that is for all of us, to read something that is written and then to be able to talk with each other and the author about the book. It's a great thing, this use of technology!
Thanks for your comment. My characters are usually older although they usually are athletic since I put them through so much. :-) And so agree with a name I can't pronounce!
DeleteI get frustrated when the author had Spanish speaking characters and writes a quote on Spanish, and gets a word (or more) wrong. I speak Spanish fluently, and I think of you're going to quote a foreign language, you ought to get it right. I've seen the country of Colombia, South America, written as Columbia, for goodness sakes.
ReplyDeleteLinda, on one or two occasions I've used a Spanish phrase, always checking it with a Spanish-speaker as well as a dictionary or phrase book...but we're still wrong sometimes.
DeleteOh, Linda, where were you when I was looking for a Spanish translator!! I passed the story by two different people who speak Spanish fluently, but I always worry I didn't get it right!
DeleteThanks for stopping by.
One of my pet peeves is inconsistencies within the story. The author mixes up their characters and their roles. It get a bit confusing.
ReplyDeletePat, I'm excited to read JUSTICE BURIED!
Let me jump in here and confess that, no matter how I try, I sometimes write the wrong name (usually a character from a previous story). A good editor will typically catch those errors, though.
DeleteRichard is right, Caryl. Sometimes I get carried away with the story and things slip in and even get by my editors. :-) Once I called a respiratory therapist a respiratory nurse. I knew there was no such thing as a RT, but somehow my brain threw that out there and a reader called me on it. But I got even with her...She was a nurse and I asked her to read my next manuscript for errors. lol We are good friends now and I still call on her for research.
DeleteI like your five things readers don't like...hits the nail square on the head. :) I also wish more heroines and heros were not quite so beautiful/ handsome, but I do like them active and even athletic. I'm 70, and except for having caught some weird bacteria two months ago, I stay very active and have kept up with people in their 40s, 30s, and younger. In fact, I have one K9 SAR dog, and I'm getting ready to train a second, and six dogs who are just pets, plus three horses. So older doesn't mean relegated to a rocking chair. ;)
ReplyDeleteOh, wow, Mary. If I write a story with a SAR dog, I'm going to contact you! And to me, older is better! Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteI like your five things readers don't like...hits the nail square on the head. :) I also wish more heroines and heros were not quite so beautiful/ handsome, but I do like them active and even athletic. I'm 70, and except for having caught some weird bacteria two months ago, I stay very active and have kept up with people in their 40s, 30s, and younger. In fact, I have one K9 SAR dog, and I'm getting ready to train a second, and six dogs who are just pets, plus three horses. So older doesn't mean relegated to a rocking chair. ;)
ReplyDeleteGreat list of top 5 that readers hate.
ReplyDeleteComment concerning names people cant pronounce. Do you think readers would object to a Hawaiian name for the hero if it is explained how to pronounce it (by a friend in the story-line? I have a friend explain the meaning of the ame and how it is pronounnced at the beginning of the book. The name is Kane, proounced 'Con-yay' and he is a native Hawaiian.
Vicki
I think as long as the reader is told how the name is pronounced early on, it wouldn't be a problem, Vicki. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteThis is a great list! Another thing I don't like to find in a book is so many characters and side story lines that it is confusing and hard to keep track of who is doing what.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read your soon-to-be-released book!
Thank you Rosalyn! I try not to have too many side stories, but sometimes it's hard not to chase that rabbit trail. Thanks for stopping by and joining the conversation.
DeleteThat list is right on! What a strange book you read with the hero paying for his own attack. I wouldn't have liked it either. It made me curious though, like did he pay the person to attack someone else? Otherwise, why was he trying to figure it out throughout the story? Love suspense novels so please keep them coming! :)
ReplyDeleteNicolmom, I don't know what the author was thinking and it was a well-known author and the book sold big time. I haven't read another book by this author, though. And I hope to keep writing for many years to come!
DeleteSometimes I think that the solutions come too easy because our struggles often take a lot of prayer and effort to get our lives back on track!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughts.
Blessings!
Connie
cps1950(at)gmail(dot)com
I agree, Connie, that sometimes it seems the h/h didn't earn the solution to the problem. It does take a lot to get our lives back on track!
DeleteHAHA...I've heard of authors referring to the TSTL (too stupid to live) and it makes me chuckle every time!
ReplyDeleteFor me, I don't like reading a book that leaves you hanging at the end and you have to wait many, many months for the next one! I like my books to be tied up in a neat bow at the end, or at least mostly anyway :-)
Thanks for your five things to turn off a reader Patricia! It's interesting to read. Thanks also for the gift card chance!
teamob4 (at) gmail (dot) com
Trixi, all of the things I referred to, I've been guilty of at some point in a story. In one of my first drafts, I had a critique partner write out TSTL by something I had my heroine doing. I quickly changed it.
DeleteThanks for stopping by.
I agree completely with your list...especially TSTL. lol
ReplyDeleteRomantic suspense is my favorite type of book. I've read your last book and am looking forward to Justice Buried.
lhanberry1@gmail.com
Thank you, Linda. Sometimes it's so easy to have our h/h do something TSTL! lol.
DeleteI laughed at the comments about hard to pronounce names because it reminded me of a book I read where the heroines name was unusual and every time I would read it, I had a particular pronunciation in my head. About 3/4 into the book, the author told the reader how her name was pronounced and I had it all wrong! It really took me out of the story at that point because I would see the name, pronounce it wrong in my head and then correct myself. :)
ReplyDeleteI think names can be a tough thing sometimes.
I love the list. Thanks for the giveaway.
momrain(AT)aol(DOT)com
That's why I usually stick with regular names. Easy to pronounce. Nothing too out-there. :-) Thanks for joining in the conversation, Loraine.
DeleteI get annoyed when the ending is rushed. Everything resolved ridiculously fast. It's almost like the author decided that the book was going to be so many pages long and that was it.
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
That is annoying, Mary. Most authors have a word count from the publisher and sometimes the suspense part of the book gets bigger than they author anticipates and I think that may be why some stories seem rushed at the end. Then the author usually works out a resolution to whatever was left hanging in another book.
DeleteThanks for stopping by and joining in the conversation!
I'm so excited about Justice Buried!! hollymag(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteThanks, Holly. :-D I hope you enjoy it!
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