Bookfessions #1016 Plus My Commentary

Bookfessions.tumblr.com has been a fun site to visit due to the numerous thoughtful observations they make about reading, books, stories, etc.

It like 1016 (noted here), because it's the sort of observation I find myself wondering about asI write the Jake Sloan novels.  Should I include a map of the area?  Would the reader like a graphic of the location where the adventure is happening?  Do readers have an appreciation for location and/or geography? 

As a reader I know that I do, and part of my goal as a writer is to create what I think I would like to see in a book were I perusing the shelves.  That's been one of the basic pieces of advice I've taken to heart as I embarked on this adventure (of novel writing):  Write the novel you would like to see on the shelf but haven't yet.  Pretty good advice, I believe. 

It forces you to believe in your own sense of quality, genre, characterization, plot flow and plot complexity... those sorts of things. 

Part of what inspired me to attempt the feat in the first place was reading Frank Peretti's teen/young adult novels (Dr. Cooper Family adventures).  http://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Throat-Cooper-Adventure-Series/dp/1581346182

 

My kids absolutely loved them, but the series was discontinued.  I wanted to see more of them on the shelves, or more novels like them on the shelves.  Since my kids were growing up in the process I thought a slightly older character (in the young adult age range) might be in order.  So after a brainstorming session during one of our San Diego road trips to visit the grandparents, Jake Sloan Adventures were born.  I think they are just the sort of novels young Christian youth might like to read. 

I hope that including an occasional map will help readers visualize where the adventure takes place.