Good reading: Two best-selling authors tell what they like to read

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What makes a book a good read? Three more independent authors give me their perspective: 

Mohana Rajakumar is author of So You Want to Sell a Million Copies?, Love Comes Later and a number of other books. Her latest is An Unlikely Goddess.

Jesi Lea Ryan is author of Arcadia’s Gift, Arcadia’s Curse and Four Thousand Miles.

Name three characteristics of books that you like. What makes you keep reading a book? 

Mohanda Rajakumar: I love the characters or at least want to know what happens next. Books where the writer takes me into a world totally other than my own and I learn something new. And I talk to other people about what's happening in the world of the story — it's that compelling.

Jesi Lea Ryan: I like books with unique characters who don't irritate the crap out of me.

Plot is important, but it is becoming emotionally invested in the characters

that keep me interested. Richelle Mead's books (yes, all of them) are my

best example of this. Her books are action packed and filled with intrigue

and adventure, but she has such an amazing way of tying me in emotionally

that I feel like I am in the book. It's amazing! 

I also like books that run at a faster pace. I don't like a lot of pointless

musing. I'm a firm believer in what doesn't add to your story should be cut.

I can give you about fifty bad examples of this, but where I find it most is

in erotica. Good erotica uses sex scenes to further the character or plot.

Bad erotica has little plot or character and things it can survive on

gratuitous sex. It's annoying. 

What are some books that you weren't able to put down until you finished them? 

Mohana Rajakumar

Mohana Rajakumar: Gone Girl, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, and The Night Circus.

Jesi Lea Ryan: Stacia Kane's Downside series have really unique characters, beautifully flawed.

  

What makes you keep reading a book? 

Mohana Rajakumar: To see what happens next and how we get where we are going.

Do you consciously try to emulate these books? 

Mohana Rajakumar: I do try to take readers into worlds they don't know because that's what drew me into reading as a child. And into writing as an adult. There were so many things to think about, I wanted to get out and share them with others. In terms of keeping the reading guessing, suspense I struggle with as a writer but character development I have much more confidence in my ability to deliver. 

Jesi Lea Ryan: I don't consciously emulate other books, but I'm sure they influence me to some extent. I read over 250 novels a year, and I don't have a stellar

memory.  I can't quote even from my favorite books. Part of this is because

I rarely read the same book more than once. I can tell you that I

consciously try not to write the things that irritate me. For example, I

detest indecisive heroines. And god, there is so much of that in YA and NA

romance.  Makes me want to hurl books across the room.  Indecisiveness does

not create plot tension, it creates reader tension, and that's not a good

thing!  So I don't drag things out too much in my books.  If the heroine

needs to make a decision, she's generally quick to act on it. 

Win signed books from BestSelling authors

BestSelling Reads authors are doing it again — giving away a virtual boxed set of five  signed paperbacks in the BSR October giveaway. 

How does it work? From BSR's own blog: 

The grand prize winner gets to choose a total of five titles, choosing from all the books available by BSR member authors. Five titles from one author, or mix and match with one title each from five different authors. Plus a $50 Amazon gift card to add even more titles to your shelf!
Second prize is a virtual boxed set of three signed paperbacks plus a $20 Amazon gift card. Eight runner-up winners will receive one signed paperback of their choice by any BSR member author plus a $10 Amazon gift card. 

To enter, visit BestSelling Reads' blog at BestSellingReads.com and enter the Rafflecopter.

Good luck!

The Independent Authors International iAi holiday book Extravaganza

You’re an awesome gifter — you got someone special a brand new e-reader. But what’s a great e-reader without great reads?

Just in time for the holidays — Independent Authors International brings six great books from six great, independent authors for just 99 cents each.

On Unfaithful Wings, by Bruce A. Blake —
Icarus Fell was alive, then he was dead, now he’s stuck somewhere in between. Icarus Fell is a harvester, brought back to Earth by the archangel Michael to collect souls and help them on their way to Heaven. If he gets enough of them before the bad guys do—if he does a good job—he can have his life back. But people he knew in life are dying, killed by a murderer’s knife, their bodies defiled, and the cops think he’s the killer. How does a man who no longer exists stop a psycho? Icarus Fell know he has to stop him before the killer gets to his son.


“Icarus Fell is officially my new favorite anti-hero.”

The Bones of the Earth, by Scott Bury — Eastern Europe, the Dark Age. The earth besets human civilization with earthquakes, floods, famines and new plagues that wipe out nearly half the population. Half of the mighty Roman Empire disappears. And the only man who can save humanity is one society rejected because he’s different.

“A marvelous read. I spent most of a day in The Bones of the Earth in spite of the things I had to do!”

 Velvet Rain, by David C. Cassidy — Kain Richards is the last of his kind--and a man on the run. So when this mysterious drifter falls for a beautiful and sensible Iowa farmwoman, he knows full well the perils of getting too close. And yet, for the first time in his miserable existence, life feels normal ... feels real. But as those around him soon realize, reality is not what it seems. For when a tragic accident forces Kain's hand, his astonishing secret--and godlike power--changes their lives, and the world, forever.

“It took my breath away right from the first line."

The Funny Adventures of Little Nani, by Cinta Garcia de la Rosa, illustrated by Almudena 
Romero Sánchez — Little Nani is a little girl who likes helping people, but when she does, the results are unexpected. Why? Because Little Nani is a witch! Or at least she wants to be a witch. She tries to cast spells to help her friends, but she didn’t finish the magic spell course. Little Nani’s extraordinary friends include funny ostriches, horses that love reading, super-fast turtles, grumpy zombies ... Little Nani has lots of friends! You can also draw your own characters! Little Nani is willing to become a good witch. Will she manage to do it? Who knows?


“Children will love this book of short stories and they will fall in love with the beautiful images.”

American Goddesses, by Gary Henry — When two small-town women find themselves with nearly unlimited powers of mind and body, their lives get complicated. Things turn nasty as a shadowy organization attempts to use Megan and Trish for their own evil ends, and destroy them, their town and the USA in the process.

“A ton of girl power … Highly recommended!”

Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula, by Elise Stokes — Fourteen-year-old Cassidy Jones wakes up the morning after a minor accident in the laboratory of a world-renowned geneticist to discover that her body has undergone some bizarre physical changes. Her senses, strength, and speed have been radically enhanced.

After exploring her newfound abilities, Cassidy learns that the geneticist is missing and that foul play is suspected. Terrified that her physical changes and Professor Phillips' disappearance are somehow connected, Cassidy decides to keep her strange transformation a secret. That is, until she meets the professor's brilliant and mysterious fifteen-year-old son, Emery. An unlikely duo, they set out to find Emery's mother and are forced to confront a maniacal villain willing to do anything — including murder — to achieve his goals.

"Elise Stokes ranks up there with other YA masterminds! This is a definite must -read book!”

Looking for more great fantasy from independent authors? Check out the eBooks Make Great Gifts book blitz from the Guild of Dreams fantasy authors collective.