K. Marvin Bruce

I recently read a novel which, because I like only to say kind things of authors, I shall not name.  Suffice it to say that the author had written two successful novels before and I hoped for a mood to match the season in this one.   It was a ghost story, so I thought I was definitely on track.  It was set in a different historical period, but that's fine by me.  Past ghosts are just as troubling as present ghosts.  The story, however, couldn't ever strike a mood.   The setting was in a time of an epidemic.  As well as war.  But the optimism—can I even call it that?—of the narrator seemed not to allow for what Edgar Allan Poe once said was essential for stories: the "single effect."  It was a story scattered all over the place.   Perhaps most jarring to me was the use of language that seemed inappropriate to the time setting of the story.  Phrases that seemed modern, or lighthearted, sprang up in awkward places....

“The writing is good,” and that's half the battle, no?  If I have to get rejection letters, then those with helpful advice are better than those who don’t say why.  Usually I assume my writing just sucks.  The latest letter, however, said the writing is good.  Only the pacing sucks. I’ve always struggled with pacing.  I like to build a mood; too many hours spent with Poe, Lovecraft, and Bradbury.  Never paying close enough attention to my masters.  Thing is, time moves on and tastes change.  I’ve learned to imitate the passé.  Although I’ve had a dozen or so acceptances in my life, each rejection still hurts.  In fact I check my email before leaving for work only.  At least my thankless job dulls the pain from an early morning pinhead letter.  Compared even to my pacing, work is dull. I recall reading Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton.  I read it before I saw the movie.  I think of the scene where the ve...