Deb, you should be enormously proud, both of what you accomplished and the stories and characters you brought to life. Good on you for recognizing it.

And a big old "yes ma'am" to the "they're so readable, it's ridiculous" thing. My feelings exactly.

And a big old "yes ma'am" to the "they're so readable, it's ridiculous" thing. My feelings exactly.

What AmyLiz said. I flew through those puppies and I. Want. More.

They are very likeable characters, and very readable stories. Very much worth being proud of.

Y'know, I sat down tonight and re-read the Rock and Roll for the first time since the post-partum fog (mine, not the bookwriting one, so as we're clear) lifted.

Previous to that, I'd been sorting things, and re-read the first few chapters of Eyes in the Fire.

It's weird to see the complete difference in voice, which is something I don't see when reading Eyes and then reading, say, Weaver--both of those are obviously the same writer, same voice. With rest-of-your-work and Kinkaid, if I didn't know they'd been written by the same person, I wouldn't have guessed. It's not a simple matter of using first person POV for Kinkaid--I've read things you've written in first person that are still very much in the voice seen in Eyes or Weaver.

Kinkaid's voice is far more powerful, more immediate. In some respects, comparing the two voices is apples and oranges, or leather jackets to tapestries.

I know you're not big on having things slotted into genre, so this is more for filing with info-for-your-agent: the first book--as I've only read the one--really had a lot in common, in terms of my reader response to it, with books I've read lately that have the word "suspense" printed on the spine.

Anyhow, yes, needs to be on shelves. Lots of them. Especially the ones at the supermarket that say, "Bestsellers: 20% off."

Plei, you are one majorly discerning woman, you know that?

And this, about the difference between the Chronicles and everything else I've written, is what I was hoping for. Because I did my damnedest to channel his voice, rather than imposing my own. That was the single most important thing I was aware of during that manic glorious 9-week explosion of two novels, 165,000 words, the books I wanted to write: keeping his voice clear, and there, and his.

You pulled it off for sure.

You pulled it off for sure.

Yes. This. And it had nothing to do with British idioms (though I suddenly realized that the brief natter before Nice Piano version of "Jingle Bells" includes the exclamation "Gordon Bennett!" and it made me laugh and laugh once I identified it).

JP could have been an American Southerner, with the attendant idioms, and he would still have had that same strong, clear voice. No question. He could have been a Punjabi immigrant, and again, same strong clear voice. His voice came from who he was, not where he was from.

(I know that no one suggested that his strong voice was a result of regional dialect/idiom -- I just wanted to point that out.)

Heh. Teppy, yep - he used it when he was very cross, not all that often, but enough. Very idiomatic, pure London and the south, but I'm with you; it's not a question of idiom.

Thing is, reading him, I can hear him. I can hear who he was, things he said, and the character of JP Kinkaid keeps him keepin' on.

The books are a kind of atonement. They're the best I can offer by way of trying to make up for what I didn't do then.

I'm proud they work.

Plei, let me know when you've read WMGGW, or if you need the current version.

One big difference I noticed is that JP's voice is far more focused on people and less on place--he notices place to an extent, but it's more an aside than anything else. With him, you don't get a sense of the hotels, but you do get a strong sense of their employees. Usual!Deb voice, place is far more of a player in things.

Plei, let me know when you've read WMGGW, or if you need the current version

I need the current version.