rlfj: Blog

Lots of groans and moans about a cliffhanger at the end. God, I love it!

Many of the great authors of the 19th Century specialized in cliffhangers. Dickens and Dumas come to mind. In those days it was common for an author to be initially published not in books, but in newspapers and periodicals. Every few days, or maybe every issue, a chapter would be published. The publishers loved this, since a good story would guarantee that readers would come back and purchase the next issue, to get to the next chapter. Cliffhangers abounded, and when a story had multiple plot lines they often switched, leaving a cliffhanger to be resolved several chapters – and issues – down the pike. Only when the story was done would the book actually be published as a book.

No, I do not consider myself anywhere near the level of those writers. I do enjoy their writing, though, and enjoy their technique.

I had an interesting complaint about the story a few days ago. “It's real hard to get to interested in a mediocre middle school kid.” Considering the first few chapters, Grim is fairly average, but I don’t think that is going to last much longer. My current character is somebody who I think all of us can recognize. I thought it was time to write about somebody believable. If that doesn’t interest you, sorry about that. Delete me from your library.

Grim is still growing up and making the usual mistakes we all did at that age. I think we can all remember back to those days. Enjoy!

Grim is now growing up. Strangely enough, girls aren’t so yucky any longer. Who’d have guessed? Enjoy!

The Grim Reaper is growing up. I think we can all remember what it was like to be back in grade school. I would bet anything that you knew guys just like him. Otherwise, not a whole lot to add. Enjoy!