Review: The Easy Way to Write Crime Fiction That Sells is a Simple, But Not Easy, Process No New Writer Can Ignore
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 27, 2014
In just under a hundred pages the author managed to teach me a good deal about writing crime stories that people will, I hope, pay money to read. Mind you, I think his title is a bit misleading - just as Parnell notes - it isn't easy to research and organize one's thoughts into a narrative that will satisfy today's sophisticated reader and arm chair sleuth.Easy, of course not. But, as the author displays, the process can be broken down into three repeatable steps, but I'll not give any spoilers here.I should add, though, that I was skeptical after reading a glowing comment by a man claiming to have 32 years in law enforcement, because when I surfed to that person's web site, about all I could see was a reference to affiliate advertising or some such thing. However, as I read further, and upon receiving an email from that reviewer, I began to appreciate Parnell's sound, logical, well-informed approach.Further, I read one of his fiction books, Nine Tales... and realized that Parnell is able to write fiction that keeps my attention, which is no easy feat.I also found that, even though he does provide links to publishers and to some of his other books (courses) on writing, he does provide a thorough presentation within the 92 pages of this book, priced well below its true value to any new writer.So, I went from skeptic to believer in less than 72 hours, even if I do think the better title would be, The Simple Method to Writing Crime Fiction, subtitled, So Long As You're Willing to Work Hard to Succeed.