Sep 14, 2015

Hey everybody, I'm looking for some feedback on one particular issue.

A couple of people have suggested that I need to expand the characters of Tom and his mother a bit more before the events of Chapter Four. Their opinion is that the tragedies of that chapter don't carry enough weight, since—at that point—the reader barely knows Tom.

I actually do have a bit more written about his last day of "normal" life, but had removed it in order to keep the story moving forward (plus, this novel is already pretty long for a first-timer like me) and get to the other protagonists early enough that they don't feel out of place. One of my proofreaders described my book as "Game of Thrones with Capes" so there's a lot happening that these first chapters only hint about. It's always difficult to decide what's going to be important to other folks.

Tom's character is developed in depth over the course of the tale, and the losses he experienced are explored in detail over time. But ... the opening bit is the most important. The novel may be 45 chapters long, but if people don't like the beginning, the rest doesn't matter all that much.

So, if anyone has opinions, criticism or insight to offer, I would greatly appreciate it.

Regards,

Mitch