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I wrote a book.

Handsome_Pat

Child
Forum Clout
3,016
For the last ten years or so, I’ve had an idea for a book that I just sat on. A twist on the classic coming of age story intertwined with a family crime drama. When I’d get bored, I’d let my mind wander, and think about different characters, scenes, twists, etc. Around six months ago, I thought it would be funny to get the book published under a nome de plume, but name one of the minor antagonists Patrick Tomlinson.

I finished the final chapter in October. Sent the draft to a friend who is a published author / creative writing professor at a pretty prominent university. Got some great feedback / notes. Finished the second draft right after Thanksgiving. The story is told in three parts across a ten year span, has eighty chapters, and a final word count of just under 120,000. I kept the chapters short and used relatable syntax, tailoring the prose to the shortened attention spans of a modern audience. I’m a big fan of James Ellroy’s later works ( LA Confidential, The Black Dahlia), and was inspired by his telegrammatic prose.

At the start of December, I sent a manuscript to around ten literary agents with strong track records of getting crime thrillers published in paperback. (First four chapters and a brief summary of entirety of the novel). Happy to report that as of today, 6 agents have reached out, requesting I send them the rest of the novel, with 2 of them also looking to schedule a conference call for next week.

Who says Pat trolling isn’t productive?
 
Forum Clout
7,983
For the last ten years or so, I’ve had an idea for a book that I just sat on. A twist on the classic coming of age story intertwined with a family crime drama. When I’d get bored, I’d let my mind wander, and think about different characters, scenes, twists, etc. Around six months ago, I thought it would be funny to get the book published under a nome de plume, but name one of the minor antagonists Patrick Tomlinson.

I finished the final chapter in October. Sent the draft to a friend who is a published author / creative writing professor at a pretty prominent university. Got some great feedback / notes. Finished the second draft right after Thanksgiving. The story is told in three parts across a ten year span, has eighty chapters, and a final word count of just under 120,000. I kept the chapters short and used relatable syntax, tailoring the prose to the shortened attention spans of a modern audience. I’m a big fan of James Ellroy’s later works ( LA Confidential, The Black Dahlia), and was inspired by his telegrammatic prose.

At the start of December, I sent a manuscript to around ten literary agents with strong track records of getting crime thrillers published in paperback. (First four chapters and a brief summary of entirety of the novel). Happy to report that as of today, 6 agents have reached out, requesting I send them the rest of the novel, with 2 of them also looking to schedule a conference call for next week.

Who says Pat trolling isn’t productive?
Promise us Patrick Tomlinson is a fat short child threatener.
 

Handsome_Pat

Child
Forum Clout
3,016
Promise us Patrick Tomlinson is a fat short child threatener.
His character is especially detestable, but eventually gets killed off by the main antagonist. I took this approach to allow the audience to side with the main antagonist, even if only temporarily, before he collides with the main hero of the story. The thought process is if the audience finds themselves siding at times with the protagonist and antagonist, when they finally collide in the climax, the emotional connections the audience builds with each character (and not just the protagonist) will heighten the tension.
 
G

guest

Guest
His character is especially detestable, but eventually gets killed off by the main antagonist. I took this approach to allow the audience to side with the main antagonist, even if only temporarily, before he collides with the main hero of the story. The thought process is if the audience finds themselves siding at times with the protagonist and antagonist, when they finally collide in the climax, the emotional connections the audience builds with each character (and not just the protagonist) will heighten the tension.

You sound insufferable.
Nice hobby from the 1880’s, stupid.
 

Turry Fawks

Dean of Dog Piss Studies at Waterlooniversity
Forum Clout
31,434
His character is especially detestable, but eventually gets killed off by the main antagonist. I took this approach to allow the audience to side with the main antagonist, even if only temporarily, before he collides with the main hero of the story. The thought process is if the audience finds themselves siding at times with the protagonist and antagonist, when they finally collide in the climax, the emotional connections the audience builds with each character (and not just the protagonist) will heighten the tension.
 

Torque’sHeadBump

(Voluntarily) torqued boomer
Forum Clout
63,424
For the last ten years or so, I’ve had an idea for a book that I just sat on. A twist on the classic coming of age story intertwined with a family crime drama. When I’d get bored, I’d let my mind wander, and think about different characters, scenes, twists, etc. Around six months ago, I thought it would be funny to get the book published under a nome de plume, but name one of the minor antagonists Patrick Tomlinson.

I finished the final chapter in October. Sent the draft to a friend who is a published author / creative writing professor at a pretty prominent university. Got some great feedback / notes. Finished the second draft right after Thanksgiving. The story is told in three parts across a ten year span, has eighty chapters, and a final word count of just under 120,000. I kept the chapters short and used relatable syntax, tailoring the prose to the shortened attention spans of a modern audience. I’m a big fan of James Ellroy’s later works ( LA Confidential, The Black Dahlia), and was inspired by his telegrammatic prose.

At the start of December, I sent a manuscript to around ten literary agents with strong track records of getting crime thrillers published in paperback. (First four chapters and a brief summary of entirety of the novel). Happy to report that as of today, 6 agents have reached out, requesting I send them the rest of the novel, with 2 of them also looking to schedule a conference call for next week.

Who says Pat trolling isn’t productive?
Please don’t be yanking my chain with this, sir
 
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