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Every writer wants to write a outstanding novel, but not each writer knows the mystery that may make the divergence among a successful novel and a failure. The mystery that each writer needs to recognise is that each novel is a mystery. I recognise that might sound foolish at first, exceptionally if you’re writing a romance or a science fiction novel. At their core, though, even westerns and horror stories are mysteries.
Let me explain what I mean. When I say that each novel is a mystery, I mean that there is something (a mystery) that the main reputation ought to figure out for the duration of the story. In a murder mystery, this is finelooking obvious. The main reputation will have to figure out who devoted the murder. This search for the murderer then provides the framework around which the rest of the story is structured. In a romance, the protagonist may need to figure out how to get the man she loves to fall in love with her. In a science fiction novel, the main reputation may need to figure out how to get back home after his spaceship crashes on an alien planet. In each of these cases, solving the mystery in the story provides the framework.
This mystery can’t just be a passing comment in the story. It needs to be the bones of the story. Therefore, the very initial step in writing your novel is to figure out what mystery your main reputation is going to solve.
First, answer these questions. What is my character’s main task for the duration of the story? What does he or she need to find out?
Next, give your main reputation a badly compelling reason for completing their task. Let’s use our former science fiction novel as an example. Our main reputation needs to figure out how to get back home because he wants to witness the birth of his introductory child. Maybe he is carrying a vaccine that may heal an epidemic on his home planet. Maybe he only has three days of breathable air. Maybe he has a message that must be delivered to the president in order to prevent war. The more dire the consequences, the better the story will be. The list of possiblenesses is endless.
You may see how necessary the word “because” is when you’re writing your novel’s statement. It may turn a good idea for a novel into a outstanding idea. Try using this format for your novel’s mystery sentence: The main reputation needs to (write the problem here) because (write a compelling reason here).
You may use this mystery statement as share of your marketing material when the novel is finished. It may appear in your press release and in your online advertising.
If you’ve already written a novel, check to see if you may write a mystery statement. If not, there’s a good chance your novel lacks focus. I’ve seen a great deal of pretty decent writers spend a lot of time writing very mediocre books which sold only a few copies because they ignored this simple secret.
Make your novel a great novel by finding the mystery in it.
Alien A Novel
New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter captivates with a dark, tantalizing world of humans, otherworlders, and a powerful AIR agent consumed by his desire for a woman he may never have. . . . With one caress, he may give unforgettable pleasure . . . or unending pain. . . . Hector Dean is shaved, tattooed, and totally ripped—and he has a deadly secret. He is a walking weapon, capable of killing with a single brush of his fingertips. Little wonder he’s determined to stay on his own. But Noelle Tremain is a temptation like no other. She is gorgeous and rich, with a party girl smile that hides a shocking vulnerability, and from the beginning his sizzling attraction to her is undeniable. For the primary time, his stone-cold resistance is tested. But to be with her, he risks demolishing her. When a wealthy businessman is murdered in New Chicago’s seediest district, the two are partnered, and there’s no escaping what they both want: each other. Yet neither Hector nor Noelle knows what to fear more—the killer case, or their own lethal desires. . . .
About the AuthorGENA SHOWALTER is the New York Times and national bestselling author of more than twenty novels in a wide range of genres, including her acclaimed Alien Huntress series for Pocket Books: Awaken Me Darkly, Enslave Me Sweetly, Savor Me Slowly, Seduce the Darkness, and Ecstasy in Darkness. Her fiction has appeared in Cosmopolitan and Seventeen and has been nominated for a honored RITA, as well as the National Reader’s Choice Award. She is universally acknowledged to be “made of awesome.” Visit her internet site at www.genashowalter.com.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Prologue
TWO MEN STOOD IN the middle of a shadowed, barren field. Both were human. One was tall, muscled, with dark hair and a busted-up face. His syn-cotton shirt was torn, his jeans dirty, and his boots scuffed. There were telltale weapon bulges beneath his arms, at his wrists, and at his ankles. Clearly, he was the bodyguard. The other wore a utterly tailored silk business suit, his Italian loafers freshly polished. His sun-kissed hair was expensively coiffed, and the only bulge he sported was the one in his pocket, where he kept his wallet. Clearly, he was the money. Acrid wind shrieked as if someone had cranked a hard rock song on a radio, dancing thick dirt granules in each direction, Money radiated impatience mixed with glee—until two other men materialized a few feet away, and the impatience vanished. The newcomers had appeared in a blink, without walking a single step: a white-haired Arcadian—an otherworlder with the capacity to teleport, amidst other things—and another human, this one wearing a suit as well, only his was ill-fitting and made from a cheap synthetic fiber. The human’s arms were cuffed behind his back. He smelled of pungent fear and urine. Poor bastard will have to have pissed himself. Without a word, the Arcadian pushed the quivering male to his knees. Night’s in regards to to get interesting. The rust-colored sky appeared swollen, the storm-drenched clouds ready to burst. In the center, the sun was a hemorrhaging hook of gold, supplying only a fraction of light. That scarcely mattered to the witness. From high in the gnarled trees surrounding the field, his stare cut through the gloom as effortlessly as a knife through flesh. “You think you may encroach on my territory?” Money snarled down at the kneeler. Another gust of wind developed that perfective background music. “N—no. I just … I … I’m so sorry. I never meant …” “You never meant to offer New Chicago’s elite prettier girls? Better prices?” “No. No. You have to believe me. I only thought … hoped …” “You thought … hoped …” Money sneered. No question, he was a man applied to getting what he wanted, when he wanted it. He held out his hand, and Bodyguard smacked the butt of a pyre-gun onto his palm. “Well, your thoughts and hopes just got you killed.” “No!” Kneeler sobbed like a baby. “Please! Don’t do this. I’ll leave New Chicago. I won’t ever come back. I swear!” Money nodded to the Arcadian, who jerked his T-shirt over his head and stuffed the material in Kneeler’s mouth. Kneeler shook his head, perchance to dislodge the cloth, perhaps to undertake another plea for mercy. Either way, he failed. “You were right, you know,” Money said, smug now. “You won’t ever come back.” A blaze of yellow light erupted from the barrel of the gun, arrowing out and nailing Kneeler in his chest. A muffled scream of intense feelings of suffering pierced the air. As Kneeler toppled to the ground, twitching, dying as his organs fried to a crisp, Money returned the gun to Bodyguard and wiped his hands in a occupation well done. © 2011 Gena Showalter
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Most helpful client reviews
10 of 10 persons found the following review helpful.
 May be my bestloved in the series
By Jen
Gena Showalter is on her A-game with this latest installment in her Alien Huntress series. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel when it comes to this one. I didn’t precisely love Noelle in the last book. But here we get to see that there is much more to her than good looks, piles of money, and a perverse sense of humor. And Hector… (sigh)… he is my bestloved kind of hero: broken, tortured, powerful and unsure. Not to mention: ripped, loyal and sexy. Yum.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
 Holy cow, what book did most of YOU ladies read????
By T. Byrum
I have only EVER come on and written a review when I in truth LOOOOVE a book, and when I DESPISE one. Unfortunately, this book was just a finish mess from cover to cover. I genuinely only gave it 2 stars because the sex was hot (which I like!). Noelle was badly one of the most annoying heroines I have ever had the misfortune of reading. Every chapter has her doing something that causes her to be TSTL (too stupid to live), and I exclusively agree with the only other lady on here that gave it a bad review in that she is constantly saying she is so much deeper than what she portrays, but it is never genuinely PROVED to us. I couldn’t stand to even listen her talk with regards to half way by way of the book. I skipped over MUCH of the middle of the book, as all the dialog seemed to consist of was angst from both lead characters with regards to the arm thing and “why can’t we be together” nonsense. It also seemed Gena was attempting to be overly clever with all of the back and forth dialog in the book, and it just seemed way overdone and unquestionably made a lot of scenes draaaaaag unecessarily. Hector could have been great, but I just felt his growling/shy/He-Man/tortured/”I’ll kill you all if you even look at her!” personality was genuinely forced and flat. His inner and outer dialog was SO one dimentional, that as soon as he started thinking or talking when it comes to Noelle, I would skip forward a few pages.
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