I had an odd reaction to my recent free give-away of one of my novels. One woman was irate because the book was, and I quote, “SHORT, SHORT, SHORT!” in capital letters. “Tropical Knights” is 264 pages long.
I just finished a hard cover book entitled “Tatiana” by Martin Cruz Smith who is, in my opinion, the finest contemporary writer of our time. He is a master wordsmith and I have read everything he has written, and I must admit, I have been influenced by his fine workmanship. That book is 256 pages long. (8 pages shorter than TK.) I didn’t find Smith’s book “SHORT, SHORT, SHORT!” I found that he does what he always does, he tells the story and then quits. It is, incidentally, a fine book and I highly recommend it and any book by Smith.
As any professional author will tell you, and it seems too obvious to point it out, a story takes as long as it takes, and no longer. I wonder if that woman wanted me to add pages and pages of irrelevant material just to make a “longer” book? If she just wants more of the same TYPE of story, there is a sequel to “Tropical Knights” entitled “Tropical Daze” and another one on the way. I don’t guess I could convince her that some of the finest writing and best story-telling of all time – is in SHORT stories.
johnbeckmanbooks 