Storycraft for serious authors.
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A Great Read… a Learning Opportunity… a Massive Discount

(Note: the discounted price on the Kindle edition of Deadly Faux has passed; the Kindle version novel remains on sale at Amazon (and other venues) for $7.99.  The ebook that DECONSTRUCTS it, as described in this post, is still FREE, and available at the link shown below.  You don’t have to read the novel to benefit from the deconstruction, that’s your call.  Thanks!)

Here’s something you’ve never seen before:

A well reviewed novel… written by a bestselling novelist who is also the author of bestselling “how to write novels” books… offered at a 75% DISCOUNT (Kindle version)… that includes a FREE 114-page “how it was done and what you can learn from it” ebook.

Which like the novel is also, according to readers, pretty entertaining.

The novel is question is mine – “Deadly Faux,” published last year by Turner Publishing.  Check out the reviews on Amazon (that’s the link I just provided), and look to the right on this page to find the cover image, and read the adjacent blurb provided by James Frey, the hard-to-impress author of the iconic writing book, “How To Write a Damn Good Novel.”

The price of the Kindle edition of “Deadly Faux”  has been temporarily reduced as part of this promotion — to $1.99 (it’s practically free).

Because we believe that once you read it, you’ll tell others and you’ll want more.  (“Deadly Faux” is the second novel in a series, the first book being “Bait & Switch,“which was on the Publishers Weekly list of “Best Books of 2004,” (also their Editor’s Choice in the month of release) and which has been newly re-released by Turner.

Yes, we’re trying to hook you with the discount, but sincerely believe that once you’ve had a taste of “Deadly Faux” and its quite cinematic hero, Wolf Schmitt, that you’ll come back for more.

Here’s an idea: if you’re in a critique group, or even a reading group, consider grabbing this deal for your folks, because the deconstruction ebook makes a great discussion guide on the good stuff of writing a novel.

And speaking of more….

When an author assures you “my book is really good… trust me on this“… well, I think the reviews and that blurb say it better and more powerfully than I can.  So please reference those.

But, as they say in those cheesy infomercials – “But wait, there’s more!”  Which in this case is true.

If you’re reading this, you’re a writer, too. 

One who is looking for more information, more cutting-edge thinking, more case studies and examples, on how to write better stories.  And there’s always the curiosity (sometimes cynical) to see if “this guy walks the talk.”

So with that in mind, I’ve written an in-depth deconstruction of “Deadly Faux” that not only provides an entertaining behind-the-curtain look at the harrowing road this novel traveled to publication last October, it also tears it apart, quartile by quartile, milestone by milestone, to provide a transparent model (both process and product) of how the novel is constructed according to those principles, and why.

And thus, you will come away with an even higher, clearer understanding of the tools, criteria, targets and benchmarks involved in creating an effective story.

The reviews on that have been amazing, too.

There are no strings here.  You can have the deconstruction ebook, “The Inner Life of Deadly Faux,” at no cost.  In fact, you can have it right now, right here, as a PDF (which you can download to your Kindle, if you know how; otherwise you can read it on your screen or print it out) — click on this link and it’s yours — PDF DF Inner Life.

Of course, a deconstruction/analysis/case study is most valuable when you read the novel itself, before or after doesn’t matter.  And at $1.99 we’ve made it easy.  Deadly Faux is available in trade paperback, as well (at the regular price), so you do have a choice in that regard.

Good books need good readers to start a buzz and shoot for a viral breakout.  I’m hoping you’ll relate to that, and give “Deadly Faux” a shot, and perhaps post a review… both as a reader and as a writer who will benefit from the “learning” that this accompanying ebook will provide.

Thanks for considering.  At $1.99  it’s a no-lose situation —  or, better put, a win-win proposition — and I appreciate your support.

Larry

*****

In a workshop state of mind?

Consider the Writers Digest Novel Writing Conference, held in Los Angeles on August 15 – 17, at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza.  A massive slate of A-list novelists and teachers, something for everybody, and in a big way.

I’ll be teaching three workshops… two at the “main” conference… and a 3-hour “intensive boot camp” session on Friday morning.  The boot camp is a $99 add-on to he conference fee, a bargain by any standard.

For the main conference website, click HERE.

For the Boot Camp/Intensive page, click HERE.

Hope to see you there!

 

 

 

 

 

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19 Responses

  1. I’d love to take advantage of this offer, but I have a NookColor and not a Kindle. I know I could download the free pdf file and read it on my Nook, but I’d love to have the $1.99 deal in a NookColor version. Any chance of that?

  2. This was an excellent book (Deadly Faux) and the analysis is a great tool for writers to see Larry ‘walking the walk’. Tim, I disagree about your comment, ‘One can’t say the guy doesn’t love himself.’ I’ve attended Larry’s workshop and read all of his books, every one of them and I don’t get that impression at all. I see someone who is passionate about his work, a great teacher, mentor and writer. He speaks highly of other authors and teachers – haven’t gotten the impression he loves himself, nor that he rambles.

  3. Great information. Will try to post to my blog as well, in hopes you will sell even more books.

    Aleta Kay
    author of novels “Vengeance” and “Mending Fences”

  4. @MikeR–I have quite a collection of OTR myself. I used to listen to them all the time in my studio. It really does help with visualization. Plus I never watched much TV and didn’t want a TV in my studio. Audio books and radio shows were my alternative. I got to cram as many stories as I could into my noggin while working on art projects.

    The biggest difference between radio shows and an audio book is that radio is all dialogue and sound effects. There’s no description. If some visual detail needs to be filled in for the sake of the story, it is given through expositional dialogue–briefly. The imagination fills in the rest. It’s interesting how the more things change, the more they stay the same. Because these days, description needs to be economical.

    The writer who feels obliged to give us every piece of furniture in a room is essentially stopping their story cold. It’s a pause for the reader to disengage, maybe put the book down if the description goes on too long. Creating boredom in a reader is not a writer’s job. At the same time, how much is too little?

    Whenever the reader can put their imagination into certain detail of a story, it becomes more personal, more enjoyable. But you can’t dress up a radio play and sell it as a novel either. That’s a novice approach, which ends up reading like a half-baked screen play. You have to choose your best images and make them count for a lot. And don’t stop the story to list everything in a room or scene. That’s not description…it’s inventory!

  5. Kerry, I found your friend’s comment most interesting.

    A “book on tape,” as we used to call it, really is “a radio stage-play.” Not the same thing, not at all, as a book.

    Or, perhaps, “a much more-demanding form of a book.”

    I happen to love to get copies of the old radio programs from the 1940’s. (Turn on all the lights in your house and listen to an episode of “The Creaking Door.”) They’re very interesting as a form of writing, too, because they had to survive on -visualization- as well as -economy.-

    =====

    Whether you “like Larry’s book” or not is relatively unimportant against “can you learn from an author’s deconstruction of his own work and thought process.” Well, when you watch an author actually DOING that, and doing it well, it makes an awful lot of “those ‘other’ writing books” look puffy.

    A good textbook also helps in making something be “much less of an Arkane Mysterie.” Y’know, this is a piece of writing, a few hundred pages long, with an expected structure (which you probably didn’t know about even though you’ve looked at it for years), and reader/customer expectations (which you probably also didn’t know about because you only read the books you kept and bought), and so on.

    Larry’s dammed good at writing a good textbook that you can actually read. Looks like he’s written three of them, so far.

    Like so many other crafts: it looks easy, but it can be learned, and you’ll be paddling around in the dark if you don’t take the time to First Learn How.

  6. @Jason–Fair enough. I used to read mystery and detective stories almost exclusively at one time. It was actually through the recommendations of writers who made money at their craft that I came to read a much wider variety. I believe this is the route many take toward and expansion of one’s knowledge in anything. I recall being bored with some of the books that were recommended, having to force my way through several. But I learned from them all. Meanwhile I found my tastes changing and growing the further along that road I traveled. I enjoyed more, on a new level, and became bored a lot less. A writer is always learning and should rarely get bored. Irate, maybe–but not bored.

    The old saying about judging a book by its cover is really a metaphor for judging anything too soon, or by bringing preconceived notions through the front door with us that muddy the waters of perspective. On the other hand, I’m glad you learned something from all your endeavors–including DF. It’s never pleasant for an author to hear someone doesn’t like his work without knowing why. But I also think it’s good for each of us to know what we like and don’t like–and why. We all have to eventually sink or swim on our own merits. And it sounds like your personal tastes and inner urges are leading you in a direction that is at least your own. I started to lose myself once when following a teacher too closely in terms of style.

    So I can respect what you’re saying. I also agree that EVERYONE will learn a great deal from the book and deconstruction–even if they prefer something else as their preferred genre. Reading outside of what is familiar is always enlightening. Analyzing someone else’s work with the help of a deconstruction alongside of it from the author–that’s a rare treat for any writer.

  7. I really didn’t like Mr. Brooks’ novel. How is that for a narrative hook? Probably not strong enough, but I wanted to spare his feelings.

    But seriously, I didn’t like it. The story structure and writing weren’t my problem. The truth is, it turned out that it really wasn’t my type of novel at all.

    Here’s the deal: it may not be my type of book, but Mr. Brooks probably won’t like the novels I like or even the novels I write. But, we can both recognize good story structure and characters. And we can both learn from any piece of writing.

    We can learn from any piece of writing. A few years ago, I got serious about reading outside my preferred genre and discovered that I could learn a lot from any piece of writing. Story structure, characters, interactions, and plot are all universals. In reading outside one’s preferred genre, it is possible to see these things more objectively.

    In this particular case, there is an additional gift. We may guess about the author’s choices and motivations. In this case, we can learn the author’s true thinking. This is a valuable and rare gift.

    I don’t know how many others analyze stories, but I do. I have learned a lot from what other authors do, and I’m happy to learn.

  8. That’s an exceptional deal! Everyone should grab it, read it, rate it. I opted in when the book was first released…and you won’t be disappointed. The plot moves along expertly, and Wolfgang Schmitt–the hero of the piece–is a modern take on a classic detective. And don’t be fooled by some of the reviews thay make this book out to be something of a comedy. I think those people read the part about Wolf being “wise-cracking” and faked their way through a review. Either that ot their percpetions are skewed. Wolf may be a bit of a wise-ass at times, but it’s a totally serious yarn.

    Or maybe my perception is skewed 😉

  9. I think this is my fourth free Larry Brooks PDF file. Pretty amazing how much information you can get from Larry if you’re patient enough to read through the blogs and wait for things like this. This, of course, is a promotion for his book, but it comes with a lot of win sauce for a buck 99. Wahoo.

  10. Takes a lot of cajones to deconstruct your own book. Most people won’t deconstruct anything they made.

    I was at dinner last night and a friend told me she was reading, okay listening to the book on tape–35 HOURS long–932 pages or so, and she had wished that the writer didn’t blab on FOREVER on details. She said that the guy has to tell you about EVERY piece of furniture in the room. And that’s a published book!

    Which tells me that the publishing biz is part of the problem with creating very bad examples for stories.

    Larry’s stuff will set you straight.

    Kerry

  11. Larry this is a great opportunity for people to read your novel, which I loved and reviewed on Amazon; “Deadly Faux is a good-guy, bad-guy stew with sexy sizzle.”
    I’ll tweet out your offer. Cheers, Mindy

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