Help me, Lovers of Asian Fantasy! You’re my only hope. Mmmm. Sorry. I couldn’t help myself.
The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Competition is upon us all once again and I intend to enter. The first year I did this, I received outstanding feedback by posting my work on the Createspace Preview Gallery, so I’m doing that ahead of time this year. I hope what feedback I receive might help me over a hump. Who knows, maybe I’ll even get farther in the competition this year.
I’ve written once of those books with an unusual setting (China) that readers need to be eased into before the plot speeds up. I’ve done the best I can at providing atmosphere, characterization and the plot’s forward momentum. However, this is a war novel and it takes three chapters (30 pages) before the characters march off to war. I’d love to find an ingenious way for atmosphere, characterization and plot to be solid and understandable within one chapter. The site allowed me to upload the first twenty pages, but that should give you an idea of what’s happening and what I might be able to trim or reorganize.
If you’re willing to help, please go to my entry, Mourn Their Courage. I’ll be happy to provide a reciprocal critique!