BDS Summary
A breakout novel is one that rises out of its category - such as romance, mystery or thriller - and hits the bestseller lists. This book explains the elements that all breakout novels share and provides tips on how to write a breakout novel.Main Description
A breakout novel is one that rises out of its category and hits the best-seller lists. Maass explains the elements that all breakout novels share and shows readers how to write a novel that has a good chance of succeeding in a crowded marketplace. Then, using several of his clients' experiences, including best-selling novelist Anne Perry, Maass provides insider examples to show how this type of novel can generate agent and publisher interest. Donald Maass is the author of 17 novels. He now works as a literary agent, representing dozens of novelists in the SF, fantasy, crime, mystery, romance and thriller categories. He speaks at writer's conferences throughout the country and lives in New York City.
Using real-life case studies, the author shows novelists how to create a powerful and sweeping sense of time and place, develop larger-than-life characters, sustain a high degree of narrative tension, and explore universal themes that will interest a large audience of readers.
Victorian mystery novelist Anne Perry was born Juliet Hume on October 28, 1938 in Blackheath, London. Sent to Christchurch, New Zealand to recover from a childhood case of severe pneumonia, Perry became very close friends with another girl, Pauline Parker. When Perry's family abandoned her, she had only Parker to turn to, and when the Parkers planned to move from New Zealand, Pauline asked that Perry be allowed to join them. Parker's mother disagreed, and Perry and Parker bludgeoned her to death. Perry eventually served five and a half years in an adult prison for the crime. Once she was freed, she changed her name and moved to America, where she eventually became a writer. Although the truth of her past came out when the case of Mrs. Parker's murder was made into a movie (Heavenly Creatures), Perry is still a popular author and continues to write.