A guest post with Richard Aaron, author of "Gauntlet"

I am quite excited to introduce to you Richard Aaron, author of "Gauntlet". I am participating in his Pump Up Your Book Promotion blog tour, and tomorrow will be reviewing his action-packed debut novel.

To give us a peek into his thought process on writing an action thriller, Richard is going to explain how he keeps the reader engaged from the first sentence to the very last page. (Trust me, it works.)



It’s like fishing. You need to get the reader’s interest, have him nibble about a bit, and then reel him in. I’ve stood back in bookstores and watched the process when I’m doing a signing. The first thing you need is a good cover – anything that will make the customer pick up the book. Once they have the book in hand, you need a back cover that is loaded with quotes from critics as to how good it is. If you don’t have good quotes, you’re in trouble. The next thing is the front inside jacket fold, summarizing the book. You need to get the customer to read that. It should be full of hooks. THEN you get to the first line, or the first paragraph. It must engage the reader. Here is the first line of Gauntlet: “’So just how big a crater will it make if we blow up 660 tons of Semtex?’ Richard Lawrence asked Sergeant Jason McMurray.”

Here is the opening paragraph of the sequel (Counterplay): “Zak Goldberg was running for his life.”

You need something that will hit hard, and fast. I never even realized that this was a requirement until I found the first line I was going to use for Gauntlet. Then it all made sense.

You must also have, in the first few pages, an exciting event. It’s got to be BIG, or you’ll lose your reader (I’m told you have about 30 seconds to grab an agent’s attention, three pages to grab a reader’s). From there, quickly introduce other intertwining plot lines – I usually play with three or four. As the one story reaches a strategic or dramatic point, cut it off and move to another plot line. This keeps the reader on the hook. They desperately want to know what is happening to Turbee, or Richard, or whoever. But you’ve started talking instead about smuggling drugs across borders.

You have to give the protagonist a long and winding road. If he’s been given a whole novel to tell about his life, make sure it’s an interesting one! Don’t give him the easy way out, and throw a hard situation his way every couple chapters to keep him (or her) guessing. Theirs should not be an easy path to the climax.

Finally, the end should be as big as the beginning. I like to say that Gauntlet starts and ends with a bang, and I think the second novel is going to go the same way. It’s satisfying to the reader, and it appeases my very structured mind.

Thanks so much Richard! Everyone stay tuned for tomorrow's review!