Paidra Delayno      

Louis L'Amour westerns do not stand out as truly great works of fiction but, as the covers state, L'Amour had over 80 million copies of his book in print worldwide. The object of being a writer (other than some measure of personal satisfaction) is to move past the agent, past the publisher, and into the hands of the reading audience. 80 million copies say that quite nicely.

Elmore Leonard, the author of Glitz and other popular detective thrillers, commented on what technique he used to keep the action in his books moving so quickly. He said, "I try to leave out the parts that readers tend to skip."

Things I write are intended to transport the reader to a life totally unlike their own. The other day I glanced at a story which sounded interesting. It was extremely well written, but that didn't seem to make it any more enjoyable.

The author could have mentally placed me in the scene with only half the words simply by allowing me to use my own imagination. Join me as we let our imaginations wander; mine to tell the story and yours to put yourself into it.