Donna,

I am trying to make the great leap from writing non-fiction books to novels. I.e., story-telling, and "keep them on the edge of their seats" stuff. Not much different than songwriting. I have read maybe 12 different books on how to write a novel that people will actually buy, read, enjoy, recommend, etc. But they seemed just a little too obvious. Like "you need an exciting story and conflict." No kidding.

But THIS book (which has 75 worksheets) shows you EXACTLY HOW to get the reader by the coat, so to speak, from the first paragraph, and hold their attention throughout so they literally won't be able to move or go to the bathroom until they finish. He shows you, again, exactly HOW to do it. His main theme is that no matter your gender, or background, and no matter the story line, the reader has to say this about the main character: "This is kind of like me. I have felt that. I have lived through something like that. And I have always wanted to say that. She just said it for me and she said it better."

If you can do that, he suggests, a million people will read your book. It's fascinating, and again, meticulous the way he lays it all out. Best thing I have ever read in the how-to genre.