That short video I posted the other day of James W. Nichol talking about his fine novel Transgression was especially interesting because he talked about books in that genre being heavily plot driven with the temptation for the author to move the characters around on a chess board. He talked about how, instead, he'd tried to move the story out of the characters and what they would do. It was one of the things I admired about all three of his novels, that the characters were so individual and believable and different from each other. Especially impressive to me was how well he created the characters of the women. Krista in Midnight Cab, Adele in Transgression.
I have to wonder, since he started writing novels relatively late in his life how his long career as a dramatist, especially the many characters he invented for his radio dramas might have taught him how to do that. It certainly helped with the dialog, which I thought was especially believable. Compared to the other books I've read this year, I didn't find any notes that seemed off.
Maybe if I were younger and I thought of taking up writing fiction I'd start by writing half-hour plays. I'd think it would be good training and a good way to find out if you were any good at it. But I didn't do that. I'm not a writer. I am a reader and a listener.
Have another.
I also like Inspector Kiss and, of course, Walker.
Note: I have an ulterior motive in posting the Willa Cather story below. I will write about that in two weeks. I'm curious to see if anyone guesses what that was.
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