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Chapter 12 posted

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I am trying to keep with a once a week (hopefully on Fridays) posting schedule for the rest of Justice Resurrected. With that in mind, Chapter 12 is submitted. Things are beginning to quicken, as far as the story line goes and this chapter and the next one head us towards the final rise in the plot.

On that note, however, I do want to share a rather odd e-mail I got from a reader this week. The reader wrote to me saying something to the effect that Justice is too complicated, has too many side trips, and that due to this, the reader will not be continuing to read the story and will be taking it off his favorite story list. This was a first for me, so I will take them one at a time.

1. Complicated. Hmm. I have read complicated stories, even liked most of them, but I would never to presume to put myself on a list of writers who write complicated stories. Such luminaries as Frank Herbert, Robert Jordan, R. A. Salvatore, Tom Clancy, and David Weber write complicated, involved stories that often require a dictionary, background knowledge of astrophysics, history, geopolitics, military science, and/or magical theory just to read them. Justice Resurrected is a nice little fantasy adventure story, I think. I can only assume the writer of the e-mail does not read such very often.

2. Too many side trips. Again, hmm. This is pretty much covered by the whole fantasy adventure line of #1. The whole point of an adventure story is the quest that is central to the plot. As a slight nod towards the complicated comment, I will admit that the true object of the quest is partially obscured in the chapters posted thus far. I say partially, because the object is talked about and I have had one or two readers see the foreshadowing early on and have the "Ah-ha!" moment. Quests, by their very nature, require you to go through the steps requisite to achieving the ultimate goal. Hence the side trips.

3. As for the stopping-of-the-reading and the taking-me-off-of-the-favorites-list parts, that was really the least disturbing part of the e-mail. I hate to sound . . . hmm, callous is too harsh a word but it comes the closest. Anyway, I hate to sound callous, but I don't really pay that much attention to that part of the writer's and stories' stats. Am I gratified people take the time to include me on their list of favorites? Of course! I am honored people take time out of their own lives to bother. But again, that was not really the part the stuck with me to the point I had to write about it.

So, I really would like some other opinions about whether Justice Resurrected is too complicated a story. Responses probably won't do much to change it, as it has already been written, but I found the e-mail curious and wondered if my writing style was truly so complex as to turn people off. These things are good to know for a writer and I guess I should thank the e-mailer for being honest in his/her opinion and letting me know. It might help adjust things for future works. Then again, maybe not. I am a little set in my ways.

So anyway, that is my venting for this time. Enjoy the new installment of Justice Resurrected and I really do appreciate the constructive criticism and the support of you readers. Thank you.

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