My Journey in Writing, Ranting, and Woodworking

Jenny Hilborne’s debut novel, ‘Madness and Murder’, is a remarkable foray into the world of writing. I purchased the Kindle version and read it on my ipad, using the Kindle reader. At $2.99 it is a bargain and I would recommend buying it, to anyone who likes the mystery/thriller genre.

The book begins:

“You have committed the most heinous of crimes, and you have shown no remorse. The court imposes the maximum sentence the circumstances will allow…life without parole.”

From there we learn of the tragic crime, followed by more heartache for our main characters. Ms. Hilborne’s character development is spot on, giving the reader enough to get going and then building along the way. By the end of the novel they feel like old friends. For me, I want to finish a book, still curious about where the lives of the characters will go next, but satisfied in how they got to the end. In both cases, she had done well.

I don’t want to give too much away and I am not a trained reviewer, so I will simply say that there is intrigue, multiple people to dislike and distrust, and soul searching by our heroines, which makes for a book which is hard to minimize. (See how I did that? I didn’t say put down…but minimize…I am sooo 21s century…I digress)

I read a lot of Elmore Leonard and I wouldn’t compare her voice or style to his at all, but I did find one similarity. The sign of a good book, in my opinion, is when I read a sentence or phrase, which is so nicely crafted as to make me put the book down. I mull the sentence over, think about it, and generally feel a warm glow of awe at the fine example of wordsmithing. Most Elmore Leonard novels give me 5 of these moments, Jenny’s had 3 or 4, I am sure.

As I do with everything, I will rate her novel on the ‘Meeks’ scale (1 to 37), which though not an official weight and measure, is what I use. Scales based upon a number of stars can suck it! So I would give her a solid 33 out of 37. Most of the dreck I have downloaded thus far is at best a 15, with many struggling to make it to double digits. I would give Dan Brown’s ‘The Lost Symbol’ a 33 too. Harper Lee’s, ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’, gets a 37.  Bottom line, she is an exceptional writer and I enjoyed it very much.

END OF REVIEW

Now I would like to share six questions I asked of the author, who I have met on Twitter.

1) This was your first novel. How long did it take you to write it?

Eleven months for the first draft followed by six months of editing.

2) Have you studied writing?

No. I took English lit and English language at high-school, but no creative writing classes of any kind.

3) Who is your favorite dead author?

Sidney Sheldon

4) Which formats is it available in? (Kindle, Nook, ibooks, Sony Reader, Print…carved into ancient tablets)

I believe it can be downloaded to all ereaders, definitely Kindle and Nook.

5) You have a second novel, did you do anything different the second time around?

I learned a lot from the editing process of the first novel and wrote the second one based on that – in other words, without the initial unnecessary clutter. I also avoided weak words and weak sentences.

6) Do you believe that the people who changed the rule about 2 periods (changed to 1) after a period should be publically flogged, possibly burned alive, and then made to suffer ridicule in front of friends and family?

Okay, now I understand Q 6. In the UK, we call it a full stop. I don’t care whether publishers want one or two, makes no odds to me.

That concludes the interview portion of tonight’s post.  Jenny did very well, scoring a 5 out of 6.  She did miss the sixth question as the correct answer is, “I believe the people responsible should have all of those things done to them and possibly more.  I would add a life time cookie ban and 3 week annual retreat alone with Snooki.”

[Full Disclosure:  Should you click on the link I will earn 12 cents.  Should anyone do this, I will likely begin a 'Snoopy Dance'.  All revenue from the sale of her book will be dedicated to my plot to take over the world and punish those responsible for the 1 space rule.]