Comment on “Inconstant Moon” comments by Richard Harstone

Hi Laurie. I think it is great you are self publishing this novel. Some quick comments. Your dialogue is strong, sharp and short – realistic – well done.

Try to keep the adverbs ending in “ly” to a minimum. Such words “tell” us rather than “show” us. Example: rather than telling us: “Maggie twists her hands together nervously .”, show us she is nervous: “Maggie twists her hands together; her palms are wet, she wipes them on her hips.” Telling is lazier than showing and doesn’t engage the reader as well.

Also, in the police line-up scene you have two point-of-view characters. Maggie is the primary one, but a couple of times you have us in the head of Wolfrom. More than one point-of-view characters in a scene is usually a no-no.

Other than that, you are moving the scenes along well and I look forward to the next installment.