My Ideal Reader

On Writing by Stephen King is a must-read for any aspiring author. The first part reads like a memoir, and would be interesting to pretty much anyone. The second part is peppered with pearls of writing wisdom that have stayed with me.

One of his suggestions is to ask yourself, who is your ideal reader? King’s ideal reader is his wife, and On Writing also reads like one of the greatest love stories of all time. I’ve been mulling it over and trying to think, who is my ideal reader? Who am I trying to please? Is it my husband, who is not that into domestic thrillers but lovingly reads my crappy first drafts anyway? My librarian friend who is very well read in all genres and always offers great suggestions on her beta reads? Is it one of those readers on Goodreads who has trashed a previous book, and I’m hoping this new book I'm writing will be the one that wins them over?

Then it dawned on me. My ideal reader, is me. I aim to write the kind of books that I like to read. So what kind of books do I like to read? For my genre, I like to read books that move effortlessly through my fingers, as one editor put it “a book where you don’t notice the words.” I like books that are clever, but not misleading in their plot and structure. I enjoy books that keep me up at night, but ones don’t give me nightmares. I like books that move fast, but also have great insight into what a character is thinking, what they are doing, and why they are doing it. I don’t mind the occasional dose of romance in my mysteries and thrillers, and I love drops of humor, especially dark humor. I value books that teach me something about human nature, but ones where I don’t realize it is doing so while I’m reading it. Books that don’t pull me out of the story to make a point, but have one in hindsight.

I read outside my genre. Women’s fiction, book club fiction, romcoms, romance, family fiction, historical fiction. I have to admit since I’ve left academia, I’ve needed a break from non-fiction, but perhaps it might be time to dip my toe back in that water. And the books I’ve enjoyed the most tend to straddle genres. But they all have something in common, which is that they take me out of my own head. They make me forget the world I’m in and enter a new one, and they make me think, but they don’t make me work too hard.

So that’s what I’m hoping I write for you, the kind of book I love to read. My thrillers are not the darkest out there, but they do deal with difficult subjects. They have occasional drops of dark humor or romance. Some could cross into women’s fiction, some into general fiction. All of them, hopefully, are relatively painless to read. I’m not sure they all meet the bar on having some lasting significance or meaning, because that’s tough to pull off without sounding like you’re trying too hard, but I think a few of them do.

Most of all, I hope they transport you, entertain you, and make you think a little… but not too much. If that sounds good, maybe you are my long-lost ideal reader. But if it doesn’t, don’t worry. There are a lot of books out there, so go  find your ideal read. And thanks to everyone who read The Rich Guy's Wife, now officially my best selling book ever. Happy Holidays, everyone!