Bird Boy Project: Discussion Forum 4 (and an exciting giveaway!)

Okay readers, this is it:  yesterday I sent out the three final chapters and those of you who have been clamoring for “one more chapter, please!” (there are a few) have now had all your questions answered.

Except . . . you haven’t.

Sometimes I read an action-packed page-turner and don’t realize until the end that it was the first volume of a series.  This can be frustrating, but certain stories have to be expanded because the implications and extrapolations are too great to cover in one volume.  If it makes you feel any better, I have the basic outline of three future volumes sketched out, but first I have to get this one published.  That’s a big reason for this project in the first place: to improve the book and thus improve my chances.  To wrap it up, I have just two questions:

First, after finishing BB (or getting halfway through, or wherever you are), would you be interested in pursuing the story into the next volume?  (If not, no harm or foul: with a few notable exceptions, interest always drops in a series after the first volume, and second and third installments almost never sell as well as the first.)

What’s the question left hanging that you most want to have answered?  Do you think it should have been answered already, or does it make sense to leave it hanging?

For this last forum, the comments thread will be open an entire week.  The giveaway for this week is Tangled, Volume 4 of Bret Eastman’s Quest for Truth Quartet.

But hang on!  After that I’ll combine all the commenters from all four forums in another random drawing, and that winner will receive the entire Quest For Truth Quartet.

So read up, log in, and say on!

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Janie Cheaney

Janie is the VERY senior staff writer for Redeemed Reader, as well as a long-time contributor to WORLD Magazine and an author of nine books for children. The rest of the time she's long-distance smooching on her four grandchildren (not an easy task). She lives with her equally senior husband of almost-fifty years in the Ozarks of Missouri.

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3 Comments

  1. Sam B on September 30, 2017 at 10:20 pm

    Ch 20.

    “Sorry, lady!” That amused me. I fully grant coincidences as plot devices. I was a touch nervous it would be Hired Goons at the door.

    Ch 21.

    The term “tinheads” didn’t feel well introduced before now. I suggest the key code be 4 digits as that’s what I’m used to. Some use 6, most seem to use 4, I’ve never seen one that used only 3. The presence of bubble gum felt deus ex machina.

    Ch 22.

    Ch 23.

    The owl lady reminds me of Pilot (Veritas, que veritas?, Does any of use really know?).
    Love going back for Mr. G. I almost forgot about him in the bustle.

    Ch 24.

    “Even the scratches on the wall had been smoothed over.” I like that. I love the “design flaw” refrain. This chapter is 2x as long as the average. Perhaps split it on the moment when Roy Ray leaves Mr. Snake Guy? It’s not really disruptive, though. This is the big action sequence, so pages are flying by.

    Ch 25.

    Love the global scoop ending. I really would like an epilogue that gives some closure to the site of their captivity and Mr. G.

    Very enjoyable!

  2. Andrea on October 3, 2017 at 5:53 am

    We will have to change our plea from “just one more chapter” to “just one more book!”
    There were several things we would have liked to see more resolved. Mr. G. was disappointingly absent from the end of the book (though his influence was definitely present). His character is the one that we would like to know more about – both more of his history (both personal and with the other avials) and his motivation for coaching. The unanswered questions do seem to be a perfect set-up for a sequel.
    Thank you for allowing us to be a part of this project.

  3. Betsy Farquhar on October 4, 2017 at 6:56 pm

    My kids said, “Don’t change a thing!” But they (and I) do want a teensy bit more closure on Mr. G…. we don’t need to know all the details, but there’s a big hole. And his story would be an interesting angle to pursue for future volumes (as well as how these avials all live/thrive together–what happens to them all?!).

    The action felt almost over the top in the last bit. My kids certainly weren’t complaining, but as I was reading it aloud, I felt like we needed things to cut to the chase a bit quicker. The part that seemed to push me over the edge was the spider/dramatic escape from the cavern. It was cool, but perhaps there were too many nail-biting moments in the pages just prior? At any rate, I found myself thinking: Just escape, already! I’d have to go back and reread that with a reviewer/editor cap on to better sort out my impressions.

    A terrific journey all in all! So glad we read along.

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