Kindle Million Club

So, the Kindle Million Club now has its seventh member – Michael Connelly. He joins Stieg Larsson, James Patterson, Nora Roberts, Charlaine Harris, Lee Child and Suzanne Collins.

Which isn’t good – I haven’t knowingly read a book by any of these guys! Let’s see what they’re about.

Michael Connelly – he has written some standalone thrillers, some series (Jack McEvoy and Harry Bosch). Said to better than Grisham and Archer.

Stieg Larsson – author of the Millenium Trilogy. His fame has come post mortem as he died in 2004. He is described as using ‘machine-tooled plotting’. I’ve heard of these books but not read them.

Nora Roberts – 190 romantic novels, 300 million books sold. Wow. Again, I’ve not read one of them.

Charlaine Harris – aha! She writes the True Blood series about vampires, which I’ve seen on TV so all is not completely lost. I’m not a particular vampire fan, but if the TV accurately reflects the books, then I think she’s the  most appealing out of these authors for me.

Lee Childs – thrillers, the Jack Reacher series. He apparently prides himself on the plausibility of his settings and characters.

Suzanne Collins – from chief writer for Clifford’s Puppy Days on TV to bestselling author of YA science fiction. Seems to get more mixed reviews than the other authors.

So I’d better start reading these guys to see what I can learn from them. Quite frankly none of their material is really literature that appeals to me. I like modern mystery, some chick-lit, travel memoirs and history. And at present, I’m writing those sorts of stories. This could be why I’m not likely to be number eight in the club!

It all boils down to whether you should write what you want to write, or what people want to read. Decisions, decisions …

At the moment I’m reading The Fashion Police by Sibel Hodge, or at least a sample of it. It’s extremely similar to Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels in my opinion. I’d hoped for something more orginal. So I shan’t be investing in that book. Next up on my list is Tourmen by Les Woodland about Tour de France cyclists. That looks promising so I plan to review that and French Revolutions by Tim Moore, another cycling book, in a timely fashion just before the TDF gets going on 2^nd July.