Author Donan Berg rating 4.59/5.0 on Goodreads

 Author Donan Berg with his multiple mystery, romance, thriller, and fantasy novels has earned a rating on Goodreads of 4.59 out a possible 5.0.

Checkout Author Donan Berg ratings at Goodreads.com.

One Paper Heart e-book on Amazon

 Exciting News

Award-winning romance, One Paper Heart, will now have an e-book

version on Amazon.com to complement its paperback edition.

The e-book preorder goes live June 21, 2025. Click on the following

link to read a synopsis and learn more.

One Paper Heart e-book

A Lost Night Romance a Preorder

 Romance Author Donan Berg has announced a new romance, A Lost Night, Love on Ice.

It's available for preorder at www.amazon.com/dp/B0F8WCPVVZ 

Here's a synopsis:

Cherry Everex and Shane Hull kept their developing romance a secret from her father, Lionel. He was the owner of the Red Lions, a minor league hockey team located in the Big Easy. As his first rule, he forbade his players from dating his daughters.

Two league titles were won by the Red Lions thanks to Shane, their star player; however, they flamed out in the playoffs. The defeats cast an indelible feeling of a team not up to being the best.

Before the three-peat season, Lionel Everex died. His will divided his ownership three ways. Daughters Cherry and Blossom split ninety percent. A youth hockey charity, where Rufus (a Red Lions executive) controlled the voting, received 10 percent.

Cherry’s “No” to Shane’s first marriage proposal shattered his dreams. Her eventual "yes" led to a Las Vegas chapel wedding.

Shane's alcohol abuse left the marriage's consummation uncertain. Cherry's worry over her Red Lions shares prompted her to file for an annulment.

Multiple team concerns burdened Cherry and the Red Lions team she inherited. A prospective team sponsor attempts to wrest control from Cherry. Her sister offers her team shares to the highest bidder. People spread rumors Shane is behind an opening day boycott.

A complex, macho Shane conceals a secret. In the midst of Cherry's turmoil and his suffering, he looks for comfort in admitting the truth to Cherry and the world.

Cherry confronts her emotions, particularly the grief of her father's death. She and Shane re-evaluate their carefree romantic getaways.

Is Shane's love for her a reflection of her parents' love? Ought she to reconsider her refusal and accept that Shane truly loves her for who she is and nothing else?

If she does, will her heart forever accept her decision?

 Author, character "coming of age"

Author Donan Berg in "Lucia's Fantasy World" creates a story that follows a young girl, Lucia, as she learns of her full potential while experiencing coming-of-age moments while trying to rescue a sick friend facing death. (Literary Titan, Five Stars)

When asked for his inspiration, Author Donan Berg expanded upon his own childhood. He said a phrase and the experience of having no crayons when starting first grade stood out.

The phrase, he attributed to the Orient, was: "Fall down seven times, stand up eight."

His first-grade experience required a little background.

He recounted that he'd spent six months with his mother and brother in Ireland, the country of his birth, before he and his mother had, years before, joined her husband and his father in the United States heartland.  As a rambunctious five-year-old in Ireland, he'd played with cousins and explored the creek that flowed through the garden behind his grandmother's candy store. In doing so, he'd missed kindergarten in the United States. 

On returning to his hometown to begin first grade, he learned that his classmates had in kindergarten received a new box of sixteen crayons to be carried over for use in first grade. Thus, in his having missed kindergarten, he had no box of crayons. To compensate, his first-grade teacher removed a crayon discard box from a windowsill and gave it to him for his exclusive personal use.

To this day, he can still recall his fellow students teasing him for having to use stubby crayons without sharpened points.

However, he was happy. He took pleasure in the positive.

While his classmates had only one crayon of each color, he laid out and counted six reds, eight greens, et cetera, many more crayons than the sixteen his classmates were limited to.

Years later, he adopted his youthful experience in Lucia's Fantasy World. Lucia, although her parents are split, has basic needs fulfilled. She has shelter in an apartment, food enough not to starve, and enough clothing to keep her warm. Although she might not be a school "glamor" girl, she has fun snow sledding with Johnny. He shares his sled and doesn't complain his one leg is in a metal brace. 

Yet, in her own mind, Lucia longs for material things her mother can't afford, especially a Christmas tree. Friend Omar has access to multiple Christmas trees as a Boy Scout working at a site that sells trees to support his troop, however, he can't just give her a tree.

Lucia is forced to rely on her own determination, to build a trust in her own ability, and to learn the value of human relationships. In her journey, the fantasy world she encounters and conquers teaches her lessons of survival and exposes her to values applicable to her physical world. The experience also brings forth her hidden talent.

Was she wrong to long for material things like a Christmas tree?  No. Lucia's desires are, by themselves, neither right nor wrong. It's the pathway to understanding one's morality and the relationship to others that's important. 

As Author Donan Berg would explain, material items like crayons have no intrinsic value beyond coloring, yet sometimes they do. The item gives the youth who is given it but one perspective on their place in society and the world at large. Society promotes a standard. You're given a box of crayons. You're to be limited to this box.

But are you?

What if you can achieve the same or greater artistry with discards? 

What if anything does the discard tell us? What role does human determination play? Shouldn't it require us to do better than good?

Check out history. Well along in the advance of civilization, man communicated by chiseling images on rock. How troubled would we all be if one minor error in what we sought to express required us to begin again with a new rock, a new boulder?

Then again, how often are we advised to wipe the slate clean?

A conundrum? Yes. Is there one in Lucia's Fantasy World? (www.authorsden.com/visit/viewwork.asp?id=79192 or an e-book at www.smashwords.com/books/view/1142569)

Yes. Yet, to read Lucia's Fantasy World may personally help.

 

Thread suspense into the story

 

Thread suspense into the story

How does an author keep the reader interested?

A surefire way is to add the element of suspense. When incorporated into the story, this provides a payback to readers who have trusted you with their precious time.

The simplest definition of suspense is not knowing what will happen. For this, there needs to be a character the reader can emphasize with. Without reader empathy, adding an obstacle or visible peril won’t have pages turned.

If the reader cares, the creation of suspense requires the dilemma to linger before resolution. Let’s look at an example.

A bookstore browser enthusiastic for historical fiction is introduced to a 19th Century female coming of age. She has attractive attributes but fears a family history of sterility will damn her to spinsterhood. She meets the male heir to a stable of pedigree, prize-winning racehorses. He expresses a desire to raise a family.

Our heroine reluctantly explains to him that, if he should marry her, the odds of his attaining his goal is not guaranteed.

They nevertheless marry.

After two years, she’s still unable to conceive.

They adopt a young baby boy abandoned by a traveling gypsy caravan. Happy, the couple is heartbroken when authorities identify the boy as kidnapped, and the boy’s real father appears.

In secret, the heroine learns of an experimental method to be impregnated, and she volunteers to be a medical test case. When she becomes of child, she tells her husband. They are overjoyed to wait.

Within a month, the heroine miscarries.

For a second time, dread descends upon the heroine for life’s uncertainty has dealt her and her husband unexpected blows.

Will the reader keep on reading? The ending has not yet come. Will it be tragedy or success?

As the author, you know. And, by threading suspense of what the unexplained, but believable outcome, lies on upcoming pages will create a great incentive to keep the reader along in lockstep to complete the journey.

All's Forgiven by Donan Berg Earns 5-Star Review

 

5.0 out of 5 stars 

Trust No One, but Revel in the Mystery

Reviewed by Michael P. Hartnett in the United States on November 19, 2023

Donan Berg’s All’s Forgiven is one of those wild mysteries that keeps the reader guessing to the very end. Much of the lively engagement of constantly shifting suspicions comes from the novel centering on the viewpoint of Jenny Olsen, who’s a bit loopy and is recovering from an accident that also led to the death of her niece Eileen. Jenny is often uncertain and the reader more so. I can never fully trust her intense, emotional sister Ruth, her gruff Uncle John, the police officer and possible love interest Robert, and the urbane, mysterious professor Holmes, who also might be another love interest. The plot involving that niece’s death, car accidents, a valuable brooch from Queen Elizabeth’s inauguration, and, most importantly, the kidnapping of Jenny’s mother percolates along with amusing interactions and disarming twists.

The novel is filled with gothic elements, including the mysterious basements at home and at the bookstore where Jenny works. Berg plays with these subterranean notions which such lines as, “For Jenny, someone might well padlock her future behind the wall, never to be revived.” A single boot that may or may not belong to Jenny’s kidnapped mother, a missing garage key, and that brooch whose history and provenance vex and confound are situated around a group of characters prone to lying and keeping their counsel at inconvenient intervals. That Jenny’s bookstore borders on Riddle Jewelry where sister Ruth works adds another layer of proximity to their sibling tensions.

Little wonder Jenny makes asides like, “Afraid my memory gets jittery.” Oh, the revelations keep coming in a novel that subtly considers what is counterfeit and what is genuine. Without giving too much away, the reader is guessing right up to the final pages, where he discovers he’d been given sufficient clues all along. He was just too wrapped up in the crazy family drama and the bizarre combinations of romance and manipulation to center his pleasures on piecing together the puzzle. Donan Berg has given us quite a yarn across a snowy lowan landscape, one that keeps the reader involved and intrigued throughout.

All's Forgiven is available in paperback and e-book format at major book retailers. Click Purchase e-book here. Click  

 

All's Forgiven, a novel, available now

 Author Donan Berg's latest novel, All's Forgiven, in ebook

format is available at Amazon.com and at Smashwords.com 

Official paperback release on Amazon.com will be October 2, 2023.

All’s Forgiven is an inspired family drama where thirty-two-year-old Jenny Olsen’s life spirals into chaos. Jenny’s injured in a hit-and-run car accident that kills her young niece. Thieves kidnap her mother and demand a ransom. Romance teases Jenny’s heart as she struggles with an injured foot, engages in spats with her sister, and, after a next-door theft, investigates strange goings-on at her uncle’s bookstore where she works.

Three dimensional character

 Ever read a thriller with never-ending action and conflict?

Of course you have, or one day started one, now collecting dust.

The problem is exhaustion. The character failed to breathe unless

gasping for lifesaving oxygen.

Here's a writing tip.

Think three dimensional.  The character has a past, present, and future.

In each dimension the character has internal conflicts, external conflicts,

goals, and motivations. While they can be the same, odds are they are

not. The simple explanation is that characters as well as humans mature,

learn life lessons, fail, and a myriad of other things.

Saying this is seeing the tip of the iceberg. Explore every detail to broaden

your character. You'll be glad you did.

                            Self-serving note

Multiple e-books by Author Donan Berg will be on sale starting July 1, 2023.

It's limited. There's romance, mystery, thriller, and fantasy.

A good novel to start with is A Body To Bones.

Go to:  Click here for A Body To Bones

Editing? Find your way.

 Story editing is a tiring, yet exhilerating task.

Successful completion is as wide open as the formula to get there.

Let's explore an example.

The original version:

Sculptured by the wind’s swirl, the cylinder of twirling snowflakes lifted from the curbside pile, raked an icy chill across Jenny’s unprotected facial skin. Without a desire to stop and delay her plodding morning journey to the bookstore, she ignored the stray cat’s caterwaul behind her.

 While the original imagery tries to create a mood, it overpowers if not confuses. If it's slow going for Jenny, the reader doesn't get to understand there is a Jenny until too late.

Let's try to rewrite:

Off to Jenny’s right, a windy swirl lifted snowflakes from a curbside pile. Sculptured into a twirling “dust” devil, the cylindrical funnel raked an icy chill across her unprotected facial skin. With no desire to stop and delay her morning journey to the bookstore, she plodded on, this day ignoring the stray cat’s caterwaul behind her.

The original first sentence is divided into two parts. Within three words we know we are on a journey with Jenny. The cylinder of swirling snowflakes is emphasized to be a cylindrical funnel. Not a tornado, but similar to a summer dust kickup.

The last sentence in the revision could also be split into separate sentences. Left together they may imply a simultaneous perception. All is subjective. 

Try it yourself.

Use your own examples or visit Author Donan Bert at Amazon.com . This link will take you to his Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel where a free sample is available. If you wish, his other novels also offer free "inside the book" samples.

 

Save Big on A Body To Bones

 

Update:  There's bad news and good news.

The limited time sale mentioned below has expired. Sorry.

Good news

The 50% off sale has been renewed.

Sale ends December 15, 2022 so Santa can rest for his

Yuletime December 25 delivery trip.

If you can't remember coupon code QD86Q, don't worry.

 Click here to save big 

The link will take you to the A Body To Bones e-book page.

Save 50% on ebook A Body to Bones for a limited time only at

www.smashwords.com/books/view/1042160.

This private sale is only for persons who enter coupon code

QD86Q prior to checkout. (Ebook may have updated cover.)

Ps, While at Smashwords, check out Donan Berg/s One Paper Heart, a Gold Award Romance.

Click here:  One Paper Heart

Review To Steal a Heart by Jennifer Youngblod

 Review To Steal a Heart by Jennifer Youngblood

Midway through a series, which To Steal a Heart by Jennifer Youngblood is, don’t feel inadequate if you believe you’ve missed something. In the beginning, the feeling gnawed at me continuously.

Calm yourself and enjoy a classic summer beach read. If you add a glass of wine, no problem. If the sweat gleams because you’re lathered in sunscreen, likewise no problem.

Here’s a tip. Don’t count the twists and turns. If you’re put off by the pettiness and selfishness of high society circles, banish the thought. And remember this secret, if a heroine is bashed by an unfaithful or conniving lover in the beginning pages, and that “heel” then dates her former childhood friend, be prepared for revenge and enjoy the next page.

You’d earn a gold star if you believed the outcome was preordained because the ex-boyfriend was named Hector. Yes, the name is Greek. Homer in the Iliad describes Hector as “Breaker of Horses.”

Thus, why wouldn’t the modern day Hector, under the grip of a romance writer, “break” a woman’s heart? You may find additional allegorical references. Go to it.

Reviewer Donan Berg has earned three gold awards for his novels, a romance and two fantasy. He received an advance review copy for free and he leaves this review voluntarily.

Book Review Vision of Power by Charlee James

 

Review of Vision of Power by Charlee James

What often catapults a story from very good to outstanding is the underlying comparison of what is a well-balanced, utopian societal family that is compared to characters who are enslaved because of psychological or moral trauma. In Vision of Power by Charlee James, we have page-after-page of engaging trauma without the energizing contrast.

Lead characters Kinley Wright nee Miller, a detective, and Easton Adair, an FBI agent, have enough personal trauma to overwhelm an entire college of social workers plus psychologists. In addition to them, a serial killer who first tortures young girls before ending their lives. The only one to escape is Kinley. The reader is spoon-fed this information in a lengthy prologue that for all intent and purposes dulls the story’s overall suspense. Like sugar, the horror would’ve had greater effectiveness if sprinkled in like Easton’s backstory.

The plot is simple and straightforward. Without a spoiler, it’s the so often common thread of a woman in peril seeking justice that borders on revenge. There are threats, e.g. a note under a car wiper blade, left vague by no detail, as if handwritten (spur-of-the-moment) or typed (planned and premeditative). There is a woman found dead, murdered, in a Victorian house. While this may have been an opportunity to connect society to the characters, it doesn’t. Kinley refers to the house as the “Addams Family House,” but the out-of-balance sitcom was not known for its crime drama.

If the reader loves high-speed car chases, you’ll find them a constant companion, even if it glosses over the injuries caused by flying glass. The verb “loves” in the prior sentence was deliberately chosen. Trauma, car chases, and murders overpower the interjected romance between Kinley and Easton, often presented as tingling, unadulterated lust.

In sum, a dark, intense, non-stop read that won’t answer your exam question about the big bang theory.

Author Donan Berg received an advance review copy from BookSirens for free, and he's leaving this review voluntarily.

He's the author of twelve novels, the latest a Gold Award fantasy entitled Lucia's Fantasy World that is available for free on KindleUnlimited at www.amazon.com/dp/B09YCVQ4JD.

The above link will lead you to his other award-winning titles.

Lucia's Fantasy World earns Literary Titan Gold Medal

 Lucia's Fantasy World, author Donan Berg's second fantasy novel, newly published, has been awarded The Literary Titan Book Awards Gold Medal. The Gold Medal is awarded to books that Literary Titan finds have astounded and amazed them with unique writing styles, vivid worlds, complex characters and original ideas.

Previously, Lucia's Fantasy World earned a five star review from Literary Titan. They are an organization of professional editors, writers, and professors that have a passion for the written word.

The review said Lucia's Fantasy World is a captivating story about a courageous and caring young girl.

It continues by saying: "Berg's excellent use of description plays a big part in the book . . . ."

The review concludes with: "Lucia's Fantasy World, by Donan Berg, is a magical story that will take you on a fascinating adventure with Lucia. Filled with child-like imagination, friendship, adventure, magic, and sorcery this book is the perfect fantasy book for middle aged children who are looking for imaginative coming of age adventure."

The complete ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐review can be read at https://literarytitan.com/2022/06/07/lucias-fantasy-world/

Available in paperback and e-book with the e-book on Amazon's KindleUnlimited.

As reported elsewhere on this blog, Author Donan Berg's debut fantasy, Find the Girl, A Fantasy World, has been a #No1 most popular book for four hundred twelve (440) days.

Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel, No1 for 412 Days

 Find the Girl, No1 most popular 412 days

Donan Berg's first fantasy novel, Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel,

has, on June 7, reached a milestone 412 days as the most popular

novel on AuthorsDen.com, all genres. In fact, on this day, eight

spots in the top ten for most popular were filled by Author Donan Berg novels.

We're prompted to shy away from humble to say there's something special

about his novels, be they fantasy, mystery, thriller, action, or romance?

To explore Eta Dorcas' reality and her time travel new world visit

Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel 

On World Book Day, Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel

was featured as Book of the Moment by Caleb and Linda Pirtle.

Their website is at Book of the Moment

Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel, has been joined by Author Donan Berg's

second fantasy, Lucia's Fantasy World. Now out as a free read on 

Amazon's KindleUnlimited and also available in paperback. Click on

the link below to learn more, including a free chapter read.

Lucia's Fantasy World

Additional clicks on the links below will allow you to check out

five-star reviewed Author Donan Berg novels.

One Paper Heart

Aria's Bayou Child, A Thriller

Alexa's Gold

A Body To Bones

And many more if you visit Author Donan Berg's homepage 

Author Donan Berg Home Page  Here you will find Donan Berg's biography

and a connection to his novels, short stories, writing tips, articles and poetry.

Aria's Bayou Child Reviews-- Five Stars

 First Aria's Bayou Child Review -- Five Stars

A five-star review of Donan Berg's latest novel, Aria's Bayou Child,

is posted on his Amazon.com book page. Click here Donan Berg Novels .

Here are review excerpts:

"Rich and satisfying"  "one hell of a journey"

"The tensions between LeRoy and Aria provide another layer to a narrative that

already carries the hauntings of Aria's troubled past . . ."

"Aria's Bayou Child takes many intriguing turns, steadily unfolding dark secrets from

the past and its share of surprises in isolated locales."

"Berg imbues the novel with nice touches."

Read the full review at Full Five Star Review . 

Second Aria's Bayou Child Review - Five Stars

A second five-star review of Donan Berg's Aria's Bayou Child

is posted at Feathered Quill.com. Find Aria's Bayou Child under reviews.

Here are review excerpts:

"Mr. Berg has yet to fall below the extremely high expectations

his amazing writing has set."

"We are talking pure action here. The steps she (Aria Gleason) must take,

the horrible people she must meet, the terrifying moments she must live through

that make prison look like a garden party - everything comes at her as events

unfold. With each page comes a new suspense."

"Aria . . .  is challenged, harmed, and shaken to her very core by some of the

worst of mankind, but the one thing they cannot shake is her resolve. It is

no surprise that Donan Berg's books have won award after award.

You see, not only does he pen tales that keep the reader entranced until the final

page, he also creates tales that stick in the mind long after the book has been read . . . ."

"Aria's Bayou Child lifts the term 'psychological thriller' to new heights. . . . reading 

his books is a true treasure."

Read Amy Lignor.'s full review at Aria's Bayou Child Review

Five-Star Review - A Body To Bones

 

Top reviews from the United States

Michael P. Hartnett

5.0 out of 5 stars An American Gothic of Charming Complexities

Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2021

Verified Purchase

Donan Berg’s A Body To Bones offers an enthralling mystery that is evocatively embedded in middle-American small town life of the 1960s. Berg’s ability to draw the reader completely into this Iowa town, using the Tom Hamilton’s local newspaper as both the historical and social heartbeat of community, makes this novel stand out from most in the genre.
Yes, the presence of hidden bones in a factory provide intrigue that will carry the reader through the deftly crafted plot, but it is the immersion in the small-town of fifty years ago that makes the work such a pleasure. Berg knows how to develop characters. The shady lawyer George Windhurst is folksy hoot, constantly cajoling Tom and others in ways that can be alternately effective and incompetent. Myron is also memorable, a young dreamer who is navigating both the careful construction of a glider and a wholesome romance with Wanda. And Wanda is another live wire, whom Berg described, “She lives at home to save money for her dreams, not yet completely defined, which include stylish clothes.”
The village gossip and the expanding discoveries about the bones give the novel other layers of intrigue, as does a lurid history connected to the priest Father Cornelius Murphy. While Tom’s wife Sarah (with her reticence and her secrets) certainly is the emotional and moral locus of the novel, so many other characters contribute both curious theories and discoveries. Indeed, A Body To Bones is American Gothic as an entertaining ensemble play.
As a local resident explained about the increasingly disturbing revelations, “It’s been too gruesome around here lately. All the black humor.” Such is the nature of a novel that will grippingly propel forward right through to its satisfying conclusion. So I highly recommend you pick up A Body To Bones as much for the neighbors you get to visit as for the mystery they have to solve.

One person found this helpful

The Tune of Youth

 

The Tune of Youth

Down by the sea, the strand

Marched the three, a piper band.

Rhythm strong, the notes low and high,

Bellows rocked the musical staff ay and bye.

The melody called out to the sky, the sea.

Gather the fishes to feast, let Poseidon be.

Local fishermen on the diamond sand

Remember the crabs’ wild dance on land.

Balanced vertical on one claw, pointed

The crabs’ free claw swung disjointed.

When sunlight departed and darkness fell

The piper band summoned waves to swell.

The sea mythically chained to the moon’s tug

Rose to the height of a clothesline pinned rug.

In repetition the three piper’s tune did lose

The strength of the new in its silent repose.

Then too, the rally of rebellion was ever lost

As Fenian sons on coffin ships the sea tossed.

Never forgotten the fresh, strange rapture of joy

Always beholden if the heart met a broken toy.

When youth and dreams are old, out of sight.

No piper tune vanishes the villager’s plight.

The baggy eyes become sad and swollen.

Still so when the far sea dawn is golden.

Read additional Writer Donan Berg poetry at

More Writer Donan Berg poetry

Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel

Alexa's Gold

One Paper Heart

A wish doesn't necessary happen

Any metric for measuring a writer's success is subject to many variables.

Selling books is an obvious.

That's why, I speculate, that AuthorsDen.com says "sell more books" to invite authors to purchase a membership. Obviously, they consulted lawyers to try not to create a legally recognized promise that an author who purchases a membership will sell "more books."

The subtle intent should be obvious. An author who joins a website wishes any offered payment will result in an upward increment in book sales.

Not always so.

AuthorsDen does not offer "testimonials." Perhaps that should be a signal to all who see joining them with cash will not result in an uptick in book sales.

The second part of incentive is that AuthorsDen will always say it was not their fault, but the author. Question? Then why do they accept the money.

The third part of the incentive for AuthorsDen is that it will rely upon authors not to broadcast any anemic sales because that pierces the author's façade of success.

This scenario was graciously hinted at in a 2014 Internet blog.

I have no inclination to shrink from the truth.  

My latest novel, Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel, has been the "most popular" novel on AuthorsDen for the past one hundred and thirty (130) days.

Best I can tell, AuthorsDen has been responsible for zero (yes, 0) book sales. Is that "more," obviously not.

If you're an author, you may want to take my experience into consideration for any marketing decision you make.

Could you say, my novel, Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel, was bad fantasy. I'd say, no.

And, I'm supported by the July Literary Titan Gold Award.

If you wish to test me, visit www.amazon.com for Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel, and read a sample.  Visit www.smashwords.com/books/view/1059934 and read a sample that extends to Chapter Four.

Donan Berg Novels Lead Popular List

 A fellow author once said, the best marker of your writing ability is the length of time your novels remain popular with readers and other authors.

With that in mind, I recorded on May 12, 2021, what novels of mine were listed as most popular at www.authorsden.com. Then, today, July 28, 2021, I checked to see what novels topped their most popular rankings. (Novels are ranked in order starting with number one.) This exercise is not strictly scientific, but here are the results for Donan Berg novels only:

May 12, 2021:

Top Fantasy                    Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel

Top Action/Thriller        Aria's Bayou Child

Top Mystery/Suspense  Into the Dark

Top Romance                Alexa's Gold

                                      Abbey Burning Love  

July 28, 2021:

Top Fantasy                    Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel

Top Action/Thriller        Aria's Bayou Child

Top Mystery/Suspense    Into the Dark

                                        Adolph's Gold

                                        Baby Bones

                                        A Body To Bones

                                        The Bones Dance Foxtrot

Top Romance                  One Paper Heart

                                        Abbey Burning Love

                                        Alexa's Gold

As an end note, Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel, became the top popular novel of all genres on April 16, 2021 and has remained there, that's 115 consecutive days.

Thank you all for your purchase, reading and support. If you click the below link you'll find sample chapters of all Donan Berg novels, plus writing tips, articles and short stories.

Click here to begin your own survey of  Donan Berg Novels.

 

Let the first sentence grab you

 All praise is not homegrown.

Readers, and especially critics, are blown away by a novel's first sentence.

There are classics. Think Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice. 

I ran across an introductory sentence today that impressed me so much I had to share.

In Last Light by J.N. Bake, the opening sentence reads as follows:

"Hell. As I pried my sword from his life-less body, I was sure that's where I'd be going;

that was, if I could actually die."

Doesn't that tell you a lot, yet still draw you in?  It did me. A fantasy? Or, a delusional killer?

Why chose?  You must read on.  I haven't read the entire novel, but I'm intrigued.

I went back to look at my own novels. (Proud to say that the last two have had gold medals bestowed upon them. The first a most popular www.authorsden.com novel for 93 consecutive days.)

Alexa's Gold starts with:  "'Rich men don't date exhausted women.'" Grandma's oft-repeated admonition ebbed into the minutiae of Alexa Hovey's grief."

Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel starts with:  "Eta Dorcas pressed four fingertips into her right palm's flesh. She feared, if she looked, it could still be there."

One Paper Heart starts with: "The romantic flames of Alicia Danielson's sweet dreams flared into conscious panic."

Different genres please readers in multiple ways. For the author to gain that praise requires the reader to do one thing, i.e., read on with a sense of what comes next. That is, a fantasy, a romance, or a thriller with romantic elements.

It presents a tall order for the author. All readers may not have a critical vision when opening a novel, but below the surface there's an attraction. It benefits the author and the reader.