Feedback from my Agent on Canadian Crime and Thriller Novels

I just had a very interesting chat with my agent, Anne McDermid. She recently spent more than a month in the U.K. and spoke to many agents and publishers about crime and thriller novels coming out of Canada.

The feedback was very interesting. Apparently, Canadian authors tend to get far too literary, focussing on character development and gorgeous descriptions to the detriment of plot. The consensus is that the reader has to know within the first few chapters what the book is going to be about so they can decide whether they care enough to read on. After that, plot is paramount although personally, I think a purely plot driven book is dull. I have to care about the characters and Anne agreed. I guess the challenge is to ensure the novel achieves that fine balance between plot and character.

Given that info - I know that I have too much character development near the beginning of the book. The inciting incident occurs when Signy is invited by Grace to join the Underground Railway but that doesn't happen until several chapters into the book. I spend a lot of time at the beginning with Signy's character development and I wonder if that could be cut back?

Anne also said that too many subplots could be detrimental - that the average thriller reader wants a straight forward story that may be full of twists and turns but is easy to follow. I'm not sure where I fall in terms of that. The main character, of course is Signy but I also delve quite heavily into subplots involving the Tracker and Grace/Kim. I'm sure these could be cut back somewhat but I wouldn't want to get rid of either subplot. I like a series where peripheral characters develop slowly over time.

Finally, Anne said that there is some debate as to whether the protagonist must be 'likeable'. She says that often male protagonists can get away with being unlikeable but female protagonists much less so. She used the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as an example of one of the few unlikeable female protagonists. The problem for me with Lisbeth Salander was not that she wasn't likeable - in fact, I quite liked her. The problem for me she was she was a cardboard superhero. Like the square-jawed, good at everything, gorgeous detective with a heart of gold I find any character who is amazing at everything they do (despite a horrifically traumatic childhood) to be unbelievable and inevitably, dull.

I much prefer a character like Barbara Havers (from Elizabeth George's Inspector Thomas Lynley) series who starts off as abrasive, unattractive and socially awkward and evolves slowly over time. I find that type of character far more interesting to get to know. I used the Elizabeth George series as a guide in terms of POV, etc. Rather than stick with one POV, she allows each main character to take a POV when they are starring in any given chapter. In this way, she allows for subplots to develop. Over time, I found that while Thomas Lynley may still be the star of the show - Barbara Havers and Thomas's best friend have taken their fair share of the limelight. I wanted my series to evolve that way, as well. In the first several I would focus on Signy but over time I might give Grace or even the Tracker a starring role.

The best news is that Anne said that even without edits my novel is meeting most of the required standards which puts me way ahead of the pack. She also said that publishers are primarily interested in a series and it is much easier to sell the first two books rather than be able to offer only one. With the first draft of my second novel almost in the can I have met that milestone, as well.

Anne said that she will wait until I have my edits complete on Blown Red and a synopsis of Book Two (working title - Telltales) before continuing to put the series out there for sale. She did leave it with a couple of British reps and two more Americans and said she'd certainly call if she gets any good news from them but for now - I'm to concentrate on getting that second book finished.

Sounds positive, doesn't it??