Rebekah L Purdy | No Wrong Way to Read or Write a Book!

Okay, so I have a confession to make. Sometimes I read the ending of a book or a chapter near
the end to make sure everything is going to turn out okay! LOL.

So I don’t do this ALL the time, but there are some books that I’ve read where I get worried
about characters I love and I need to double check to see if they’ve made it to the closing
chapters. Or I might thumb ahead several chapters to see if a love interest is still in the
picture, especially in books with love triangles. When you fall into a good story, you find
yourself caring about characters and what they’re going through. And at the first sign of
something not going right, I feel like I need to know how things are going to turn out.

That being said, I really hate it when bad stuff happens to characters I like. But I know you
can’t have a good book without conflict or the protagonist having to go through stuff, but it
doesn’t make it any easier.

I remember when I read the Twilight series for the first time. I was team Jacob and I wanted Bella to pick him. In book 2, I ended up reading ahead toward the end (but I didn’t read far enough) LOL. So I kept thinking, she’s going to “pick him” hahaha. And I also read ahead in The Hunger Games , Throne of Glass, Splintered, Girl of Fire and Thorns, and quite a few other books. As I writer, I always know my ending before I start a book, but that doesn’t mean I’m not taken by surprise by my own characters some times. For instance, for those of you who’ve already read THE WINTER PEOPLE, Gareth was never meant to have a big role in the book. He was supposed to be this background static character. But as I wrote him, he took on a life of his own. And again, for those of you who’ve read the book, you know he ended up playing a big part in it—thus changing my original vision for the book. So even as writers, we’re surprised by our own books at times.

What about you, do you ever read the ending first? Or do you skip ahead a few chapters to
check on characters you love or hate?

About Rebekah Purdy

Rebekah Purdy grew up in Michigan, where she spent many late nights armed with a good book and a flashlight. When not hiding at her computer and getting lost in her stories, she enjoys reading, singing, soccer, swimming, football, camping, playing video games and hanging out with her kids. She loves the unexplainable like Bigfoot, the Dogman, and the Loch Ness Monster (lots of good story material)! She admits to still having all the books she bought throughout her childhood and teen years, and she may or may not have an obsession with anything chocolate… Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Blog | Goodreads

About THE SUMMER MARKED

Salome left humankind behind to be with her boyfriend, Gareth, in the Kingdom of Summer. But now forces of darkness are rising. Her happily-ever-after is coming apart, and the Kingdom is on the brink of war.

Newly-single Kadie Byers is on her way home for Thanksgiving, imagining a visit filled with
hot chocolate, a hot guy for a little rebound action, and some girl time with her bestie,
Salome. Except she receives a message from Salome with two important words: PLEASE HURRY.

When Kadie rushes to help Salome, she’s ripped from the human world and pulled into the
kingdoms of Faerie, where she's shocked to learn that Salome's monsters are real, and that
she's now at the mercy of one extremely vengeful Winter Queen...

Now both Salome and Kadie must find a way to survive the deadly chaos...or lose themselves to Winter's deadly, icy grasp.

Comments

4 comments posted.

Re: Rebekah L Purdy | No Wrong Way to Read or Write a Book!

I am glad to know someone else reads the ending or checks
several chapters ahead also. I sometimes check to see of
someone has not died for example. I do finish the book and
it does not ruin it for me. I re-watch movies and re-read
books. I sent the author a book review I did and thanked her
for not killing off a character. She did reply to me. He
was not a main character but I thought important.
(Leona Olson 9:13am September 24, 2015)

I've never had the temptation to skip ahead in a book. I
figure if I did, I might miss out on a crucial element along
the way, and it would spoil the story. It's also not fair to
the Author, and a waste of money to skip pages in between!! I
must admit that I have never read a book from your genre
before, but found the synopsis from your latest book so
fascinating, that I'm actually going to give your book a try!!
I've got it on my TBR list, and it's going to make a great Fall
read!! I think part of it could be the Michigan connection.
:-) Congratulations on your latest book, and I'm sure it's
going to do well!!
(Peggy Roberson 9:13am September 24, 2015)

Oh I'm definitely an end-peeker! I even read the end of the
Harry Potter series as I had to know who made it and who
didn't.
(Debbie Wiley 3:56pm September 24, 2015)

LOL--YAY, I'm glad I'm not the only one who does this! Even though
I skip ahead, I still read through the rest of it (I just take a
peek to make sure all is good). Thanks for the comments! Rebekah
Purdy
(Rebekah Purdy 5:06pm September 24, 2015)

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