Don't Be in Such a Rush

[Peg Herring]

I'm about to give up on an author I know is good, at least on the piece of her work that I'm currently reading. It's pretty obvious that this one was done in a rush, and it suffers. I'm about done suffering along with her.
Someone told me once that a writer's first book is a luxury. She has her whole life to write it, if need be. She doesn't have to send it off until she feels it is ready, and even then, it might take years for someone to notice it. During those years, she can tinker with it from time to time, possibly responding to snippets from agents or editors. (You don't get much, but sometimes a phrase is tossed out: "liked the main character, no strong hook".)
If a first book is successful, the race is on. Now the publisher wants to keep things going, and the writer is expected to produce book after book. Some (notably Diana Gabaldon) refuse to be rushed. Others (better not to name them) write to a formula, repeating what worked in Book 1. In the case of the book I'm reading, it's obvious that the writer did not get a chance to let the story sit for a while and then look it over carefully and make it better. Mistakes everywhere: picky little things like "women" for "woman", use of the same adjectives every time a certain location came up, and a generally unbelievable opening premise that had me thinking "Where in the world would a group of adults actually act like this?"
The other thing that can happen, I think, is that a writer falls in love with all the things people say about her and becomes pretentiously literary in succeeding works. I see places in this book where the author is trying way too hard to recreate those beautiful descriptions praised in Book 1. Back then they flowed naturally; now they sound forced, like "Here's a spot where I can show my talent with words."
Will I give this author another chance? Probably. But I wish she had taken a little more time to be herself with this book. That's what got her where she is today.