Author Guest Post & Giveaway: Aida Brassington

Today, I have author Aida Brassington here with us talking about how she ends a book.

Welcome Aida!

 

Endings make or break a book. Not just knowing when to end a story, but how you end it. The cardinal rule for writers is to give your reader a satisfactory ending, but how do you do that? It’s nearly impossible to ensure every reader loves your ending because taste is subjective. Some readers want every detail tied up in a pretty bow. Others want to something left to the imagination.

My novel, Between Seasons, has an ending most people (so far!) don’t see coming. Reviewers have said they were on the edge of their seats up right to the end – there are clues throughout the book about what might happen, but they’re pretty subtle and purposefully confusing. The main character is a ghost who falls in love with the woman who buys his house forty years after his death, so logical rules don’t necessarily apply. And really, what’s a happy ending when it comes to a dead man and a live woman? Does the woman lobby her Congressman to make it legal to wed a ghost? Plus, since there’s a sequel (North of Frost, due out in spring 2012), how do you balance giving enough information for a good ending without wrapping up every detail?

It’s a fine balancing act.

In the technical sense, a novel ends after the climax. After this climax occurs, you have rapidly falling action that leads to the resolution and the end of the novel. Writers often struggle with an appropriate ending because so much focus is given to novel openings. After all, it’s the thing that hooks you as a reader, right?

The natural inclination of a writer is to err on the side of too much in the end. If your pre-readers have loved the story, why not continue it? More is . . . well, better, right? And if you’re telling a love story, why shouldn’t you give the reader more? The marriage, the babies, the anniversaries? Some readers prefer the never ending story, and sometimes this is accomplished through the use of sequels. I’m not a fan of never providing a solid ending, though, and I’ll tell you why: there’s no real closure, and that doesn’t feel good. People get bored.

Let’s look at two examples of endings, starting with the Harry Potter series. The epilogue at the end of the final novel in the series is a pretty big point of contention among fans. I personally hate that epilogue with a fiery, burning passion because I would rather have the opportunity to wonder what happened to the characters as adults than be told. My guess, though, is that many of you enjoyed it. My example of what might be one of the best endings of all time is S.E. Hinton’s The Outsider’s. Sure, it’s sad, but it’s also hopeful . . . and it gives you enough to be satisfying while still leaving open a world of possibilities of what might come next. And my guess is some of you hated it. See, hard to please everyone!

Keys to a great (and satisfying) book ending:

• The reader feels that there is no other possible ending
• Every action the main character makes in the novel leads to the ending
• If the novel is a stand-alone, the ending doesn’t drag beyond the appropriate resolution point. If the novel is part of a series, something must end or be resolved.

What are best and worst endings you’ve encountered? And why? What do you like in an ending?

Participate in the conversation, and you can win a copy of Between Seasons. Leave a comment and fill out the Rafflecopter form by February 14th, and two lucky people will be randomly chosen to receive the novel in either Kindle, Nook, or PDF format. The giveaway is open to readers worldwide (the file will be delivered via email). Read it and let me know if you’re satisfied with the ending!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Aida Brassington lives in a haunted house in the suburbs of Pennsylvania with her husband of five years and a Great Dane named Patrick. She loves all things related to Halloween and spooky movies, but not because she shares her house with a ghost (and it should be noted her ghost does nothing more than occasionally appear in the second floor hallway and hide her keys) — she just likes being scared. She is a former political junkie with a deep interest in artisan food, reading, and scuba diving.

Find the author online: website | twitter | goodreads

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ABOUT THE BOOK

There are things Patrick Boyle will never forget: the sound of his own neck breaking at the moment of his death in the fall of 1970, the sweet taste of his mother’s chocolate cake, and the awful day his parents abandoned him in his childhood house-turned prison.

Nineteen-year-old Patrick wonders for decades if God has forgotten all about him or if he’s being punished for some terrible crime or sin over a lovely forty years trapped in an empty home. But when Sara Oswald, a strange woman with a mysterious past, buys his house, old feeling reawakens, and a new optimism convinces him that she’s the answer to his prayers.

Things are never simple, though, especially when she begins channeling the memories of his life and death in her writing.

 

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EXCERPT

Her fingers arced through the air between them. “Yeah,” she answered, her voice halfway between wonder and excitement. Her hand jutted forward, touching his arm. They both gasped and sprang apart.

“Whoa!” Her fingers hadn’t actually passed through him, although it didn’t feel the same as a regular touch. It was lighter, more delicate, like the flutter of eyelashes against his cheek. And he could feel the warmth of her skin even though his shirt. “That’s…”

“… different,” she finished, taking a step forward and touching his hair. “You know you’re in style again.”

“Huh?” he asked, staring, his jaw hanging open. He could barely think of anything except for the feel of her hands stroking his hair. It felt… freaking amazing.

“Your, uh… your hair. It’s… well, you look like every emo boy in the world.” Her grin stretched across her face.

“What’s an emo boy?”

“Oh, just… it’s a hipster.”

“Hipster?”

“Never mind.”

“Sara, what is going on? Why are you being so… and why can I feel you?” Patrick’s mind was blown, shattered into a million pieces, and each piece seemed to be shouting a different question. Maybe he was still dreaming? He’d had fantasies about Sara like this, but he had never been a ghost when she ran her fingers over the planes of his face, like she did now. He’d been a man, flesh and blood.

“Beats the Hell out of me. Are you afraid of me? You look… like you’re going to shit your pants.”

“My pants?”

“Yeah, you know, those things covering your legs?” She smirked and ran her hand over his shoulders. “And yeah, I’m convinced I’m full-on, loony bin, butterfly net nuts, but it doesn’t matter. I’m just going to ride it until someone figures it out and has me committed. I seem to be functioning fine on every other level.”

“Can I… ?” Patrick’s own hands shook as he reached for her, ignoring her confession because he had no idea what to say to that, and Sara watched in fascination as his palm drifted across the space between them.

Buy the book: Amazon | BN | Smashwords

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**GIVEAWAY**

Thanks to Aida Brassington, two lucky winners will receive a ebook copy of Between Seasons!! Please read Terms & Conditions at the bottom of the Rafflecopter form before entering. Good luck to all who enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway