My second "David's mark" is about 87,000 words.
My third "Still With Eyes Closed" is about 88,000 words.
So why? I see novels that are 100,000 words +, so why are mine so far under that number?
Glad you asked.
1) No curse words at all. I wanted to write novels that had no swear words at all to see if it could be done. As much at it may surprise people there are millions of people on the planet that do not swear or use curse words. Most may be of a religious nature, but there are others that also refrain from using curse words. So I decided that in ALL my books no curse words.
2) No sex. If your novel HAS to have sex to sell then your selling porn, IMO. I do not see the need to include sex in my novels. If people want to read that stuff there is plenty of it in other books. When we talk to people face to face we do not discuss graphic sex, so I do not include it in my books.
3) No graphic violence. (granted "David's mark" does have some because it is a true story) but I have chosen to refrain from detailed graphic violance.
4) No occult themes.
So are my stories worth reading? I think so as do many others. I focus on people and their personalities. My novels deal with people and how they really are. Some times we do not want to see the dark side of people or society, but that is the reality I write about. So far I have had only good reviews, and many have told me they enjoy reading a novel without all of the above. So