I want great horror, crime, mystery, YA, and even sappy make-me-cry fiction that makes me swear it's all real; the story, the folks, the place. How? Give me great dialogue. Realistic, which doesn't (always) mean dirty, nasty, gratuitous. Nothing creates a character like speech. That includes your own. Love your thoughts and its processes, but we all know that when it comes out in real speak, tons of difference,
So that's what I want in my fiction, in my characters. I want you, the real you, because that's the one I can believe in. It's what makes me want you to live or die.