Hey! This is the day I've been waiting for...the unveiling of the trailer movie for The Muse, by Fred Warren.
We are also taking pre-press reviewers right now, so get in touch with me if you're keen to read and help us promote it!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Anatomy of a Book Blurb
Today we worked on the book blurb for the back cover of The Muse. As I chatted to Fred, my friend Connie came online, and because I know she's always got an idea or three up her sleeve, I dragged her into helping us out. Here is what ensued - edited for length and to avoid spoilers.
It's wonderful what an hour and three authors can do!
13:08
Grace has joined
Fred has joined
It's wonderful what an hour and three authors can do!
13:08
Grace has joined
Fred has joined
Connie has joined
Fred: Hi, Connie!
Connie: Hey Fred :)
Grace: Thanks for coming!
Connie: I love a party13:09
Grace: Current blurb in need of pep:
Stan Marino is a writer with a problem–he can’t find the creative push he needs to fulfill his vision.
One day, the inspiration he’s been seeking finds him, and he thinks his problems are over–but they’re just beginning.
Somebody else is pulling his strings now.
Stan discovers that reality is stranger than he ever imagined, and he, his friends,
and a host of people he’s never met are locked in a life-or-death battle with a vast enemy.
One day, the inspiration he’s been seeking finds him, and he thinks his problems are over–but they’re just beginning.
Somebody else is pulling his strings now.
Stan discovers that reality is stranger than he ever imagined, and he, his friends,
and a host of people he’s never met are locked in a life-or-death battle with a vast enemy.
Grace: So far we've agreed that the last line should be:
13:12 Stan has found his muse, but will he survive it?
13:13 I want us to see this as a piece of poetry. Not with rhyme, but with a rhythm that draws the reader in.
Connie: I like that last line :)
Connie:
13:16 Okay, I don't like the first line.
Fred: Stan Marino needs a muse. He's written himself into a corner again.
Connie: Better
Grace:Good tie in to the title.
Connie: He's written himself into a corner. Again.
13:17 Grace: Yeah!
Fred: Nice.
Connie: Better cadence
13:18 Fred: Or we could use ellipses: He's written himself into a corner...again.
Grace: Now the part about inspiration finding him.
13:19
Suddenly seized by an inspiration that invades his life (...) Connie: What is the inspiration?
Grace: lol that is the question
13:20 Fred?
Connie: The better to help you write my dear...
(snicker)
Fred: Well, there's the inspiration he needs, and the inspiration he thinks he needs, which is the crux of the story.13:21 Grace: We don't need to delineate those in the blurb though eh?
Fred: No
Connie: No-- but it matters with the direction you point folks in.
So they get thirsty for more.
Fred: A shot of inspiration is all he needs to finish his story.
13:22
Connie: Okay-- that's a great second line. Grace: Aha!
13:23 Fred: Connie, where have you been these past six months??
Connie: lol
Fred: Oh, great, now I've found a muse. uh oh.
Connie: Ha!
Grace: Ditto.
Lol, etc.
Connie: Promise-- no evil personality :)
13:24 Fred: That's a relief.
Connie: Here's where a question would work well---
For line #3
Grace: As well as the question at the end? Sure, let's try it.
13:25 Connie: If you're going backcover copy.
Grace: Yep.
Connie: You'll have what-- 5? 7 lines?
Grace: Something like that. I'm flexible :)
Connie: So try a question. Then another couple of statements, then your line at the end.
13:27 Fred: A shot of inspiration is all he needs to finish his story...where is he going to find it?
Grace: Finally, it comes. But why is it taking over his life?
Fred: What Stan doesn't know is that his inspiration has found him, and it's about to take over his life.
Grace:
What Stan doesn't know: Inspiration has found him, and it's about to take over his life. Fred: Yeah that's what I was going for.
13:33 Grace: Now something about the life or death battle
13:35 Grace: Ripped from reality, he must band with friends and strangers in a life-or-death battle with a (insert adjective) enemy.
Unpredictable maybe.
Connie: I like the ripped from reality
13:36 Grace: Does that give away too much?
Connie: Not at all-- I think you need it.
13:37 Grace: "stand" is better than "band"
13:38 Connie: Not knowing the story, I want the 'ripped from reality' to keep reading.
Fred: or, He's been ripped from his reality, thrown into a life-and-death battle with a lethal enemy.
13:39 Grace: Ripped from reality, he must stand with friends and strangers in a life-or-death battle with a powerful and unpredictable enemy.
Fred: eh, not sure if I like "lethal"
Connie: Ripped from reality is a good start to that sentence.
Brings the focus to a shift in the story
Grace: Exactly.Fred: Yeah, that grabs the imagination.
13:40
Connie: Merciless enemy
powerful enemy
Grace: Merciless. That's pretty good. What says Fred?
Fred: ooh, merciless. I like.
13:41 Grace: Ripped from reality, he must stand with friends and strangers in a life-or-death battle with a merciless enemy.
Connie: Okay-- good flow on that one.
Fred: friends and strangers is accurate, but it's bugging meGrace: Me too, a little. I could live with it.
13:42 Connie: Another phrase that's more descriptive?
Connie: Ripped from reality, he must stand in a life-or-death battle with a merciless enemy.
Grace: A motley crew?
Connie: Just drop the phrase
13:43 Fred: I think Connie's close there.
Grace: Yeah. But I think the idea of teamwork is a very powerful one. a la Lord of the Rings book 1
Connie: strangers doesn't imply friends
or teamwork
Grace: ok so strangers is out.
13:44 Connie: Maybe that's why I don't like the phrase.
Grace: they sort of appoint him the leader. Not sure if that's any use.
Connie: AHA!
Grace: (I love it when she does that)Fred: was that a light bulb?Connie: Yes :)
Connie: Ripped from reality, he must lead...
13:45
Fred: aha!Grace: Ooo!
lead a motley crew
Connie: Ripped from reality, he must lead a (something something something) in life or death struggle with a merciless enemy.
Grace: That's it...
13:46 Fred: ragtag army? sounds like Battlestar Galactica
Connie: Motley crew is great- but may have rock group connotations here in the USA
Grace: Ok, if you say so
Fred: She's right
13:47 Grace: Ragtag army's not bad.
Connie: I like ragtag.
Fred: though they're not quite an army
Grace: But are they really ragtag? lol
Fred: ragtag band of lost souls?
13:48 Connie: Band of lost souls-- like the sound of that.
Fred: kill the ragtag
Connie: Ripped from reality, he must lead a band of lost souls in a life or death struggle against a merciless enemy.
Against is two syllables.
13:49 I think one might be better.
Fred: fight with, rather than struggle against?
13:50 Grace: how about a confrontation?
Fred: battle with
Connie: I like battle or struggle-- whichever's most accurate.
Fred: battle is more active
13:51 Grace: Okay, battle it is.
Grace: I think we're done! Thanks so much Connie! Fred: Thanks for the help, Connie. Wonderful!
Connie: You're welcome--
That was fun!
Grace: Awesome! We'll hire you again
Connie: Lol
later taters.Fred: bye
Connie has left
13:52 Grace: So the complete masterpiece, ta da:
Stan Marino needs a muse. He’s written himself into a corner...again.
A shot of inspiration is all he needs to finish his story...where is he going to find it?
What Stan doesn't know:
Inspiration has found him, and it's about to take over his life.
Ripped from reality, he must lead a band of lost souls in a life-or-death battle with a merciless enemy.
Stan has found his muse, but will he survive it?
A shot of inspiration is all he needs to finish his story...where is he going to find it?
What Stan doesn't know:
Inspiration has found him, and it's about to take over his life.
Ripped from reality, he must lead a band of lost souls in a life-or-death battle with a merciless enemy.
Stan has found his muse, but will he survive it?
13:53 Fred: Ok, that's a lot more gripping than where we began.
Grace: It's the true essence of the tale.
13:54 Fred: I think it works. What do you think?
13:55 Grace: It's awesomeness!
Fred: Or, Awesome Sauce, as I heard somewhere a few days ago.
13:56 Grace: Ha!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Down to the Wire
Autumn is just around the corner, and the production schedule for The Muse is accelerating. That's a good thing. I'd probably fiddle interminably with the story if allowed to do so, but we've agreed on the final draft and the front cover design, and can now proceed to sending an electronic pre-production copy to reviewers. If all goes well, we'll gather positive comments for the back-cover blurb and/or flyleaf and generate some good buzz.
The entire editing and review process has been cordial. Grace has been very patient with me when I've dithered on some small detail or other (cover fonts, for example), and her inputs on the writing have been insightful. She catches problems that I miss, which is, of course, a very good trait in an editor.
At the moment, Grace is finishing up a nifty video trailer for the book, accompanied by Michael Rogers' haunting music. I'm experimenting with some e-book translations of the manuscript--looks like an Adobe pdf version will be a snap, and I'd like to have a Kindle version available as well, but that will take a little more work. I'm also planning blog tours and online interviews for November. Once we have hard copies available, I can start making the rounds of the local independent bookstores to see if they'll be willing to stock the book or maybe even host a signing. There are also the regional SF&F conventions to consider, but I'm thinking it might be better to work in concert with some other Lost Genre Guild writers to provide some larger-scale representation there.
Marketing..brrr. This will be a big stretch for me.
I also need to provide Grace a slightly less-scruffy picture of my ugly mug. That may require a minor miracle.
The entire editing and review process has been cordial. Grace has been very patient with me when I've dithered on some small detail or other (cover fonts, for example), and her inputs on the writing have been insightful. She catches problems that I miss, which is, of course, a very good trait in an editor.
At the moment, Grace is finishing up a nifty video trailer for the book, accompanied by Michael Rogers' haunting music. I'm experimenting with some e-book translations of the manuscript--looks like an Adobe pdf version will be a snap, and I'd like to have a Kindle version available as well, but that will take a little more work. I'm also planning blog tours and online interviews for November. Once we have hard copies available, I can start making the rounds of the local independent bookstores to see if they'll be willing to stock the book or maybe even host a signing. There are also the regional SF&F conventions to consider, but I'm thinking it might be better to work in concert with some other Lost Genre Guild writers to provide some larger-scale representation there.
Marketing..brrr. This will be a big stretch for me.
I also need to provide Grace a slightly less-scruffy picture of my ugly mug. That may require a minor miracle.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
My Favourite Words #3 - Vicariously
Vicariously
Yes, I know it's an adverb. Yup, I know those are bad news. Writers ain't supposed to use them, like, ever. But it does describe one of my aims in reading, writing and publishing. "Living vicariously" is what we do when we enter into an experience not our own. That's what I want to do when I read a book; that's what I want my readers to do. Many people are unable to travel far, and a well-written book can open up entirely new experiences even for those who have seen a lot of the world. Windows to new places, unfamiliar lifestyles, cultures, characters - all of this can have an amazing influence on the life of the beholder.
Yes, I know it's an adverb. Yup, I know those are bad news. Writers ain't supposed to use them, like, ever. But it does describe one of my aims in reading, writing and publishing. "Living vicariously" is what we do when we enter into an experience not our own. That's what I want to do when I read a book; that's what I want my readers to do. Many people are unable to travel far, and a well-written book can open up entirely new experiences even for those who have seen a lot of the world. Windows to new places, unfamiliar lifestyles, cultures, characters - all of this can have an amazing influence on the life of the beholder.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
My Favourite Words #2 - High-falutin'
High-falutin'
Fancy, snobbish, expensive, refined. Normally used in a derogatory or sarcastic sense. It's a rather American term, perhaps from the South? I'm not sure. I know I always like it when I come across it, as it serves to pinpoint the character who uses it and their attitude. Usually the speaker is a good-humoured, down-to-earth person.
Fact: In New Zealand we would say "poncy" (pronounced pon-see) which is derived from Ponsonby, a coastal suburb in central Auckland, nationally known for its upmarket character and slightly snobbish inhabitants. Apologies to anyone who happens to live there - I have never been able to verify these traits, but that's how we use the word.
Fancy, snobbish, expensive, refined. Normally used in a derogatory or sarcastic sense. It's a rather American term, perhaps from the South? I'm not sure. I know I always like it when I come across it, as it serves to pinpoint the character who uses it and their attitude. Usually the speaker is a good-humoured, down-to-earth person.
Fact: In New Zealand we would say "poncy" (pronounced pon-see) which is derived from Ponsonby, a coastal suburb in central Auckland, nationally known for its upmarket character and slightly snobbish inhabitants. Apologies to anyone who happens to live there - I have never been able to verify these traits, but that's how we use the word.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
My Favourite Words #1
I have seen a lot of lists circulating around the Web - lists of beautiful, or funny, or plain incredible words. But I've yet to see a list that matched even a fraction of my own favourite words so I thought I'd start compiling a collection of my own. Here's a start:
Belligerent.
Aggressive, warlike, argumentative, ready to fight. From Latin "bello" = war. Unfortunately this word is so darn descriptive that it breaks all the writing rules of show-don't-tell by its very existence. But I'll try and get it into a dialogue someday, just you wait.
Belligerent.
Aggressive, warlike, argumentative, ready to fight. From Latin "bello" = war. Unfortunately this word is so darn descriptive that it breaks all the writing rules of show-don't-tell by its very existence. But I'll try and get it into a dialogue someday, just you wait.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Final Draft
Well, so much for weekly posting. If I'd kept a running diary of my last couple of months of activity on The Muse, it would have looked something like this:
Week 1: Editing.
Week 2: Editing.
Week 3: Family Crisis.
Week 4: Work Crisis.
...and repeat. Not terribly interesting.
That's not to say the time hasn't been productive. I fixed a lot of annoying little problems, and with the help of my reviewers, identified areas of ambiguity in the story line, inconsistencies in some of the characters, and a couple of spots that didn't do much more than slow the story's pace and needed to be cut down and tightened up.
My biggest fear at this point was running into something that was so screwed up that I would have to do a major rewrite. Fortunately, that didn't happen. There was some clunky dialogue, and a few scenes that weren't focused well enough, and a little-girl character who needed to do a better job of acting her age, but nothing that required extensive meddling with the structure of the story. So, after all the dust has settled, I've got something close to a final draft of the manuscript, though I know we'll be tweaking it all the way to publication.
Now it's back over to Grace, and I'm sure she'll identify some opportunities to tighten up and polish the story even more. In her early feedback, she had some recommendations about strengthening the spiritual element within the story and handling the climactic scene near the end, and I hope I've answered the mail on both those issues.
Week 1: Editing.
Week 2: Editing.
Week 3: Family Crisis.
Week 4: Work Crisis.
...and repeat. Not terribly interesting.
That's not to say the time hasn't been productive. I fixed a lot of annoying little problems, and with the help of my reviewers, identified areas of ambiguity in the story line, inconsistencies in some of the characters, and a couple of spots that didn't do much more than slow the story's pace and needed to be cut down and tightened up.
My biggest fear at this point was running into something that was so screwed up that I would have to do a major rewrite. Fortunately, that didn't happen. There was some clunky dialogue, and a few scenes that weren't focused well enough, and a little-girl character who needed to do a better job of acting her age, but nothing that required extensive meddling with the structure of the story. So, after all the dust has settled, I've got something close to a final draft of the manuscript, though I know we'll be tweaking it all the way to publication.
Now it's back over to Grace, and I'm sure she'll identify some opportunities to tighten up and polish the story even more. In her early feedback, she had some recommendations about strengthening the spiritual element within the story and handling the climactic scene near the end, and I hope I've answered the mail on both those issues.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
