So right now I’m nomming the Jim Butcher Dresden Files books.* They’re like popcorn with magic and hitting things. I totally recommend them. (And the audio books as read by James Masters, who is the perfect voice for Harry Dresden.)
On a (probably) related note, I’m sort of accidentally writing this new thing. (Not in the day when I’m meant to be working, just in the middle of the night when I’m supposed to be doing that crazy thing called sleeping.) And the new thing is… I don’t know… Wizards in space? Which is… not… Gah. I don’t even know where it came from. I mean, I’ve been dreaming about science fiction for months now. And I think the wizards part is just Harry Dresden wandering around in my head. But still…
It’s a fun idea though. If for no other reason than that it’s high concept. High concept is what industry peeps call a story idea that you can sell in a sentence or better yet, in three or four words. It would be really helpful if I was writing high concept stuff right now at the beginning of my career, cause it’s much easier to sell. Course when has ‘really helpful’ had anything to do with anything? Odds are if I start actually writing it the words I’d promptly decide ‘wizard’ is a misnomer and be left with ‘…in space’ which is a funny thing to add to the description of any book, but not deeply informative.
Which would fit right in with the rest of my work. At the moment, for instance, someone says to me ‘what’s your book about?’ and I blither. Cause it takes way too long to explain it, and if I try to go for sweeping concepts it sounds ridiculously generic. Like I could say, ‘it’s slightly whimsical Renaissance fantasy YA’ but that makes it sounds both very general and a little bit girly. Which it isn’t. And if I say, ‘it’s got dragons and trolls, but they’re not like regular dragons and trolls’ I sound… well, deluded? And if I tell you the most unusual thing about the book you’re both spoilered and it sounds kind of… gratuitous? I suppose I could be telling agents and publishers that part, they want to be spoilered. But it’s not in any way the point of the books, so… gratuitous.
Which means that when I try to sell it I make the book sound generic, girly, deluded, and like I’ve thrown something in just to make it look edgy or interesting. *facepalm*
Going to try sending telepathic messages instead: You want to READ it. Then people who are better at marketing can sell it.
* Rick saw the cover of the one I’m reading at the moment and said, “Dead Bear?” in this sort of sad, disbelieving voice. It’s Dead Beat actually. Dead bears would be sad. I’m still worried about that trailer for Brave. Maybe the bear will be okay?
Kandace Mavrick
Paul McLaughlan
platform thing 
B.M. Van Norman
11/08/2011
Wizards in space? Sounds like an interesting concept; I’d read it for sure!
Kandace Mavrick
11/08/2011
Awesome! See? High concept works. Now I just have to… write the thing… In between finishing the other book… I don’t need sleep, right? That’s just one of those lies the doctors tell us like ‘You cannot live on jelly alone’.
CanaryTheFirst
11/08/2011
Blurbs are hard. Summarizing a book is hard. I tend to be of the school that believes two things: the author is the worst person to ask the question, “What’s it about?” and that a good blurb shouldn’t worry about being exactly accurate. If there’s something that reminds people of dragons and trolls, better go with that than a ten minute socio-racial monologue of a treatise on the biodiversity of the novel’s world.
Kandace Mavrick
11/08/2011
I swear, sometimes I just want to yell, ‘DRAGONS AND TROLLS, KIBBLES AND BITS THAT’S WHAT IT’S ABOUT’. Except, you know, I don’t think that would impress anyone.
I HAVE written a version of the blurb that is more trying to convey the feel of the book than the content, but then I worry that it’ll turn into one of those things where the reader says, ‘But I wanted to read THAT book, the one you described on the cover’.
Paul McLaughlan
11/08/2011
Ok, let me just say: if (by the end of the book) the reader wants ‘the one from the cover’ … just… just give up NOW!
But of course they won’t!
Think: ‘This is Rick, he’s an ENGINEER (sounds like ‘sneer’)’, do you want to go back to just that?
Kandace Mavrick
11/08/2011
Well, sure. But then I remember that I don’t read Tim Winton at all mostly because THE RIDERS wasn’t the book I wanted it to be. Yes, I’m petty and unreasonable. Also neurotic, crazed and about four years old. Sometimes it’s hard to get past the fact that the apple you picked up is really a steak. Even if it’s really good steak.
You do raise a valid point about Rick though, although that was sort of a double-take in both directions. First, ‘who knew under that cute cuddly facade lurked the beating heart of an ENGINEER?’, and then ‘Holy Gadzooks, Batman, engineer is code for robot-programming mad scientist? Gimme!’.
…I may be paraphrasing somewhat.
But surprises aren’t always good… (cue the dance of circular argument and neurotic madness *polka sounds*)