The Other New Idea

On Monday, I posted the cover for the first novel in The Wizard in Black series. Part of the lesson for the Covers 101 class was to do a full paperback wrap. Which meant I needed to write the back cover copy/blurb.

Again, the back blurb is something I often have trouble with. Am I giving too much information? Not enough? Is it boring to the reader?

For some time, I'd been tooling with an idea something along the lines of Dashiell Hammett's Nick and Nora Charles, but with a supernatural/mild horror twist a la the old Universal monster movies. So when this artwork popped up on my laptop screen, everything clicked in my imagination.

So, here's the cover for the first Chandler and Lillian Quinn Adventure.

And here's the blurb.

"American archeologist Lillian Kent fought hard to obtain a sponsorship for her dig in Egypt. But rumors swirl when her patron Lord Aventine dies suddenly, and his son Chandler arrives in Cairo with accusations of murder. Lillian finds it’s easier to convince the new Lord Aventine she’s not a murderer than it is to convince him she’s most definitely not his father’s mistress.

Chandler Quinn already lost his father. He’s not about to lose the family fortune to a crazy, over-educated suffragette, who obviously kept Father entertained with her tales of treasure along with Jove knew what other enticements. But there’s something stalking the beautiful American through the streets of Cairo. And maybe, just maybe, her wild tales of what killed his father are true."

Before anyone gets excited, these series may be years down the line. I hate to tell you this, but I actually started writing what became Soccer Moms of the Apocalypse in 2015 while sitting to the student pickup lane at the high school. Yep, the idea started seven years ago.

So, yeah, it doesn't take a whole lot to come up with an idea. It's the execution that takes time.

Things Writers Hate to Write

Currently reading - Born of Fire by Sherrilyn Kenyon

For some, it's the dreaded query. For others, it's the soul-sucking synopsis. For me, it's the series blurb.

I'm not saying I find queries and synopses easy to draft. They are difficult in their own right. But I'm usually writing these AFTER I've written the book. Boiling down the essence of something that exists is far easier to me than discovering the essence of something that doesn't exist yet.

And that's the job of a series blurb, to convey what might happen to my heroine if I happen to write the second or third book.

I know this is something I will have to do once I have a multi-book contract. Until then, I will have to learn how to pull things out of my butt as my c.p. Faye would say.