Welcome
to my stop on the Virtual Book Tour, hosted by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, for
Maltipoos Are Murder by Jacqui Lane. Please leave a
comment or question for Jacqui to let her know you stopped by. You can enter her tour wide giveaway by
filling out the Rafflecopter below. You
can also follow the rest of her tour here, the more stops you visit, the better your
odds of winning.
BOILING A
NOVEL DOWN TO ITS ESSENTIAL PARTS:
THE BLURB
AT THE BEGINNING
Jacqueline
Corcoran (the Jacqui in Jacqui Lane)
One technique that people often think of
as the end result when you are getting ready to query agents or publishers is
creating a blurb (also called “the “blurb,” pitch,” “log-line,” “hook,” or “the
premise”). However, it is also an
excellent way when you haven’t written a word yet of a story to test out its
concept. You need to know, before you
start writing, that you have a big enough idea with all the fundamental elements
in place that will sustain novel length.
I am teaching this in a mystery writing workshop right now, and one of
the participants realized that was the reason she had so many half-finished
projects – because many of them did not have enough to propel them through to
the end.
How to write a blurb? For movies, “the pitch” generally is only a one-liner,
but novels sometimes require up to three lines (or more if your publisher asks
for it). In her blog, the Dark Salon,
screenwriter and novelist Alexandra Sokoloff, has the best breakdown I’ve seen
(but I also have other references below that may be helpful) with the pitch
having the following elements
- a defined protagonist
- a powerful antagonist
- a sense of the setting
- conflict and stakes
- a sense of how the action will play out
Here
is an example from MALTIPOOS ARE MURDER: Cara Rogers has left her enviable Washington
D.C life and lobbyist boyfriend in disgrace to run her aunt’s pet spa in
Virginia’s hunt country. When she finds
her aunt’s body in the pool where the dogs’ swim lessons are held, outdoorsy
police detective Cole Sampson wants to rule the death an accident, but she
fights him – and her growing attraction.
Can a murder investigation keep these opposites from attracting?
This pitch has all the elements named
above:
- a defined protagonist (suspended Veterinarian Cara Rogers)
- a powerful antagonist (an implied murderer)
- a sense of the setting (Middleburg, Virginia)
- conflict and stakes (conflict is inherent in the fact that she is trying to solve a murder and the murderer doesn’t want to be discovered; there is also conflict in that she is on opposite sides of the case with the developing love interest).
- a sense of how the action will play out (it’s a mystery and a romance, so there are certain conventions)
What I like about this exercise is
that it pushes you to define some of the main elements of your novel and
ensures that it has enough going for it so that it may one day interest a
publisher.
Again, this exercise has so much value
because it not only provides the foundation for your story, it can also be used
to query agents and publishers, and, once you are published, it can be used or
expanded upon as your book description.
As an example of how the original blurb can be written as a book
description, here is one from Amazon for MALTIPOOS ARE MURDER:
Can
a murder investigation keep these opposites from attracting?
Cara
Rogers wants a fresh start after a slew of bad luck in Washington DC. Moving to
Virginia to help her aunt run La Maison de Chien, a doggie spa, is just the peace
of mind she needs. No stress. Just her aunt, the dogs, and wide-open country.
But
when she finds Aunt Marian floating in the doggie swimming pool, the rest she
so desperately needs flies out the window. The only witness to the death is
Rex, an apricot maltipoo, and while he may not be able to talk, he’s
communicating the only way he knows how—one paw at a time. And Rex’s clues lead
to murder.
Can
Cara keep the doggie spa afloat, convince Middleburg homicide detective Cole
Sampson that Aunt Marian’s death was no accident, and keep Rex from the
killer’s clutches before they all end up as dead as dogs?
Read
More Blog Posts on This Topic:
Adventures in YA Publishing - Six Ways toDefine the Premise of a Story and Eight Ways to Write a Book
Maltipoos Are Murder
By Jacqui Lane
Doggie
Day Spa Mystery, Book 1
Publisher: Ignite
(Entangled Publishing, LLC)
Release
Date: May 27, 2014
Genre:
Cozy Mystery
Length:
146 Pages
ISBN: 978-1-622665-32-7
ASIN:
B00K48GVGK
Add
to Goodreads
About the book:
Can a
murder investigation keep these opposites from attracting?
Cara
Rogers wants a fresh start after a slew of bad luck in Washington DC. Moving to
Virginia to help her aunt run La Maison de Chien, a doggie spa, is just the
peace of mind she needs. No stress. Just her aunt, the dogs, and wide-open
country.
But
when she finds Aunt Marian floating in the doggie swimming pool, the rest she
so desperately needs flies out the window. The only witness to the death is
Rex, an apricot maltipoo, and while he may not be able to talk, he’s
communicating the only way he knows how—one paw at a time. And Rex’s clues lead
to murder.
Can
Cara keep the doggie spa afloat, convince Middleburg homicide detective Cole
Sampson that Aunt Marian’s death was no accident, and keep Rex from the
killer’s clutches before they all end up as dead as dogs?
About This Author
Jacqueline
Corcoran and Lane Stone have teamed up to write about some of their favorite
topics – dogs, mysteries, and Middleburg, Virginia, which is known as the
nation’s horse and hunt capital. MALTIPOOS ARE MURDER is the first
in their doggie day spa romantic suspense series.
Jacqueline
Corcoran lives in Arlington, Virginia with her rescue animals, husband, and two
children. She holds a Ph.D. in social work and is on faculty at the Virginia
Commonwealth University. She has published numerous professional academic
articles and fourteen books in her field. Her mysteries include Maiming
of the Shrew (Cozy Cat Press), A Month of Sundays(Whimsical
Publications), Backlit (Etopia Press), and Memoir of Death (Etopia
Press). See her website at http://www.jacquelinecorcoran.com/
Lane
Stone and her husband, Larry Korb, divide their time between Sugar Hill,
Georgia and Alexandria, Virginia. She’s the author of the Tiara
Investigations Mystery series. When not writing, she’s usually playing
golf. Her volunteer work includes raising money for women political
candidates and conducting home visits for A Forever Home, a dog foster
organization. She is on the Political Science Advisory Board for Georgia
State University, and she serves on Sugar Hill’s 75th Anniversary Planning
Committee.
Author
Website: http://jacquilanebooks.com/
Author
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JacquiCLaneS
Author
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JacquCorcoraniLaneStone
Tour Schedule
June 9 – deal
sharing aunt – Interview
June 10 – Community
Bookstop – Review
June 11 – Melina’s
Book Blog - Review, Guest Post
June 12 – Kelly
P’s Blog – Interview
June 13 – Mochas,
Mysteries and Meows – Guest Post
June 14 – readalot
blog – Review
June 15 – Cozy
Up With Kathy – Interview
June 16 – Queen of All
She Reads – Guest Post
June16 – Darla King Series –
Review
June 17 – Socrates’
Book Reviews – Review
June 18 – StoreyBook Reviews –
Review
June 19 – Shelley’s
Book Case – Review
June 20 – Latte Da –
Guest Post
June 21 – Brooke Blogs –
Guest Post
This sounds like an awesome book! Thank you for this opportunity! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the awesome giveaway!! :)
ReplyDelete