Pat here, doing the obligatory promotion for MYSTIC WARRIOR (Signet Eclipse) on stands soon, I assume, since my copies arrived last week. The wenches have a long lovely list of new releases in July--so stock up for your beach reading!
I think most of our readers understand that Blatant Self-Promotion (BSP to those Who Know) is a topic with which most authors are uncomfortable. I was brought up in the days of children are seen and not heard, and nice girls don’t brag. When I reached the age of Ladies don’t talk about themselves I was wearing mini-skirts and boots and declared I had no intention of being a lady. Unfortunately, I was brainwashed and indoctrinated far too young to really rebel. And I’m still uncomfortable with talking about myself and my books. Writing is very personal for me, so I present my baby with pride and fear.
So here’s the official promo:
As Europe is torn by revolution, the fate and survival of the Mystic Isle of Aelynn is dependent on an elusive treasure and a man who has been banished for his dangerously erratic psychic powers.
Lissandra Olympus seeks the help of renegade warrior Murdoch LeDroit in assuming leadership of the island, even though he believes his psychic abilities would cause more harm than good. But to protect Aelynn from chaos, they must work together to retrieve the Chalice of Plenty. Only then can Murdoch ever hope to rule Aelynn with Lissandra by his side, ever his co-ruler, his lover, his wife.
(excerpt at http://patriciarice.com/mysticwarriorex.htm)
Sounds easy to write those short blurbs, doesn’t it? It’s not. I must have a dozen equally important threads in the book. How can I leave out the part about Murdoch killing Lissandra’s father? Or the blue ball of spirit flame? Or Murdoch’s fiery disasters and Lissandra’s fascination with a world she’s never seen? And his fear that he’ll kill her if they make love? But authors are increasingly asked to reduce their 100,000 word novels to a few sentences. Good for the soul, maybe, but I want to pull hair.
And then we have to reduce even those few sentences to punchy one-liners we can quote on bookmarks and at autographings. Take a look at my wench bookmark. In creating that, we giggled and gave up and simply said: He's Fire. She's Ice. They have a steamy relationship.
Second place was: She’s good. He’s Bad. Of course they’re in love.
I mean, a single sentence begs the obvious, doesn’t it?
So let’s have fun with this silliness. I’d love to hear what you have to say about BSP—and the flames may fly any way you wish. (Given Murdoch’s fiery tendencies, it’s only fitting, after all.) I have a love/hate relationship going with self-promotion, so I’m open to all manner of diatribes, suggestions, or praises.
And if you’d like to reduce some of your favorite (or not so favorite) books to single sentences, throw them in here. It’s a pity it isn’t possible to hand out leaflets on upcoming wench books so readers could help come up with blurbs for them!
Since I have boxes of MYSTIC WARRIOR filling my office, I’ll happily give a book away to any entrant drawn by our inestimable Sherrie from among the comments (just click on the link that says “comment” below). And if a really good blurb appears (good, bad, or ugly about any book at all), I’ll pick another winner.