spamming LJ: duellist

[hawkwing_lb]

I never come up with novel blurbs. Ever.

But somehow, I seem to have done just that for duellist.

The duellist of Alusind

Divided by political rivalries, the city of Alusind simmers on the edge of an outbreak of violence and rioting. But worse is coming. A necromancer is at work in the city, and the spectre of the rising dead may be all it takes to overset the ruling elite's fragile equilibrium.

Eight years ago the duellist Santander Cray left her homeland for Alusind, exiled in the aftermath of a bloody civil war. Now falsely accused of murder and necromancy, she finds herself forced to seek the real murderer to clear her name. The odds are bleak.

For necromancy in Alusind carries the penalty of death, and Cray was not always merely a duellist. Once, she was a necromancer herself, and when an enemy from her past reappears, she may have to be one again...

Rough as rough, but it may serve for now. Tell me if it sounds stupid, k?

Comments

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

Not stupid at all, merely very inviting. Tempting. Beckoning, even. So, when are you going to finish it? Because we need more, to feed our Hunger.

Chocolates hold the Hunger at bay only for a short while (although a very delicious while). ;-)

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

Hopefully this year. I've been tapping at this on and off for the last couple of years. Lot of other stuff going on, you know?

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

Yes, that would be important. Much more important, true. Alas. I was forgetting.

Pay no attention to me. Unless you have snippets or a rough draft, in which case feel free to bother me. ;-)

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

I have 10K. I hope to have Real Book draft by the time I go to WFC.

(We'll see how six-eight weeks in the Med digging up old bones affect that resolution. Because, you know. Crete, August, 40 Celsius. Might not equal book productivity. :P)

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

Ten K is a good start, er, place to be. ;-) It's more than I have, so that's a lot.

While it may be difficult to think under 40C (ick..the very thought of 40 C is enough to make me sweat), you never know what will happen once you reach cooler climes -- all that sweating and hard work might then later translate to words.

And even if no words come, you'll still have fun and old bones and all sorts of sordid memories. ;-)

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

It is devoutly to be wished. :)

[davefreer.livejournal.com]

It doesn't sound stupid. In terms of material it has a great deal of promise. However... it is a blurb. You need to catch the attention of the rather bored and vaguely hoping for a good read browser, as well as those who are interested anyway. You need to start with hook sentence. And you need to keep the language simple and clear (yet evocative and powerful) and sentence length down. 'The rising dead stalk Alusind. The city's fragile peace... etc. or 'The exile, Santander Cray... (exile is a fairly powerful and emotive hook)

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

Hey, book's not even finished yet. I wrote this at 2am while thinking about other stuff. :P

[davefreer.livejournal.com]

:-) One of the dangers of writing while at Uni, is that one writes as for Uni. Blurbs are the second most important part of your book. You need to aim for a Flesch index 75-80 and 200-250 words. You're going be a successful professional. Do it right. It's simply a case of rephrasing good material. At the moment your Flesch is around mid-50. That's good for a thesis, a bit low for sf/fantasy. (tends to run between 60-70. I average probably a bit high - around 76)

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

At the moment, I'm hardly an amateur. :)

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

Hardly even an amateur, I mean.