Wicked Wordsmith

Paste Accepting Novels to Review

Paste is a monthly magazine that chats it up with musicians and authors. The magazine is also searching for new book titles to review.

Send review copies and info to the Books Editor at Paste Magazine, P O Box 1606, Decatur GA 30031; 404-207-1182. Email: letters@pastemagazine.com. Web: http://www.pastemagazine.com.

They are also on MySpace and Facebook.

Literary Writers Wanted

Poets & Writers has updated its listing of magazines. Check out this comprehensive list of 225 magazines that just might be looking for your work.

Ammo Info

Crime authors: Need to know how that ammo is going to penetrate the skin of your character? Find out about velocity and damage at The Box O' Truth, a site dedicated to testing ammunition and sharing results with readers.Technorati Tags: ammo, wicked wordsmith, angela wilson, writing, crime

The Mug Says It All

This site shows just how a life of crime can wreak havoc on a good-looking woman. Check it out. Think about how different the woman looks in the first mug shot and the last. Consider how a life of crime would impact your character. Would it show in the wrinkles on their face, and in their dead eyes? Is their conscience so dead that it has no impact at all?

For each of your characters, think about their physical attributes the more time their are processed by the cops. Use this knowledge for your story - even if they are not criminals. You might be surprised where it takes you.

Former Detective Nominated for Award

Lee Lofland, a former detective and author of Police Procedure and Investigation, A Guide for Writers, was nominated for the Macavity Award for Best Nonfiction mystery.

Find out more about Lee, a WW contributor, at www.leelofland.com. He also manages The Graveyard Shift, a blog that features different experts in the criminal justice field.

Read more about the award

What Are They REALLY Saying?

You are talking to a friend or interviewing for a job. Things seem GREAT. At least, verbally. But does the body language match the words?

A former FBI agent tells his tricks for learning the truth through the body in this Washington Post article.

Free Tunes from Author Stefan Petrucha

YA author Stefan Petrucha knows how to market. In his latest announcement, Petrucha invites fans to his site get free tunes inspired by his Time Tripper novel series, as well as his September single title release, Rule of Won.

Here are the details from the author himself:

Author/Graphic Novelist Stefan Petrucha here, asking you to check out the new music page at www.petrucha.com for access to three FREE tunes inspired by my books; the TimeTripper series and my upcoming novel from Walker, The Rule of Won. These are intended to promote the novels, so copy ‘em and pass ‘em along as much as you like.

In the days to come they’ll also be available at popular download sites such as iTunes and AmazonMP3, so instead of simply getting them for free, folks will have the chance to pay for them and help support the starving creators. Ain’t democracy grand?

Does using music to promote a book work? The heavy metal rocker Wake up to Reality (TimeTripper) by Jazan Wild has already been downloaded over 30k times, and the series has been enjoying some new attention at sites like Goodreads and sundry blogs, so I can’t help but think the song has a little something to do with getting the word out.

I first met Jazan when he asked me to script his Carnival of Souls comic series. The ideas and the artwork by Kevin Conrad were so terrific I couldn’t refuse. Turnabout is fair play, so I asked Jazan to come up with a song for TimeTripper, and this was the fantastic result.

Once Upon A-Time was a more laid back song I originally wrote for TimeTripper, but never had a) a chorus or b) the means to record it, until recently. Aforementioned chorus, lead vocal and amazing guitar work were provided by my talented brother-in-law Rob Sunderland. Sarah Kinney joins me on the backup vocals. I wanted something that would recall the sixties and the work of the Grateful dead. While I’d never say we got anywhere near to matching Gerry Garcia & Co, I hope there’s a ripple of them in there somewhere. For Jazan, the piece reminded him more of Jim Croce, so what can I say?

I’ll be promoting The Rule of Won more heavily when we get closer to its September 2 release date, but the song is up now. It’s a bit of tongue-in-cheek alt rock fun with yours truly on lead vocals, piano and guitar, with Rob on bass, lead guitar and backup vocals.

So, that’s the current collection! I’ve had a deeply amateurish relationship to music since high school, so, really, this is mostly an excuse for me to play around – and if some folks get a kick out of listening, so much the better. Would love to hear what everyone thinks, so please feel free to use the Contact button on my web page. Pax.

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The Lure & The Teaser by Robert W. Walker

Writing a Winning Synopsis to Catch an Editor’s Eye
Hard won lessons in the trade


Synopsis. What the devil is it? Some call it your platform these days, others refer to it as the pitch or the logline. I submit that it is what you want to see on the back of your novel or on the flap in hardcover—the COPY.

Let’s take a hard look at what I had proposed as my Flap-Jacket Copy for my next novel, DEAD ON due out in 2009. Read it and note the dissection after each paragraph.

Atlanta PI Marcus Rydell is out to reclaim his hold on life. Dr. Kat Holley seeks a fiery revenge on a maniac who has destroyed both their lives. Together, hero and heroine, hunters, come to respect and understand one another, and to share a bond that colors this suspenseful thriller filled as it is with bright touches of romance, light banter, and laugh-out-loud humor alongside terror. And as in any good noir mystery-thriller, there figures a black dog; this one’s named Paco.

At once, in sentence one, I name the two principal characters and set the location, and in same sentence I touch on the major thrust of the book—that it is a revenge tale. Not to mention that both characters are flawed—their lives destroyed. Sentence two, I tell you they are hunters who come to respect, understand, and care about each other on this journey of vengeance. Finally, you learn that there is humor and romance interspersed with the serious mayhem, along with a dog named Paco. Now let’s have at paragraph two written to entice an editor to read the book and love it!

Just when disgraced Atlanta cop-turned-PI Marcus Rydell prepares to eat his gun, a kid in trouble, a call to duty, and a dirty blonde named Kat Holley stop him cold. Kat Holley pulls Marcus from a suicidal depression, and his soon-to-be demolished apartment building—only to make him face a past he cannot come to terms with on his own. But not before she leads him on a deadly hunt deep into the blackest forests of the Red Earth State. Near the Georgia-Tennessee border in the breathtaking Blue Ridge Lake countryside, the pair witness a safe paradise become their death trap, as their prey is no ordinary man. They seek to destroy a local legend, a cave-dwelling ex-marine who happens to be a multiple murderer. In fact, their prey is a monster whose instincts and military training have allowed him to survive in the wilderness for four years, eluding the Feds as well as the Atlanta PD.

You are wooing an editor, so a little judicious repeating of the facts and going into more detail here is a good thing. The setting is brought more into focus along with the fact that it does not remain static and nor do the characters. Here to the villain is introduced and given some shape. Let’s see what paragraph three of the synopsis as sales tool brings us:

However, the hunt for the evil torturer and executioner, Iden Cantu, pivots. And now Cantu comes for them, leaving the dead in his wake. In the end, they must duel with this psychotic deviant, who is equipped with night-vision, a high-powered Bushman, and a cruel intent to kill by means of mental and physical pain.

In this final paragraph, the conflict is ratcheted up as our heroes have the tables turned on them in this high stakes game of cat and mouse, and while that may seem a cliché, you want to find a clever and fresh way to say it’s so. This paragraph also brings the killer even more in focus as he represents the threat that Marcus and Kat have to confront. Both the good guys and the bad have to measure up and be large enough and interesting enough to make the conflict of interest.

In all of the synopsis I’ve answered the five questions required of all journalistic writing and sales pitches –Who is it about, What is it about, Where is it about, When is it about, and Why is it of interest? And How is it accomplished? Easy and Simply: PI Marcus and Dr. Kat versus the evil, psychotic marine serial killer Iden in the North Georgia woods in a modern day tale of vengeance and courage strained to the limit—a dark duel that keeps Marcus from spiraling into depression. He learns that hunting humans is cathartic! Kat reminds him of this lost passion. And along the way, they discover one another. The Who, What, Where, Why, and How of it are your synopsis and platform all rolled into one as they are all present in your sales pitch.

Writing the synopsis is writing the most important short story you will ever write. It is best to read twenty or a hundred back flap or back copy descriptions of other books in any and all genres to acquire a knack for doing it yourself, but you, my friend, YOU know your book better than anyone. It is just a matter of taking off your crafty, creative writer’s hat and donning your even craftier salesman’s hat and rely on the old journalistic principles of telling a story within a paragraph or two. Just make sure every ‘i’ is dotted and every ‘t’ is crossed for you are first judged not on your novel but on your synopsis and cover letter.

Happy Writing and Selling Your Work!

Robert W. Walker
www.RobertWWalkerbooks.com
www.myspace.com/robertwwalkerbooks

PASIC Searching for Authors

The Published Authors' Special Interest Chapter of Romance Writers of America offers up a fun, personable blog where authors can chat with readers. Check it out and let them know if you'd like to participate.

http://toberead.wordpress.com/

THE SHADES WRITER

Check out this site for writers

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