Brainstorming
In the first post I wrote for my author website blog, I decided to tell readers three things about three of the main themes in my book; first a quote from the book itself, then two more things on the same subject that are more general, link-tastic fun. (If you want to check out the format I used for potentially writing about your own book on your author site, you can read the post here.) My inspiration came from a dinner time ritual I have with my boys, where we go around the table and each tell one another three things from our day.
This led to me wonder: if I could only tell people three things about my book, using just a few sentences for each, what would they be? I found this exercise very helpful in the process of perfecting the famous--or infamous--elevator pitch. With the elevator pitch also in mind, I carefully ordered my three things as well. What would I tell someone if I only could tell them one thing about my book? Two things? Three?
Here's what I came up with:
Thing One: What is it about?
A divorced mother of two gets a time travel app on her phone that lets her be in more than one place at the same time.
Thing Two: What was your inspiration?
I was reading the Harry Potter books with my older son, devouring them with delight, when I thought, "I wish there were a book like this for moms!" And then I thought, if I could give myself, in my modern life, one power, what would it be? Presto: the idea for Wishful Thinking was born.
Things Three: Who is your ideal audience?
(Hint: Don't say "everyone!") Thoughtful moms, busy parents, smartphone addicts.
Are you ready to take the Three Things challenge for your book or other writing project? Answer these in as many words as I did, OR FEWER. I was most self-indulgent on the topic of inspiration (55 words), most economical when it came to audience. But my "What is it about?" answer is tweetable, and in an ideal world all three of your answers will be too. In order to impose some discipline here, and really get the MOST out of this exercise, hear this! If you answer any of the three questions in more than 60 words, I WILL DELETE YOUR COMMENT! That's my version of tough love. Embrace it, it's good for you.
I also just found that #threethings is available on Twitter. So ideally, get your answer to each of these questions into a tweet that can include that hashtag, and She Writes will retweet and share all day today on Twitter. I've already posted mine so follow me and you can see how I did it.
Finally, I'd be falling down in my writerly duties if I didn't remind everyone that there's ONE DAY LEFT to subscribe to my author newsletter if you want your name thrown into the hat for getting one of the last two galleys I have for Wishful Thinking. So consider yourself reminded. I'd love to inscribe one of them to you!
* This post was originally published in April 2015.
For my upcoming novella, "Hope's Prelude":
1) While dealing with visions of her own death, a scientist races against the clock to develop a genetic vaccine that will, in the future, save the life of the one who will lead the final battle between good and evil.
2) After devouring several popular paranormal romance / fantasy novel series, took the plunge to write a "best of breed" series that I wanted to read.
3) Women readers of mainstream fiction looking for something new, and genre readers who like a heaping spoonful of romance with their fantasy.
Just entered some of my books on Twitter. This is my first time using a hashtag! Hope I did it right. :)
My novel, Dancing on a High Wire
1. Three women, Sara, Joy and Esther,who are thrown off balance by unexpected life changes (a broken engagement, a cancer diagnosis and unemployment), find new normals and the ability to keep dancing through this high wire we call life.
2. Inspired by all the women in my life who don't just survive, but thrive.
3. For any woman being challenged by difficult life circumstances.
I love these! Keep them coming. It is so cool to see the diversity of projects from the members of this community: a parenting book, a book about a woman forced to reinvent herself, a dark, gothic sounding romance, a historical novel (I love the name Boone btw), an optometry student interning on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, a woman rescuing herself by saving the land she loves, two moms who make a pact to leave their husbands when their daughters graduate from high school...such riches!!!
1. Hannah and Maggie meet on their daughters' first day of kindergarten. They are opposites in every way save one - they are trapped in loveless marriages. They make a pact to leave their husbands when their daughters graduate from high school.
2. My book's title "The Dream is the Truth" is taken from the first page of Zora Neale Hurston's incredible book "Their Eyes Were Watching God." "Now, women forget all those things they don't want to remember...The Dream is the Truth."
3. Any woman who has ever looked out at the horizon and wondered "What if?" should read this book.
Three things about my novel, How to Bury Your Dog:
Three things about Liberty's Tears:
1-An optometry student from California finds herself interning on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana following a tragic event in her life.
2-Inspired by God's redemptive love, my passion for Native Ministry and First Nations culture and history, and my many years working in the optical industry.
3-Christian adults and teens, people looking for hope after tragedy, people interested in American Indian culture, proud Americans and soldiers.
Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't follow your three steps! I'm on lunch break, so I went too fast.
Gosh, which project? Okay, let me try this one: Saving Boone is historical fiction set in the mid-1800s in the U.S., a time when white and Indian relations were steadily worsening in the west.
1. When Boone is 12, he thinks his Indian father killed his white mother and runs off, vowing vengeance when he becomes a man.
2. Boone's mother never wanted Boone to live with his father, but his father swore he'd take Boone when he was 12. Boone vows to remain true to her spirit, and the Shakespeare that he quotes along the way to manhood is symbolic of the vow.
3. The book spans the decades of his adventures to manhood, to the day he feels old enough to confront his father. When he finds out the truth about her death, does he kill, or forgive?
The Para-Portage of Emily releases on 3/24. Brooke Warner coached my early efforts so she will enjoy this I am sure, at least I hope...What flames the timeless passions spanning the decades? Love, desire or obsession?
1. Emily Macque, a young, beautiful junior partner in her father’s law firm, is but a heartbeat away from love or destiny. Duty brings Emily to a frozen Island estate two hundred and fifty miles north of Chicago. Devotion requires she delve into the property history to settle an estate probate. Death lures her into the arms of the shadows seduction created by the flickering light and dark shadows.
2. Colin Jorgenson, once a Great Lakes mariner, is a strong man haunted by love and loss. How long will he return each night, gripped by desire, hoping to find the woman he has loved for a century?
3. Beneath the pristine Island beauty, passions hungered, lingered in the ardent darkness. His passions, fueled by decades of loneliness and longing, could no longer be denied. Will they face eternity together or love in secret as dark things are to be loved between the shadows and the soul?
Three things about The Accidental Art Thief, my fifth novel being published in May:
1. The book is about a woman forced to reinvent herself when she is cast out of her house (and life, really) with no warning.
2. Bits and pieces of friends' stories, combined with a weekend seminar at a Zen center on the subject of fundraising for the poor, inspired the book.
3. My ideal audience is people who like Alice Hoffman, Alice Sebold and other female writers who dabble in magical realism.
Three things about Parenting in the Here and Now:
1. Reframes common parenting struggles and provides compassionate guiding principles instead of hard and fast rules.
2. It is the book I wished for when I was a young parent!
3. Conscientious parents, teachers, caregivers.
Lea Page, www.LeaPageAuthor.com