Wildlife report: raccoon got onto the deck while we slept. Broke the seed bird feeder and spilled a bunch of the hummingbird nectar – he left sticky paw prints all over the deck. Then a woodpecker pecked a nice chunk out of the door jamb. But the bear and the mountain lion passed us by.
I got an email from my editor for WHERE DANGER HIDES about the excerpts I'd submitted to her.
She's got a better handle on what the publisher wants than I do. I'm still dealing with the fact that although they publish romance, and they include sex-on-the-page scenes, they don't want you to use the word penis. It's a reader thing—and they ought to know their readers. It's also a reviewer thing--more on that Monday. Since that's their job, not mine, I follow the rules.
So, although the voting was overwhelmingly in favor of excerpt #1, my editor felt selection #2 would be more appropriate for the target audience. And since I know none of you remembers the excerpts, much less which was which, here it is:
What I'm reading: The Summer Hideaway, by Susan Wiggs.
What makes you pick up a book? For many, it's the cover. For others, it's the teaser on the back cover. One of the required tasks of Five Star is to complete a multi-page "Ancillary Materials" form. This includes things like author bio, complete synopsis to be used by the art department for cover design, "catalog copy" which they will include in their promotion to libraries, front and back cover flap copy (these are hard cover books with dust jackets) and so on. Another section is the excerpt, which goes on the back cover.
There are a couple of rules for the excerpt. 1: No more than 175 words. 2: It has to be lifted directly from the book. No editing.
It's been a while since I looked at this manuscript, but I had to revisit it to work on the forms. I'm humbly requesting your help here. Heck, I'm groveling!
I've narrowed it down to 4 possibilities. If you'll indulge me and read them, then take the poll (link after the last excerpt) to let me know which you prefer (if any), I'd really, really appreciate it. And if you'd send your friends over, I'd really, really, REALLY appreciate it.
#1 She'd barely managed to shut off the computer and grab her jump drive when she heard voices in the hall. Something about a date. God, with the kazillion bedrooms in this mansion, why would someone sneak in here for a quickie?
"You sure?" another voice whispered.
Even in a whisper, there was no mistaking the gender of the second voice. Male, like the first. Miri closed her eyes and magnified her prayers tenfold. She did not want to think about what might go on while she pretended to be invisible.
Blood drummed in her ears. Footsteps approached. Too late, she realized that when she'd ducked for cover, she'd gone in headfirst, which meant that her butt would be the first thing anyone saw if they checked under the desk. She squished herself into as tiny a package as she could, silently cursing the short skirt the caterer demanded its female staff wear. She wasn't exactly displaying her greatest asset.
Oh God, a warm hand touched that asset. She jerked away.
Wildlife report: raccoon got onto the deck while we slept. Broke the seed bird feeder and spilled a bunch of the hummingbird nectar – he left sticky paw prints all over the deck. Then a woodpecker pecked a nice chunk out of the door jamb. But the bear and the mountain lion passed us by.
