Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Five Words --originally posted 10/17/06

I recently heard about a contest asking authors to summarize their latest novel in 5 words or less. That got me thinking--very hard. It's almost impossible to distill a complex story down to so few words, but my attempt to describe A Real Basket Case is below. I couldn't help but alliterate!

Massager Death Murders a Marriage.

And here's my January, 2009 attempt to summarize my May, 09 release, To Hell in a Handbasket.

Killer Threatens Daughter in Breckenridge.

The Books page of my website ( http://bethgroundwater.com/Books.html ) has a more detailed and descriptive summary, and even a couple of excerpts to whet your appetite!

5 comments:

Jane Kennedy Sutton said...

Both your descriptions are great. Your post made me think about how I could describe my book in five words. Haven't been able to come up with anything yet, but I know it'll bug me all day until I think of something!

Jane Kennedy Sutton
Author of The Ride
http://janekennedysutton.blogspot.com/

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I could actually do this one for my YA fiction by taking the top tagline - Driven by Olympic Dreams - and adding a word - Girl Driven by Olympic Dreams!

Makes it a challenge when the book's title is longer than the five words though...

Glad you found words that work for yours!

L. Diane Wolfe
www.circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com
www.spunkonastick.net
www.thecircleoffriends.net

Katie Hines said...

I'd have to think hard about that one, too. Got me cogitating now!

Bob Sanchez said...

Great idea, Beth. I like your examples. My upcoming mystery, Getting Lucky, could be summarized thus:

Getting Lucky may prove fatal.

Bob Sanchez
http://bobsanchez1.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Describing your books in five words is a neat challenge! I'm going to have to do some serious thinking on this... prepare the search party for when I get lost in my own thoughts.