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Wail of the Banshees Soon to be an Audiobook!
That's right, Wail of the Banshees is currently being produced by actress, author, and director Bodine Boling. I am so thrilled to have Bodine be the voice of Veronika Kane. She's awesome! Check out detail on the movie that she and her husband have just completed; http://movementandlocation.com/teaser/ And Bodine's IMDB credits; http://m.imdb.com/name/nm1082026/
Stay tuned for more information.
The Ghost Wars Bestiary
Hi everyone. The Ghost Watch Bestiary has been posted up on Let's Get Booked as part of today's Bewitching Book Tour. Here's a sample: " Banshee: A banshee is a female ghost who was tortured to death. These ghosts are rare and highly feared as their final moments in life made them insane. A banshees sonic scream can destroy most things in Limbo and the living world. A single scream from a banshee can obliterate scores of ghosts, sending them to their final death. Even the mighty reapers fear the power of the banshee, only wraiths appear to be immune to the scram. Banshees also have similar power as the phantom and the poltergeist. Specter: Specters are the thugs of Limbo. They are big, brutish ghosts with big claws and teeth. Specters are unable to manifest in the living world and their origins are shrouded in mystery. (read Wail of the Banshees to learn the secret of their origins). Reaper: A reaper is a being that was utterly evil in life and has entered the afterlife as a ghost of terrible power. Reapers are the captains of Limbo's armies. They are supernaturally strong and fast, and have all the powers of the phantom and the poltergeist. They are tall, skeletal ghosts who are extremely hard to send to the final death. Some reapers can wield magic as well. Furies: Furies are the ghosts of dead animals. The most common fury encountered by human ghosts are canine and feline types that roam the wilderness of Limbo in large packs. Gargoyle: A gargoyle is a statue that has been animated by tethering (chaining) a fury into it. Gargoyles exist simultaneously in Limbo and the living world and can interact with both at the same time. Gargoyles are supernaturally strong and tough. They always do the bidding of their master. Golem: A golem is a statue that has been possessed by a demon. The demon retains all of its abilities and uses the statue as armor and for the added ability to interact with both Limbo and the living world simultaneously. Check out the entire bestiary here: http://letsgetbooked.blogspot.com/2013/09/wail-of-banshees-by-robert-poulin.html
Wail of the Banshees Free for 1 Day and Prologue Reveal for Book 2, Death Toll
Big Day Today. First off, you can get Wail of the Banshees for free in eBook format over at amazon.com. This is a promotion and is available for free today only. Go pick it up! Also, the HUGE prologue to book 2, Death Toll is available to read over at fang-tastic.com. You'll also be able to read the back cover blurb for Death Toll and see some more art from book cover artist Hannah Carr (this is not the final cover for Death Toll though, we have big plans for it). Go check it out. http://www.fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com/2013/08/prologue-reveal-for-death-toll-ghost.html
Wail of the Banshees Scores a 4.5 out of 5
Wail of the Banshees received a score of 4.5 ghostly paws in its first book tour review. Here's an except from the review from the Happy Tails and Tales Blog.
*The world building is probably the best part. It’s set in a city full of life and culture, not just for the living but for the dead. There’s lots of different “ghosts” because a “ghost” is so broad termed. Gargoyles are always AWESOME! LOL There’s plenty of action going around trying to solve your own murder case as a ghost. The writing is easy, which I like because it means I don’t have to figure out what’s going on. I’m definitely a fan, and look forward to more! 4.5 GHOSTLY PAWS!!"
Click the link to heck out the full review and accompanying interview.
http://magluvsya03.wordpress.com/
Character Profile
On the book tour stop today I released the character profiles for Veronika Kane and Frank Cooper. Here's a taste, visit the link below for the full info.
Veronika Kane
High Concept: Ass-Kicking Banshee
Personal Threat: Tortured Soul
Age: 21
Birth Date: October 31
Sign: Scorpio (Intense, Intuitive, determined, and fiercely private
Planet: Mars (Energetic, potentially violent, Impulsive)
Nature: Fixed (Stubborn, and in charge) (craves stability, can be inflexible)
Element: Water (intuitive, Caring, moody) (wants to help others)
Eyes: blue Hair: black
Height: 5’9 Weight: 141
Role: Protagonist
Type: Banshee
Goals: Protect humanity from supernatural predicted.
Motivation: Do what’s right, no matter the cost.
Characteristics: Piercing blue eyes, black haired (straight), athletic body, long legged, shapely figure.
Aspects: Daddy's Girl, Don't Piss Me Off, Lead By Example, One With The Sword, Where there's A Will, There's A Way
Traits: forceful, intuitive, Resolute, Impulsive, daddy’s girl
http://rosebeps.blogspot.it/2013/08/virtual-book-tour-wail-of-banshees-by.html
Virtual Book Tour Day 1: Spotlight on Wicca Witch 4 Book Blog
PLATTSBURGH ' Anyone who has worked with Robert Poulin on issues involving independent living knows how dedicated and determined he can be. As the ex
Fang-tastic Book Interview with Me!
Check out the interview I participated in at fang-tastic.com Go Check It Out!
http://fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com/2013/07/interview-with-robert-poulin.html
What is your favorite scene from the book? Could you share a little bit of it, without spoilers of course?
That's a tough one because there are so many cool and pivotal scenes, but here is one that won't ruin anything. There's a place in North East Pennsylvania called Centralia. It was the location of a massive anthracite coal mine complex. The mine caught fire in 1962 and still burns today. Centralia is a true modern ghost town. In Limbo the site is controlled by a Shadow Reaper named Black Maria and Veronika is leading a small force of free souls to free slave souls while Black Maria is away on business.
Veronika quickly learns that something called the Devil's Forge is located in Centralia, apparently placed there in 1962, and she decides to investigate further. Veronika makes friends with a shadow hound in this scene and also fights a reaper called The Forgemaster. She does discover the secrets of the Devil's Forge and ultimately must face Black Maria who shows up on the scene. Its a scene with lots of action, revelations, and heartbreaking loss. This is a perfect example of what I love about paranormal/urban fantasy, you can take amazing real life facts and give them a supernatural twist. Its a lot of fun. There's also a cool train heist scene.
- See more at: http://fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com/2013/07/interview-with-robert-poulin.html#sthash.xdc5QDsv.dpuf
What is your favorite scene from the book? Could you share a little bit of it, without spoilers of course?
That's a tough one because there are so many cool and pivotal scenes, but here is one that won't ruin anything. There's a place in North East Pennsylvania called Centralia. It was the location of a massive anthracite coal mine complex. The mine caught fire in 1962 and still burns today. Centralia is a true modern ghost town. In Limbo the site is controlled by a Shadow Reaper named Black Maria and Veronika is leading a small force of free souls to free slave souls while Black Maria is away on business.
Veronika quickly learns that something called the Devil's Forge is located in Centralia, apparently placed there in 1962, and she decides to investigate further. Veronika makes friends with a shadow hound in this scene and also fights a reaper called The Forgemaster. She does discover the secrets of the Devil's Forge and ultimately must face Black Maria who shows up on the scene. Its a scene with lots of action, revelations, and heartbreaking loss. This is a perfect example of what I love about paranormal/urban fantasy, you can take amazing real life facts and give them a supernatural twist. Its a lot of fun. There's also a cool train heist scene.
- See more at: http://fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com/2013/07/interview-with-robert-poulin.html#sthash.xdc5QDsv.dpuf
What is your favorite scene from the book? Could you share a little bit of it, without spoilers of course?
That's a tough one because there are so many cool and pivotal scenes, but here is one that won't ruin anything. There's a place in North East Pennsylvania called Centralia. It was the location of a massive anthracite coal mine complex. The mine caught fire in 1962 and still burns today. Centralia is a true modern ghost town. In Limbo the site is controlled by a Shadow Reaper named Black Maria and Veronika is leading a small force of free souls to free slave souls while Black Maria is away on business.
Veronika quickly learns that something called the Devil's Forge is located in Centralia, apparently placed there in 1962, and she decides to investigate further. Veronika makes friends with a shadow hound in this scene and also fights a reaper called The Forgemaster. She does discover the secrets of the Devil's Forge and ultimately must face Black Maria who shows up on the scene. Its a scene with lots of action, revelations, and heartbreaking loss. This is a perfect example of what I love about paranormal/urban fantasy, you can take amazing real life facts and give them a supernatural twist. Its a lot of fun. There's also a cool train heist scene.
- See more at: http://fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com/2013/07/interview-with-robert-poulin.html#sthash.xdc5QDsv.dpuf
What is your favorite scene from the book? Could you share a little bit of it, without spoilers of course?
That's a tough one because there are so many cool and pivotal scenes, but here is one that won't ruin anything. There's a place in North East Pennsylvania called Centralia. It was the location of a massive anthracite coal mine complex. The mine caught fire in 1962 and still burns today. Centralia is a true modern ghost town. In Limbo the site is controlled by a Shadow Reaper named Black Maria and Veronika is leading a small force of free souls to free slave souls while Black Maria is away on business.
Veronika quickly learns that something called the Devil's Forge is located in Centralia, apparently placed there in 1962, and she decides to investigate further. Veronika makes friends with a shadow hound in this scene and also fights a reaper called The Forgemaster. She does discover the secrets of the Devil's Forge and ultimately must face Black Maria who shows up on the scene. Its a scene with lots of action, revelations, and heartbreaking loss. This is a perfect example of what I love about paranormal/urban fantasy, you can take amazing real life facts and give them a supernatural twist. Its a lot of fun. There's also a cool train heist scene.
- See more at: http://fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com/2013/07/interview-with-robert-poulin.html#sthash.xdc5QDsv.dpuf
The Magic of Philadelphia (Part 2)
Let's continue our journey through magical Philadelphia as represented in my first novel Wail of the Banshees. Our first stop is actually not in Philly but its a location worth mentioning where major events occur in the novel.
Centralia: Centralia is a modern ghost town in Northern Pennsylvania. The town was built near an anthracite coal mine and flourished for many decades. Anthracite is a high carbon coal that is extremely rare, only 1% of the worlds coal is of this variety. In 1962 a fire broke out at the Centralia coal mine and it continues to burn today. The toxic smoke that fills the valley where Centralia is located makes the area nearly uninhabitable although 10 people still live in the area. The state of Pennsylvania has investigated the possibility of cleaning the area up and putting out the still smoldering fire but has up till now decided that the cost is prohibitive. In Limbo, something called the Devil's Forge was placed in the Centralia mine in 1962. Did the 1962 fire have anything to do with the placement of this device? What exactly is the Devil's Forge? Find out more about Centralia and Veronika Kane's investigation of the Devil's Forge by reading Wail of the Banshees.
Eastern State Penitentiary: Eastern State Penitentiary was the refined successor to the Walnut Street Prison, which concentrated on reform of prisoners rather than simply just punishment. The prison operated between 1829 and 1971. Infamous prisoners held at the facility included bank robber Willie Sutton and gangster boss Al Capone. Originally built 2 miles outside of the city, today Eastern State Penitentiary sits near downtown Philadelphia. At the time it was built, the prison was the largest structure on American soil and was like no other building in the city. Its form was that of a medieval gothic castle with high stone walls and imposing towers. The interior cell block area featured a hub and spoke style that would set the prison standard for many years to come. At the center of the wheel was an octagonal rotunda with central guard tower. The prisoners were housed in single cells that were contained within 7 spokes that radiated from the central rotunda. The facility was closed in 1971 but is a major museum attraction in modern times. In Limbo, Eastern State Penitentiary is the home or haunt of shadow Philly's Master, a wraith of immense power and evil. Find out what happens when Veronika finally confronts the Master on his home turf by reading Wail of the Banshees.
The Phantom Station: Philadelphia is a huge city with a large network of public transportation. It is inevitable in such a vast system that some stations will fall into disuse or disrepair and ultimately be closed. This was the case with the Ridge Avenue and Spring Garden street SEPTA station. The station was closed and sealed off in 1989 due to a steady decline in usage, high cost of repair, and a frightening increase in violent crime in the neighborhood. Passengers riding the subway still pass through the abandoned and haunted station, getting a glimpse of the graffiti that now covers the dimly lit station walls. Neighborhood kids, the homeless, and troublemakers still manage to get into the sealed station. In Wail of the Banshees, Veronika faces off against the ghost of her killer in this dark urban setting.
City Hall: At 534' feet tall, Philadelphia's City Hall is the tallest masonry building in the world. The tower features a 37' foot tall statue of city founder William Penn at its apex, the tallest statue atop a building in the world. The Penn statue is 1 of more than 250 statues that adorn the exterior and interior of City Hall. The office of the Mayor, the City Council, and the Court of Common Pleas all make their homes in the 700 room city hall, which is the largest municipal building in the United States. It is built of limestone, granite, and marble. The tower also features clocks that are 26' feet in diameter on all four sides. City Hall remained the tallest building in Philadelphia until 1987 when One Liberty Place surpassed it. Why did it take so long for new structures to be built higher than City Hall? According to legend, an agreement was made by unknown parties that City Hall should remain the tallest building in the city in order to avoid a curse. This legend is an important theme in Wail of the Banshees and City Hall and its Penn statue play a pivotal part in the climatic ending of the novel.
The tour of magical Philadelphia isn't over yet. Next, I'll give a sneak peak at the cool locations of book 2 of the Ghost Wars Saga: Death Toll.
The Magic of Philadelphia (Part 1)
In my article titled Why Philadelphia, I explain why I chose Philadelphia as the setting for my series of novels called the Ghost Wars Saga. In this article I want to talk briefly about the many cool locations in Philadelphia visited by protagonist Veronika Kane in book 1, Wail of the Banshees. So without further ado, lets visit some of these magical sites.
Gray's Ferry: One of the first places that Veronika visits after her terrible ordeal in the dark alley in West Philly is Gray's Ferry. She is brought to the shores of the Schuylkill River, where she is loaded onto a flying celestial steel ferry. In Limbo there is no water, so the Schuylkill is a bottomless chasm. On the East bank is the neighborhood of Gray's Ferry. The neighborhood is an important crossing point, in its early days barges were used and in today's modern city bridges serve both cars and trains. In Limbo, the ferry's that provide the chasm crossings are uncommon and bridges are rare, so the barge at Gray's Ferry is of huge importance. Veronika returns to the area later in Wail of the Banshees in order to sneak into the Schuylkill Arsenal in order to acquire her own supply of celestial steel. Towards the end of the book, a major battle takes place here.
The Walnut Street Prison: This prison was opened in 1776 and was the first penitentiary in the United States. The idea of the penitentiary came from Quaker religious beliefs that wrong doers should be placed in solitary confinement in order to reflect on their deeds and hopefully come to true repentance. The prison was used both by the colonials and the British to house prisoners of war during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Despite its roots in religious doctrine, the horrors that took place in the prison gave it a notorious name in the city. In modern Philly the prison no longer stands, it's just a memory. Unfortunately for Veronika, the prison thrives in Limbo. This is where newly harvested ghosts are brought by harvester specters. The prison is where ghosts undergo their testing trial and training. The inner walls are covered by celestial steel mesh that prevents any ghost from passing through the walls. The facility is run by a reaper called the Warden. Veronika spends several weeks here undergoing her testing and training. Later on she returns as a prisoner and still later she leads an elite force in an attempt to free the prisons captives.
Boathouse Row: This historic site includes 15 boathouse, all of them more than a century old, that lie on the eastern bank of the Schuylkill on Kelly Drive. The boathouses are owned and operated by various social and boating clubs. Veronika passes through this atmospheric region of the city while trying to evade a citywide hunt for her.
Fairmount Water Works: The waterworks operated between 1812 and 1909, they were a marvel of engineering and a popular tourist location. The system was powered by two steam engines that pumped water through wooden tanks and pipes, later this system was replaced by a dam and mill wheels. The architecture of the buildings was in the classical revival style. Veronika takes shelter behind a pillar to avoid detection from a patrol of specters here. This is where she first discovers the use of the mist cloak.
The Benjamin Franklin Parkway: The Parkway is a mile long scenic boulevard that cuts through the Center City's Northwest quadrant. The boulevard is the nexus of the city's museum district and many of the most famed tourist attractions line its broad avenue. Among them are; The Basilica of Sts. Peter & Paul, Franklin Institute, the Free Library of Philadelphia, Moore College of Arts and Design, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and many others. In Limbo, most ghosts avoid anything associated with Benjamin Franklin (just his name elicits terror in many) like the plague. Veronika uses this to her advantage and uses the boulevard as often as possible. You'll have to read the book to discover why the citizens of shadow Philly fear Franklin.
Fitler Square: Fitler Square is a park and surrounding neighborhood in the Southwestern Center City district. One of the defining features of this park are its stone statues of various animals, which are scattered about its tranquil grounds. Veronika passes the park on her way to the Schuylkill Arsenal. I don't want to say too much, but imagine what might happen if something stuck a bunch of demons into the statues at your local park, all kinds of mayhem ensues.
Franklin Court: The "Ghost Structure" is a metal frame that memorializes the former house of Benjamin Franklin. The court is tucked away in an alley in Center City, surrounded by the first US postal office and Franklin's print shop, which are museums today. Besides viewing the steel frame work of Franklin's house, visitors can go down into the basement area to view artifacts believed to have belonged to the founding father. In Limbo, the house still stands, but as with everything else Franklin, the ghosts of the city avoid coming anywhere near it, all except for Veronika. She chooses the house as her haunt, her home in Limbo.
That's it for part 1, but stay tunes for more magical locations, there's a whole lot more book to go.
Why Philadelphia?
Why Philadelphia? So as I might have mentioned in my earlier post about the nature of urban fantasy as a genre, the choice of which city to set your story in is extremely critical. In many urban fantasies, the city is practically a supporting character. Some writers suggest that you should write about what you know, that's not bad advice until you start writing. Writing can be a very humbling experience, try it, you'll discover quite quickly that you don't know as much as you thought you did. Fortunately, writing encourages you to learn, so not knowing about something isn't necessarily a barrier if your willing to do lots of research. I've never lived in a big city but I wanted to set my stories in a metropolis. I didn't let myself be limited because I didn't know my way around a c particular city. I also didn't want to choose a city that had been done in one of the popular urban fantasy series, like Dresden's Chicago or Anita Blakes St. Louis. I did a lot of research to see what cities had been done and then made a list of cities that I was interested in and started researching a list of five cities; Indianapolis, Baltimore, Memphis, Portland, and Philadelphia. My initial research just involved looking for cool stuff: cool neighborhood names, cool urban legends, cool history, and cool architecture. Philadelphia took the prize in all four of these categories. Let's start with cool history. Philadelphia was our nations first capital. It is where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written and proclaimed. It lies astride and between two rivers. It was a major naval outpost and ship building center. It was a railroad and industrial hub. It was a center of intellectualism. Benjamin Franklin was its most famed citizen, he created the first post office, fire station, and hospital in Philadelphia. As high as the city rose, it fell that much further. There are whole neighborhoods in the city that are industrial wastelands; blocks upon blocks of empty factories and warehouses. Its one of the most violent cities in our nation, its in the top 5 for murders in the last few decades. This sense of history and decay is fertile ground for story telling. Its revolutionairy past is what gave me the idea for the rebellion that Veronika leads in the story. What about cool neighborhoods? The Devil's Pocket is one of my favorites. Brewerytown, Fitler Square, Grey's Landing, Germantown, Harrow's Gate, Fishtown, Northern Liberties, Chestnut Hill, Society Hill, Rittenhouse Square, Penn's Landing...these are all names that provide a certain atmosphere to the city...You don't have to visit Philly to imagine what a bar in the Devil's Pocket is like compared to one in Society Hill. The absolute coolest legend about Philly is that of Penn's Curse. A thirty seven foot statue of the city's founder, William Penn, sits atip the coolest city hall in America. According to legend there was some kind of agreement made in the nineteenth century that said no building in the city could be built higher than the Penn statue atop the tower of city Hall. This rule, no one knows exactly who it was between , was broken in the 1980's when the Liberty One skyscraper finally overtopped the William Penn statue. Now pretty much every ill event that occurs in the city is blamed on Penn's Curse. If you look at Hannah Carr's awesome cover, you'll see city hall with Penn's statue in the background. I'm sure I don't have to say a lot about Philly's architecture, the city has a ton of sites listed on the National Historical Registry. Eastern State Penitentiary is like a medieval fortress in downtown Philly...there's the aforementioned city hall. Other sites include the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, the old breweries of Brewerytown, scores of churches with incredibly old graveyards (incredibly old by US standards anyways). There are theatres and music halls, art galleries and old taverns, hospitals, abandoned rail yards, rowhouse neighborhoods, underground shelters, and let's not forget America's first and longest running zoo. Philadelphia pretty much has everything a story teller could want. I chose the city for its coolness. I've done tons of research on it and I know that I've barely scratched the surface. I won't promise that I got everything right, I'm sure I'll screw something up about the city, but mainly I hope that I've conveyed its coolness, its enduring legacy to our country.
So Why A Female Protagonist
Some might think it weird for a male writer to choose to make his protagonist, his point of view character a female. It's actually not that uncommon, some genres clearly favor a particular gender for the protagonist. I can also imagine that some authors believe that choosing a certain gender over another gives them a better chance at reaching a certain demographic. And for other authors it just makes sense for the story to choose a certain gender. While there are clearly more female protagonists in popular Urban Fantasy, male protagonists like Harry Dresden have shown that the gender of the hero isn't what really sells...it is really about the story. So why did I choose to go with a female protagonist? It's really quite simple; the biggest heroes in my life have been female. Sometimes someone becomes a hero accidentally; the man who rescued those 3 women who had been in captivity is an example of this. He reacted to a situation in a way that millions of other people would have if they'd been faced with the same circumstances. He became a hero because he was in the right place at the right timae, and he reacted as a responsible human being. I'm not trying to take anything away from this guy, he could have looked the other way and those women could have spent another decade in captivity...but his actions were really not extraordinary. He simply did the right thing at the right time. Now my mom is a true hero. She raised 5 kids, one with a severe disability, another with a visual impairment, and two of us sliding into our teenage years, and she raised us on her own. I can't imagine the loneliness and despair that she must have felt at times. My youngest sister was still a baby and me and my other sister were running away from home whenever the teenage angst came upon us. Yet mom didn't give up, she didn't show the loneliness or despair; she was strong and refused to give up or to allow her children to roll over her. She was firm, she taught us how to be decent human beings, how to plow on no matter how tough life got, to never give up, to work hard, and most importantly to not let bitterness, hardship, or sorrow take away from the joy of life. Mom passed on this strength of character and grace to her children, one only needs to observe Danielle for a very short period to see mom reflected in her. My protagonist, Veronika Kane, isn't my mom or anyone else I know (at least not consciously, maybe she's an amalgam of many people I know), but she was easy for me to write because of the love and respect that I have for mom, and so many other women who have been heroes to me. To my way of thinking, men have had the spotlight for centuries, now its time for females to have the spotlight. It's time for young girls out there to grow up knowing that they are every bit as capable of being the heroes as boys are. My editor, Jaimee Finnegan deserves a lot of credit for helping me get into Veronika's head. There were parts in this book that were uncomfortable to write, but Jaimee pushed me to make sure that Veronika wasn't a one or two dimensional character, she helped me make her a character with real feelings. Jaimee has earned her place on my list of female heroes who have touched my life.
What Is The Premise
So What's the Premise? As I continue forward in my self made career of author, I am being very careful to learn whatever I can from experienced authors. Luckily, the internet makes this pretty easy. One of the authors that I'm learning from these days is Alexandra Sokoloff, who is a novelist and experienced screen writer. She has a great series of articles entitled "Screenwriting Tips for Authors". As I'm reading through the articles I'm doing her assigned homework. One of the first of these is about the premise. Here is Alexandra's description of what a premise is, I've copied it from her site and will provide a link at the end of this post. "When people ask you what your book is about, what they are really asking is – “What’s the premise?” In other words, “What’s the story line in one easily understandable sentence?” That one sentence is also referred to as a “logline” (in Hollywood) or “the elevator pitch” (in publishing) or “the TV Guide pitch” – it all means the same thing. That sentence really should give you a sense of the entire story: the character of the protagonist, the character of the antagonist, the conflict, the setting, the tone, the genre. And – it should make whoever hears it want to read the book. Preferably immediately. It should make the person you tell it to light up and say – “Ooh, that sounds great!” And “Where do I buy it?” Writing a premise sentence is a bit of an art, but it’s a critical art for authors, and screenwriters, and playwrights. You need to do this well to sell a book, to pitch a movie, to apply for a grant. You will need to do it well when your agent, and your publicist, and the sales department of your publishing house, and the reference librarian, and the Sisters in Crime books in print catalogue editor ask you for a one-sentence book description, or jacket copy, or ad copy. You will use that sentence over and over and over again in radio and TV interviews, on panels, and in bookstores (over and over and OVER again) when potential readers ask you, “So what’s your book about?” and you have about one minute to get them hooked enough to buy the book." Here are 3 examples that she gives from popular movies, I'm sure you'll be able to guess what movies they are right away. - When a great white shark starts attacking beachgoers in a coastal town during high tourist season, a water-phobic Sheriff must assemble a team to hunt it down before it kills again. - A young female FBI trainee must barter personal information with an imprisoned psychopathic genius in order to catch a serial killer who is capturing and killing young women for their skins. - A treasure-hunting archeologist races over the globe to find the legendary Lost Ark of the Covenant before Hitler’s minions can acquire and use it to supernaturally power the Nazi army. Now the homework was to write your own premise for something and I obviously chose my first 3 books. Book 1 is about to go on sale, book 2, Death Toll is in early revision, and book 3, Echoes of Madness is about 20% into first draft. Wail of the Banshees *A murdered college student must help the Philadelphia Police Department track down the serial killer responsible for her death and then lead an improbable rebellion against the powers that be in the ghost realm of Limbo. Death Toll A ghost, a wizard, a were-ferret, and a detective must work together to save Philadelphia from the machinations of a murderous cult intent on opening a gate between worlds that will unleash a being of earth shattering power. Echoes of Madness A troll and a ghost betray their oath to protect a mysterious girl who may ultimately be the only hope of a plague ravished Philadelphia. Alexandra Sokoloff's sight is as follows; http://www.screenwritingtricks.com/2008/05/whats-your-premise.html
Screenwriting Tips for Authors is also a book now that I intend to buy. http://www.amazon.com/Screenwriting-Tricks-Authors-Screenwriters-ebook/dp/B0032JSJ9U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1262864197&sr=1-1
Wail of the Banshees (Ghost Wars Saga) - Kindle edition by Robert Poulin, Jaimee Finnegan. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Wail of the Banshees (Ghost Wars Saga).