Guest Post & Giveaway with Author Victoria Danann

BLURBS

by Victoria Danann

           

            If blurbs were herbs, they'd be called Authors Bane. A blurb is a short description of a book. It's distinguished from an actual "book description" by length. It's basically a paragraph. Smashwords allows 386 characters. Sounds sufficient to describe a 113,000 words book?

            If you're a reader you take these mini-synopses (Yes. I had to look up the plural of synopsis.) for granted, just as authors did before we became authors. It looks easy. A ten minute task at most. Four months and a hundred revisions later, I'm still tearing my hair out.

           

            You say: "Come on. How hard could it be? Has anyone ever called you melodramatic?"

            I say: "Well, yes. They have. But that's not relevant to this discussion. Really!"

             

            I would much rather write a full length novel than try to compose a blurb. Trying to pare that 113,000 words down to 75 is not just hard, it's torture. It's cruel, I tell you. The short description that I currently use for My Familiar Stranger follows. This is the best I can do while avoiding spoilers.

"Minutes ahead of inevitable assassination, Elora Laiken is forcibly transported to an alternate dimension similar, but not identical, to her own. She is stranded. Alone. Far from home. A stranger in a "strangish" land.

Of course a girl could suffer worse problems than having gorgeous suitors. Perhaps more importantly, in the midst of an epidemic of vampire related abductions, can she stay alive long enough to choose between an honor debt, true love, or the breathlessness of single-minded passion?"

            I can't tell you how often reviews will say something to the effect of "don't pay too much attention to the description". See, the problem is that I wanted to create something that hadn't been done before, something that defies both formula and genre categorizing. I succeeded at that, but, it turns out that, like everything else in the universe, that comes with two sides. The good news is that it's different. The bad news is that the difference throws a wrench into the way the industry is set up to market books.

            The second book in the series, The Witch's Dream, is due to release October 14th and the problem has expanded. It's snowballing. Here's what I've got so far...

"From New York to Ireland to Edinburgh to Siena to the Texas Hill Country to Napa Valley, a witch, a demon, a psychic, a berserker, an ex-vampire, modern day knights, heroes, werewolves, elves and fae come together where emotions intersect. The story maps a trail from rages to hunts to epiphanies, but, in the end, proves that true love can find you in the strangest places, when you're least expecting it, even when you're far, far from home."

            See what I mean? There's no way to give a SHORT description of this book without having it sound stupid or juvenile or both which leaves me standing here as usual saying, "But it's not! I swear!"

            

Title:  My Familiar Stranger
Series:  Order of the Black Swan #1

Author:  Victoria Danann
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Release Date: April 21st 2012
Publisher: 7th House
Size:  370 pages

Find the book: Goodreads   Amazon  

Minutes ahead of inevitable assassination, Elora Laiken is forcibly transported to an alternate dimension similar, but not identical, to her own. She is stranded. Alone. Far from home. A stranger in a "strangish" land.

Of course a girl could suffer worse problems than having gorgeous suitors. Perhaps more importantly, in the midst of an epidemic of vampire related abductions, can she stay alive long enough to choose between an honor debt, true love, or the breathlessness of single-minded passion?

  

Title:  The Witches Dream
Series:  Order of the Black Swan #2

Author:  Victoria Danann
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Release Date: October 14th 2012
Publisher: 7th House
Size:  260 pages

Find the book: Goodreads   | Amazon  

He was left behind when Elora Laiken made her choice. Now he’s had it with love, but a transplanted witch who happens to be the world’s best tracker hopes she can change his mind.

The Witch’s Dream begins with B Team on loan for temporary assignment to Black Swan headquarters in Edinburgh where they are supposed to fill in for
stretched-thin resources and assist with a werewolf issue. They’ve been given
permission to stop in Ireland for a few days and help Ram and Elora celebrate their handfasting at the palace in Derry.

When they reach Edinburgh, the afterglow of an elftale wedding quickly turns all
business. A simple werewolf sanction becomes a diplomatic issue requiring the
one thing Elora doesn’t have – finesse. A missing person report turns into a demon
abduction. From New York to Ireland to Edinburgh to Siena to the Texas Hill
Country to Napa Valley. From promises to rages to hunts to epiphanies.

This is a story that proves that love can find you when you’re least expecting it –
even when you’re far, far from home.

For the past thirteen years, Victoria has illustrated and authored Seasons of the Witch calendars and planners. 


Though works of fiction are a departure for her, she has had this series simmering on the back burner of her mind for years. In addition to authoring and illustrating Seasons of the Witch, she plays rock music and manages one of Houston's premier R&B/ Variety/ Pop bands.

This series will eventually include some of my actual experience in the paranormal with fictionalized anecdotes from my journals during the years when I was a practicing "metaphysician", but most of the material is fantasy - of course.

Connect with the Author:  Website  | Blog  | Twitter   | Facebook  

GIVEAWAY QUESTION: 

“Since the ancient Greeks, and probably since we became sentient, men have been asking the question, ‘What do women want?’ I think I know what the answer is – at least for a lot of us - and it’s related to why Paranormal Romance is so popular with women and so satisfying to the core in a way no other genre can be. Before I began writing for this audience, I read about two hundred PNR books and realized that there is one element common to almost all and that it can only be expressed in a fantasy world. Can you guess what it is?” (NOTE: You don’t have to match my answer to win. I’m always interested to hear what other PNR fans think.)

The prize is a free download of M.F.S. with Smashwords coupon. Anyone who gives a thoughtful answer wins.

Blog Tour Schedule: http://www.bewitchingbooktours.blogspot.com/2012/08/now-on-tour-my-familiar-stranger-by.html