Log Lines

Can you sum up a book in one SHORT line? Some people are better at this than others. Log lines come from the Hollywood practice of logging scripts into a, well, a log book. There needed to be an economy of words and yet set each script apart, so it could be found quickly when wanted.

Writing log lines is good practice for elevator pitches. It isn't all that likely that most of us will be in an elevator (lift) with an agent and have the opportunity to pitch our wonderful, fabulous ms to them on the spot. However, perhaps we can pitch to a potential reader, so it is good to be ready.

On the sidebar, I want to add log lines for my books. A tease, but a truthful tease, about each book is what I'm after. I went to day two of the blog party to see if anyone had tried their hand at a log line for my books. Nope. No help there.

I did one for the blog party book. It isn't exactly a log line, but it will do.

So now, what about this trilogy of mine? After a while, as most of you will discover, a few million edits and rewrites, the whole thing becomes elusive to sum in a few words.

Here is what I've come up with for each book. I'm not sure I'll keep them. I usually tinker with things a few times. (I think that is learned during the rewrites stage of the process.)

KATHRYN'S BEACH: Kathryn goes home to face the haunting past.
HIGH TIDE: Kathryn begins a new life.
STORM SURGE:

Yep, nothing on that one. I think it is perhaps the best book of the three. Maybe it wouldn't be so great if the first two hadn't set it up for the third. I donno. The real question on Storm Surge is whether Kathryn will be alive at the end of the book. As I wrote it, I didn't know whether she would or not. Maybe that is partly why I like it so well. When I write, I don't want to know the story until it unfolds. It is like reading, but with a keyboard and busy fingers.

Well, we'll see what I come up with. Might just do one for the whole trilogy, though I think not.

Just to show you how good Joyce, my web designer is, I asked her what she though of what I did to the blog part book...though I had no control where the text went, and this is what she sent back to me. If you don't get this service from your web designer, you have the wrong one. http://www.designbyjoyce.com/.

It looks okay. Doesn’t line up perfectly but okay. If you put (a html code she wrote that won't show up in this post - duh) after the form button and before your text it will force it completely below the image. (don’t copy and paste that code. Type it in because the quotation marks are different here.) Joyce

So anyway...back to thinking about log lines...
If you have suggestions for log lines for my books, be my guest. Funny is okay too.