November Blog Chain- Cover Copy

This month’s assignment should I choose to accept it:
NaBloPoMo – National Blog Posting Month (not affiliated with the real NaBloPoMo).

Write up a back cover blurb for a book you have written or would like to write. It should be short, sweet, yet give a sense of people and events without totally spoiling the ending. NaNoWriMo participation is not required, and the blurb may be for fiction or nonfiction as you see fit.

Far be it for me to turn down a challenge. My entry won’t be for Echoes, because I’ve already pitched that to agents and publishers with some success, instead I give you the cover copy for Appetites. (Did you hear Hitchcock there?)

Make sure to read the other entries as well. Who knows, maybe you’ll find the next book for your want-list.

Appetites

They say “know your enemy, address your fears”, but what if the evil you do know pales in comparison to the evil you don’t?

For reformed rapist, Peter Wulfe, the sleepy northern town of Luna Falls is his last chance at a normal life as he strives to put his past behind him. A patient of a radical new therapy, Peter knows he is a new man, but the townsfolk aren’t as convinced and even Peter doesn’t truely trust himself . To make matters worse, his new friend, woodsman Louis Garou, doesn’t subscribe to society’s restraints and preaches those values to Peter whenever they meet, threatening to undermine his resolve.

Shortly after Peter’s arrival in Luna Falls, people start disappearing and turning up in pieces scattered in the surrounding woods. Superstition runs rampant and Peter finds himself labelled a werewolf. When Peter can’t account for missing chunks of time, even he starts to believe the rumours to be true.

Peter’s dream of a ‘normal’ life is shattered. As he tries to stay one step ahead of the local police, a deranged killer, and angry townsfolk, Peter struggles to find the truth, to prove to them all, and to himself, that he is innocent, this time…

Participants and posts:
orion_mk3 – http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com (link to this month’s post)
Ralph Pines – http://ralfast.wordpress.com (link to this month’s post)
MysteryRiter – http://incessantdroningofaboredwriter.wordpress.com/ (link to this month’s post)
AuburnAssassin – http://clairegillian.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Jarrah Dale – http://brattysramblings.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
SinisterCola – http://acgatesblog.wordpress.com/ (link to this month’s post)
dolores haze – http://dianedooley.wordpress.com/ (link to this month’s post)
pyrosama – http://matrix-hole.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Alynza – http://www.alynzasmith.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
writingismypassion – http://charityfaye.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Cath – http://www.cathsmith.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Inkstrokes – You are here!
egoodlett – http://wordlarceny.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
LadyDae – http://ladydaewrites.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
SuzanneSeese – http://www.viewofsue.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Anarchicq – http://anarchicq.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Stu Ayris – http://tollesburytimeforever.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)

About Dale Long

Writing ambushed me from the shadows. At first I pushed it aside as nonsense, but luckily my wife and two girls saw the potential. Since then I have had an article published by Metroland, placed as runner-up and in the top ten in humour writing contests and various other contests. The icing on the cake was placing as runner-up in the WCDR's Wicked Words contest (130 entries) and having my entry published in the contests anthology of the same name. My entry was an exerpt from my upcoming novel, Echoes.
This entry was posted in Bites and Bobs, Exerpts - Appetites, The Word According to Dad. and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

32 Responses to November Blog Chain- Cover Copy

  1. Bonnie says:

    wow would love to read this book based on the description.

    • Dale Long says:

      Thanks Bonnie! You should hear the cover copy for the 3rd and 4th books in this loose trilogy.
      Yes I know trilogy means three, but the fourth book is a prequel to it.

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  3. ralfast says:

    The boy who cried wolf, eh? Interesting twist. 🙂

    • Dale Long says:

      Thanks!

      The boy who cried Wulfe… why didn’t I think of that? Seriously.

      At it’s heart it started as a Red Riding hood type story but the emphasis is on what one considers right and wrong. In the many variations of the original, Red is not always painted in the nicest of ways, and the wolf is indicitive of a deeper meaning.

      Appetites is a traditional horror story and not a retelling.

  4. alexp01 says:

    Hmm, something tells me that Louis Garou is a loup garou! Werewolfy names have a way of telegraphing that (e.g. Remus Lupin). Interesting conceit, though.

    My inner punctuation Nazi informs me that you should drop the comma before the first Peter, too.

    • Dale Long says:

      Thanks Alex!
      I hate punctuation and it hates me too. 😉

      I love playing with names. While I do want the astute reader to catch those hints, they aren’t always what they seem. Will the real wolf please stand up? 😉

      • alexp01 says:

        I thought about that too–“give away” names can also play with expectations in interesting ways. I’m actually trying that out in my current WIP; we’ll see how it goes.

  5. Ellen says:

    Louis Garou = loup garou? >.> hahaha. I thought werewolf before I even got to the werewolf part, nice job! 😉

    • Dale Long says:

      And here I was worried not many people would get that. Actually I was hoping that they would get it, just later on in the book… 😉 Lots of little hints and nods to the genre in this book.
      Glad you caught it! Thank-you Ellen.

  6. Diane Dooley says:

    it sounds bloody wonderful. Emphasis on bloody. No, emphasis on wonderful. Love that you’ve got the guts to make a reformed rapist your hero. Best of luck!

    • Dale Long says:

      Thank-you Diane!
      I can’t tell you how relieved I am to hear you say that. I’ve angonized over the main character’s past. I was so worried that #1) nobody wouldn’t want to read about him because of that, #2) that the readers would think I’m writing from experience due to my gender, #3) that I am in some way glorifying or worst yet making light of the crime and finally #4) how to write him in such a way that the reader can actually emphasize with him even if they don’t totally like or trust him.
      Writing is about taking chances right? And don’t worry, the ‘wolf’ in the story is neither sparkly nor angsty 😉 He’s a monster, plain and simple.

      • Diane Dooley says:

        I’m just one adventurous reader, Dale. Your mileage is gonna vary on this one.
        Don’t know who said this: “Writers who don’t take risks, who try to please everyone, are failed writers,” but I’ve got it tattooed on my innards.

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  8. Yep, I would pick this book up too. I’m intrigued.

    • Dale Long says:

      Thanks Suzanne (My wife is a Suzanne as well. Bet you don’t like being called Susan either.)

      I’m glad there are readers out there that are willing to read horror again. Nothing against Gorror, but it’s not my cup of blood 😉

  9. Alynza says:

    Oh wow, this story seems very intriguing. Love the risk-taking with your MC being a reformed rapist and all. Definitely would have picked up something like this in a bookstore. 🙂 Happy writing!

    • Dale Long says:

      Thanks Alynza!

      Sounds like my risk taking is paying off. I had thought about making him only a suspected or framed but it loses it’s punch. Keep your eyes peeled, if Echoes gets picked up, this is book #2.

  10. Lady Dae says:

    I like the premise of this. I’ll admit, the fact that your MC was a reformed rapist took me aback some, but I would be interested to read this for that reason. Your MC is different from the normal guy who typically get’s these parts. Usually the MC is innocent with no track record. But Peter’s already guilty of something albeit reformed, but it automatically makes him the first suspect because he’s not exactly innocent. I like the twist.

    • Dale Long says:

      Thanks Lady Dae!
      I like to stretch the boundry’s. If it makes people think or look something up, I love it. Plus it’s the whole “is he or isn’t he?” Lots of false leads, dead end and surprises galore.

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  12. Reformed rapist?! Surely your MC has a lot at stake in this story. I don’t even think that mention of any werewolf is necessary to up the horror. This man’s past is scary enough!

    • Dale Long says:

      I use the term ‘reformed’ loosely. I’m not sure that there is reform for that, neither does the local cop that makes his life miserable and rightfully so. His wife is Peter’s victim.

      I loved the idea that there were two ‘appetites’ loose in the town. The lesser of two evils. The psychological makings are different but the same. I run amuk of their inner workings and what drives them to do what they do and if they even believe they are evil. That one is a werewolf is incidental.

      HAHA! Peter sure is stirring up conversation.

  13. Jarrah Dale says:

    This sounds good. Is it a paranormal work?

    • Dale Long says:

      Thanks Jarrah!
      Paranormal in that are there ghosts in them thar pages? No, that’s the first book, Echoes. This one has a classic werewolf; a monster that enjoys tearing people apart.

  14. Cath says:

    Tons of conflict. Bit of a hard sell with the ‘reformed rapist’ as a main character, but I think you manage it. I would be very interested to read this one.

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  16. I’m not sure how you’d make me sympathize with a rapist or convince me he’s reformed, although finding dismembered wouldn’t automatically make me suspect him. Nevertheless, it sounds like a taut psychological and/or paranormal thriller that would keep me on the edge of my seat. I’m like Diane D though, I like books that take chances.

    • Dale Long says:

      I knew it wasn’t going to be easy and to be honest, there were times when I considered changing the main character. I still do, but the challange in pulling this off is too good to back away from. Plus with all the great comments I fell added incentive to push on.
      Thanks Claire!

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