Monday, September 20, 2010

Uh oh, synopsis time

I've done several editing passes on The Trickster Society over the past month or so, and I finally decided it was time to query. I tweaked my query letter Saturday and sent a bunch out to agents.

I've received a full request and a partial request already. Hot diggity! Unfortunately, the agent who requested the partial also wants a synopsis. And, um, I haven't written the synopsis yet.

This is actually an unusual book in some ways. While it does have plenty of action, the character development is the main thrust of the story. Main character Ivy is six years into the Einnars of her trollish culture--a decade-long separation from family that's required before a troll is considered a full adult. Not only is Ivy dealing with that, she's also feeling guilt for sleeping with a human and is having to come to terms with her relationship with the guy, who also happens to be her best friend. On top of all that, she's a nonhuman minority and keeps bumping up against racism and her own assumptions about where she belongs in society.

That's all good and meaty stuff to me, and I hope it's compelling enough to carry the book before the action parts of the plot unfold, which they don't start to do until about a quarter of the way into the book. I'm proud that the character arcs of Ivy and her best friend dovetail so neatly with the action plots (of which there are two, which are in turn closely related and intersect at the end). But I'm not sure I can convey the plot's complexity in two pages without making it sound like a confusing mess--or just lame.

I hope it's not just lame.

8 comments:

Danielle Birch said...

Woo Hoo! Fantastic news. Good luck with that synopsis.

K.C. Shaw said...

Thanks! I'm going to need it. I will get it written tomorrow if it kills me, which it might.

Aaron Polson said...

Rock on to the requests. I'm pants when it comes to synopsis writing. Godspeed and a whole bucket-load of patience.

K.C. Shaw said...

I worked on this stupid synopsis all freaking day (um, maybe at work) and I'm still not done. It's like pushing a mountain up another mountain.

Fox Lee said...

I think we all second guess ourselves to the point of distraction. And who wouldn't with a synopsis, you have to cram so much into so little!

K.C. Shaw said...

That's the truth. I didn't realize there was so much stuff in this book until I started writing the synopsis.

Cate Gardner said...

You are so naughty. Congrats on the requests and fingers crossed.

K.C. Shaw said...

Thanks! I'm mailing it off tomorrow. That gives me tonight to fuss and worry over it.