I’m surprised that you have been asked to write a synopsis for one of your own books.

Right now, I’m actually involved in writing the synopsis (and working on other publicity materials) for a film — and I got this job in large part because people told the director cum scriptwriter that he wasn’t writing the synopsis very well.

So, after having decided to allow someone else to edit his film and deciding that the end result was so much better than he could have produced, he contacted me to effectively do the same for publicity materials as the film editor had done for the film.

So…maybe you should relay this tale to your publisher and get him/her to find someone to write synopses of your book for you? 😉

And now Russell, who has just written a book called “Path of Revenge” which I thought was up there with the best of the world’s huge epic style fantasies. He can show Robert Jordan a thing or two about keeping a reader on the edge or their chair. And it has one of the most remarkable characters I have read in a fantasy since the Fool in Hobb’s stuff. Watch out for Lenares everyone.

ASnd Russell, it’s Droughtmaster, not Drouthmaster, for just that reason. Drouthlord (pron. Droothlord) rolls off the tongue, Drouthmaster doesn’t. I also wanted the difference in appearance so they are not easily mixed up in the mind of the reader.

Drouth, btw, is another word for drought.

I am totally humbled by what you just said.

Synopses are internal marketing tools. There is absolutely no requirement for it to bear any relation to the final product. So don’t worry if you don’t know how the story is going to end: make it up.

Glenda, I like Random Rain. I like each title, too, although Drouthmaster is a bit awkward. I can imagine the evocative covers you could get with titles like these.

I so hope you get the success with these books that you deserve. You are a class above the rest of us Aussie fantasy authors, and I rank you as one of the very best fantasy authors I’ve read.

Reminds me a bit of something that happened to me some years ago. I was in a hairdressers in London, and this sweet old dear came in, obviously a regular, and was attended to by her very obviously gay hairdresser, who happened to be wearing a very colourful shirt. ‘Oh,’ says she, ‘How gay you are this morning!’

Everyone within earshot, including the gay guy, sucked in their cheeks trying desparately not to laugh…

Ok Ink Paws, there’s only 40,000 words to go to finish the first book, pant pant… But it’s gonna taken me about a year to get this wretched synopsis done first.

Random Rain could sound odd, but I think it’s fine, especially with Quartet tacked on the end 🙂 and it has a very nice sound. Totally Random Rain now… 😉

the little dribblets of information have actually really caught me… hurry up and write it, Glenda, so I can read 😛

I get what you’re trying to say with the series title. It’s just that it seems a bit like trying to write gay smile giving it its 1957 meaning instead of its 2007 connotations. 😮

Being the helpful bunny I am (heh) I tried to think of some viable alternative suggestions. And having wandered through treacherous, unruly (heh), fickle and unbidden, the lame best I could come up with so far is Inconstant Rain – which lacks the alliteration and is a more complex sound pattern to get out the mouth, but I kind of like the Shakespearian echo of th’inconstant moon behind it…

Okay, maybe it’s better just to ignore me. ;oP

As for this new series …

I was privileged to get a sneak peek at an early draft of bk 1 a little while ago. This ROCKS. It rocks in the rockiest rocky way a story can rock.

This has SUPERSPECTACULAR written all over it.

It is SUPERLATIVE.

And I’m not saying that because Glenda’s a bud. I’m saying it because it’s true.

aaargh.