Although I’m still finishing the first draft of Dreamdarkers, already I set my eyes upon the pitch letter that must carry it forward to agents and publishers alike.  So I share with you now a preliminary sample of the pitch paragraph, or perhaps the cover copy.  Or both.

The intent here is to sell the story to would-be agents, publishers, and readers.  Don’t hesitate to speak your mind on what this means to you.  Do consider this is a one-sitting draft showing where I started in the process.

Dave Lloyd, a successful author, survived the death of his wife only to be plagued by memories of what he lost.  Giving up his urban paradise, he packed up and moved to a rural community in East Texas, a small town called Kingswell where his parents live, hoping to be near them while escaping his demons.  But Dave is about to learn a harsh lesson in life: Nobody escapes their demons.

When the nightmares begin, dark visions punctuated by his long-dead spouse advising him to escape while he still can even as shadowy ghouls close in from all sides, he ignores the warnings as nothing more than emotional baggage from a life he can no longer have.  When similar dreams begin visiting those around him, he realizes the only hope for survival might rest in the hands of the only woman he’s ever loved. . .a woman who’s been dead more than two years.

Keep in mind I put that together in all of ten minutes.  It needs work, I know.

The one piece of this puzzle I keep struggling with revolves around whether or not to introduce the whole of ‘The Kingswell Chronicle’ by adding this:

But hear this meek beginning with souls alight and ears afire:
“We are temptation’s hatred and pain’s desire. . .
We are pleasure’s anguish and forever’s death…”
What truth you riddle from this I dare not guess.
Render it a clue unto your comprehension of what is to come,
for The Kingswell Chronicle has just begun. . .

Or something else.  Perhaps?

I don’t know yet.  All I know hinges on the need to develop a concise yet engaging introduction to Dreamdarkers, one that might also introduce the larger story of The Kingswell Chronicle.

I just don’t know. . .