Last Word on Obsessions (for now)...
Well, we submitted our contest entry... and I feel like I'm gonna puke. In a good way, though, or as good as wanting to yark ever feels.
Thank you to everyone who's listened to me yammer and shriek, and thanks for all of the feedback. And if you didn't offer any, there's always time before we send out the next round of agents' letters after the contest officially ends in September. So don't hold back -- the story can always get better.
Speaking of better: we did one last take on the synopsis. We think this one's a little sexier...
The Long Black Veil
“Y’all are playing with fire…”
Summer 1963… in the golden days of Camelot, before the engulfing shadow of Vietnam… the last days of innocence. But as rakish Southern drifter Jamie Delacroix discovers, those days were not so idyllic for all.
After a decade alternately spent chasing women and his freedom, Jamie’s luck runs out in a Northern town where a black musician and a twelve-year-old white girl become his unlikely rescuers. Calvin Lewis offers camaraderie that transcends race and social status, as well as financial assistance through his longtime friends Harry and Eve Novotny. The Novotnys’ brilliant but solitary daughter Jane worms her way into Jamie’s life, her crush on the charming older man compelling her to defend Jamie from the local “hussies” — and from himself.
Yet Calvin unwittingly thrusts Jamie into the middle of the secret he carries: his passionate but forbidden love affair with Eve. Against a backdrop of the provincial town’s racial tensions, Jamie struggles to understand the black man’s agonized betrayal of Harry Novotny, and Eve’s apparent willingness to discard her marriage and her child. The little girl’s astute yet unwavering innocence endears her to Jamie, and he tries to shield Jane as she wrestles with growing pains and first love.
But despite his concern for her, Jamie’s determination to look out for himself compels his silence. Only Calvin’s arrest for murder finally forces him to act… but having waited so long, Jamie cannot protect them all. As fate forces his hand, Jamie finds his only hope for redemption is to stand up for what he believes — and for the people he loves.
Thank you to everyone who's listened to me yammer and shriek, and thanks for all of the feedback. And if you didn't offer any, there's always time before we send out the next round of agents' letters after the contest officially ends in September. So don't hold back -- the story can always get better.
Speaking of better: we did one last take on the synopsis. We think this one's a little sexier...
The Long Black Veil
“Y’all are playing with fire…”
Summer 1963… in the golden days of Camelot, before the engulfing shadow of Vietnam… the last days of innocence. But as rakish Southern drifter Jamie Delacroix discovers, those days were not so idyllic for all.
After a decade alternately spent chasing women and his freedom, Jamie’s luck runs out in a Northern town where a black musician and a twelve-year-old white girl become his unlikely rescuers. Calvin Lewis offers camaraderie that transcends race and social status, as well as financial assistance through his longtime friends Harry and Eve Novotny. The Novotnys’ brilliant but solitary daughter Jane worms her way into Jamie’s life, her crush on the charming older man compelling her to defend Jamie from the local “hussies” — and from himself.
Yet Calvin unwittingly thrusts Jamie into the middle of the secret he carries: his passionate but forbidden love affair with Eve. Against a backdrop of the provincial town’s racial tensions, Jamie struggles to understand the black man’s agonized betrayal of Harry Novotny, and Eve’s apparent willingness to discard her marriage and her child. The little girl’s astute yet unwavering innocence endears her to Jamie, and he tries to shield Jane as she wrestles with growing pains and first love.
But despite his concern for her, Jamie’s determination to look out for himself compels his silence. Only Calvin’s arrest for murder finally forces him to act… but having waited so long, Jamie cannot protect them all. As fate forces his hand, Jamie finds his only hope for redemption is to stand up for what he believes — and for the people he loves.
posted by Delhui at 10:41 PM
2 Comments:
Best of luck! Well, you got me, I want to read the whole book now!
Thanks, Anne! By the way, I loved that picture of your apartment; great space:)
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