A Che Guevara disciple fails to assassinate Fidel Castro, but stumbles upon something much more sinister: love.

I don’t want this to imply that the disciple falls in love WITH Fidel Castro, but I’m afraid it does. I don’t have enough distance from it to judge it effectively.

Thanks,

Frank

Original: A pastor’s wife joins a girl biker club and encounters new adventures that startle and shake up her husband’s church.

Revised: When a burned-out pastor’s wife becomes a biker chick, her new adventures startle and shake up her husband’s church.

Haiku - easy
one sentence summary - very difficult
Randy’s help - priceless

Original: A software developer discovers the terrifying truth about corporate manipulation of the global food chain.

Mike Z stumbles upon the terrifying truth that will change history forever: Food is a weapon.

Original: A software developer discovers the terrifying truth about corporate manipulation of the global food chain.

Revised: Mike Z stumbles upon the terrifying truth that will change history forever: Food is a weapon.

23 words old version:
A reluctant father has to step up and attempt an impossible rescue when his son is kidnapped by a couple from another dimension.

15 words new version:
A reluctant unbelieving father crosses dimensions to steal his kidnapped son from a fanatic couple.

I’m not sure if the father is described well. There are two parts to him: he is not engaged as a parent and he doesn’t believe in anything spiritual or other dimensional. The first is important for character growth and to identify with him, the second is crucial to the plot. I’m not sure if “reluctant unbelieving” describes that. I had “deranged” to describe the couple but I think “fanatic” works better and is more correct.

Debbie, taking Randy’s notes I would say you have this to work with:
Lead character: teenage girl (or child)
Bad character: Father, adoption agency, adopting couple (you have to figure this out)
Verb: gives away, longs for…?
Motivation: Hole in her heart

Sentence suggestion: A teenage girl longs to fill the hole in her heart when her child is given up for adoption.

Ok, maybe that is not the best. This is much harder than what it looks.

“A Fish Without a Bicycle”

Autumn of 1970, in California’s Central Valley, a feckless teenager subverts the dominant paradigm while learning about love.

It’s for a Young Adult novel with lots of tongue-in-cheek humor.

Here’s my second try (more like ten-thousandth try

Feckless fifteen year old dodges marriage proposal.

Better? Worse? All feedback welcome.

A burned out pastor’s wife causes (insert appropriate descriptive work here) in her husband’s church by becoming a biker chick.

Book title: Violated Dreams

She wanted a bigger house with room for a nursery, but the death of her husband and the scandal of counterfeit drugs, ruins her dreams.

Teen flowerchild finds female camaraderie and dodges a marriage proposal in the Bible Belt of California.

She wanted a bigger house with room for a nursery, but then her husband was murdered.

here is my first shot at a one-sentence summary for a novel that is *supposed* to be the first of a little series and actually has three narrators, but I tried to simplify as best I could.

A popular young aristocrat attempts to ally two powerful ancient Greek city-states but an alluring concubine and a peripatetic country girl endanger his plans.

ideas?

I would also add ‘A’ to the beginning of the sentence, so it doesn’t read like a headline.

Sharon:

I took some assumptive liberties with the plot, but maybe there’s something helpful in here. I think I’m hooked on other people’s one-sentence summaries.

Her husband’s murder and the ensuing scandal dash a pregnant woman’s domestic dreams.

I started with:

Man, machine and the paranormal unite to enforce the edicts of the Universal Government, but dark ops has just gotten darker and the future is not what it seems when the team finds themselves forced into pivotal roles to change the universe. (42 words)

Thirteenth attempt:

As an elite interstellar dark ops team pursues a psionic kidnapper they discover a plot that will change the universe. (20 words)

What do you think? (thanks)

Mary, I like it, but I think you can still get more specific at the end. An intersteller dark ops team pursues a psionic kidnapper and discovers ____. You get four words to tell me the terrible plot that will keep me riveted for the length of your novel.

No pressure.

Guilt driven daughter freed by Mother’s diary and book of lies written about her father.

An intersteller dark ops team pursues a psionic kidnapper and discovers ____.

How about:

__they are being hunted
__fate can be cruel
__evil has a name
__their leader’s worst nightmare
__their reality under attack
__an eternal enemy

Arrg. Any of these look doable to u? I could probably fill another page. The book plot is jam-packed full of twists and turns and it is hard not to give something away.

(Good thing there was no pressure.)

I don’t know much about your book, but from what you just wrote, perhaps you should consider using MOTHER’S DIARY & LIES as a title.

Guilt driven daughter is freed by

–her mother’s words from beyond the grave.
–the power of the pen.

Or
Powerful words from the past free a guilt driven daughter from ___

(just a thought)