Magic Words

(Traverse City, MI)

A feature on NPR today on Wendy Wasserstein solved the mystery of who raised her child. Her brother took the child, but died a few years later. His ex-wife is raising the child today. A new book out, THE WENDY CHRONICLES, tells her story.

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I have been thinking a lot about what makes me pick a book up and what makes me put it back down. Not blurbs but plot descriptions on the jacket.



If I see a word like elves, military, or astrology, there is very little chance I will go any further. I suppose there are some terrific books with elves in the plot but I don't know of them. War is not something I like to read about either. So a description like this would not win me over:



A group of woodland elves prepare to arm themselves when the Reader of the Stars indicates a growing threat from the River folks.



If I see a word like amnesia, a disappearance, or time travel in the description, I will likely give it a longer look. I don't know why these concepts fascinate me, but they do. I like the idea of a character finding him/herself in a new pair of shoes and trying to find the old ones.

This would make me consider:



When John wakes up and can't remember who or where he is, he must travel back and forth in time to determine what brought him to this hospital bed.



Now that I look at it, they're not so different, are they?



What turns you on when you read that jacket? What turns you off?