"The real magic of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."
–Marcel Proust
Although it's a very good question, possibly the most annoying inquiry an author hears is also the most common: "So, what's the new book all about, anyway?"
Most writers will tell you that if they could summarize their work—an enterprise which often takes years to complete—they wouldn't have bothered writing a novel "about" it. Novels aren't really about things. They are more like explorations of previously uncharted waters. They hinge on discovery, not invention. I suspect that if anyone took a poll, most writers would say they identify with mariners (say, Magellan) rather than landlubbers who contrive a new device (like Ford).
So the better question for a novelist might be parallel to the one you'd ask Francis Drake or James Cook: "So, where the heck did you go in the new book?" This might provide you with a much more interesting answer than the grimace you're likely to receive from the first question.
Sadly, in order to find publishers for their books, writers have to circulate abstracts of the voyages they've been on. Despite some of the unique work many writers produce, these briefs are pretty standard pieces—a sales pitch—usually no more than a page long, intended to capture the attention of the poor interns assigned to scan the thousands of book proposals most publishers receive annually.
Despite my dismissal of the summary process, I too, have prepared a novel synopsis. Here's the one-pager I sent to my publisher, Turnstone Press, to provide the gist of the narrative.
The Good Lie
— Novel Synopsis
16 Chapters; ~
108,000 words: literary / psychological fiction
As Paul Wakefield paddles his kayak across Mouat Channel
toward the Marina Harbour on Vancouver Island, he hears the
engine of a yacht as it cuts through the fog toward him. In
an instant, the cruiser swamps Paul and the young girl
paddling beside him, then disappears into the fog, never to
be seen again. Dumped into the winter ocean, the girl
panics and submerges Paul in her frenzy to survive. To save
them both, Paul smacks her with his paddle — a blow that
sends her into a coma and unleashes an unpredictable series
of events.
The story moves from the ocean surrounding Victoria,
Canada, into the hearts and souls of the characters who
struggle to adapt to this utterly senseless accident. Paul
Wakefield is in his late 30s, happily married to Valerie
Burbank and father to their son, Eliot. Reg and Fran Jensen
are the distraught parents of Jenny, the young girl who now
lies comatose in a local hospital. Their pleas to Paul for
sympathy soon turn into rants and confrontations. Within a
few weeks Reg Jensen loses his composure and begins to
stalk young Eliot.
When Paul learns that Reg is an ex-con with a record of
violence, Reg challenges Paul and Valerie with a series of
escalating threats and irrational behaviours. As he cranks
up the tension, Paul must rise to the occasion, or collapse
under the strain. Barely able to manage himself and protect
his family, Paul is dragged toward the harrowing finale by
Reg’s overt madness — an act that culminates in a vicious
double murder.
More than most psychological thrillers, The Good
Lie has a strong
literary flavour and a number of well-drawn minor
characters who serve as Paul’s allies. The most notable of
these is the real-life Canadian painter, Jack Wise, who
provides the spiritual guidance Paul requires. Paul also
gathers support from his father-in-law, his aging next-door
neighbours and their dog — who becomes the first victim of
Reg Jensen’s brutality.
Beneath these currents runs a love story defined by Paul
and Valerie’s enduring romance, a bond tested by the events
that gradually consume them. Their narrative slips backward
in time to explore their relationship through its shifts
and turns until we reach the novel’s last paragraphs and
the beginning of their affair.
The Good
Lie also explores
the fluidity of time and one individual’s struggle to
contact the essence of universal intelligence in order to
find purpose in a world seemingly governed by chaos and
destruction. Prayer, meditation and blind belief — all are
pressed to deliver some form of redemption. The reader is
left to ponder the possibilities that Paul discovers
through the course of the novel.