Now that Book 3 has been sent out to the beta readers, it’s time to work on the cover- and supplemental material — including the piking blurb.  Argh the blurb.  I’m not so good at short works, and condensing 400k words into sub-200 is usually an exercise in suffering and despair.

That being said, this one only took a few iterations before I found an idea that worked for me.

The Puppeteer Emerges from the Shadow of the Throne…

Ever since the massacre at Riftwatch, Cob has reserved his true hatred for one man: the necromancer Shaidaxi Enkhaelen. Even after the Empire’s corruption became clear to him, he remained fixated on Enkhaelen as its cause.

But there is more at work within the Empire than even a centuries-old puppet-master can control. From the sullen streets of Bahlaer to the depths of Valent to the towering spires of the Imperial City, a grim tide is rising — bearing with it all the old hostilities and unforgivable secrets that the Empire has tried to suppress. As cities, armies and friendships begin to tear themselves apart, Cob must face the realization that nothing can be trusted: not his memories, not his allies, not the Guardian.

Not even his hate.

My first attempt talked about Cob, Sarovy and Geraad, since they’re the front-men of the three story-threads in the book, but that ended up too jumbled and complex.  And while I love Sarovy and Geraad … they’re not the main character, plus I figured it was about time the antagonist got mentioned in a blurb because he’s going to be on the cover.

And then just calling them front-men made me suddenly envision them and their cohorts as bands.  So now I have this image of Cob and co. on stage, with Cob unwilling to sing (he’s shy) and therefore ceding the singer position to Arik, who is totally a rocker-werewolf and could be in a hair band if he applied a bit of hairspray.  Cob on lead guitar, Dasira on bass guitar, Fiora on drums because she likes to hit things, Lark with the keyboard because that’s programming and control.  And Ilshenrir with a triangle because he really doesn’t know what’s going on.  Ting!

I…  I need to go write an AU now…