The Synopsis Treasury (30 page)
Read The Synopsis Treasury Online
Authors: Christopher Sirmons Haviland
Tags: #Reference, #Writing; Research & Publishing Guides, #Publishing & Books, #Authorship
Eldon Thompson
Eldon Thompson is the author of the epic fantasy trilogy The Legend of Asahiel, which began with
The Crimson Sword
in 2005 and concluded with
The Divine Talisman
in 2008. Since then, he has primarily written for Hollywood, with numerous feature-length assignments both original and adapted. Like most writers, he is an avid weightlifter and dreams of one day playing quarterback in the NFL.
Potential.
That’s what my book proposal had been reduced to. All of that careful planning, all those years of labor, all the training and classes and preparation, boiled down to a single word by my first prospective agent. According to him, the story had potential.
A positive response, by almost any measure. But I’d heard this word too many times in my life already. A polite way of telling me I wasn’t ready. It might have been easier, in a sense, to be told to give up, that I had no chance, no talent whatsoever. At least then I could justify setting aside this lifelong dream and putting my effort toward something else. But hearing time and again that I had potential was like having the proverbial carrot dangled before my face. If I were to work just a little harder, push myself just a little farther, then maybe, just maybe, my goal might be attained.
I’d already made every sacrifice I could think of. Time, money, family, friends, physical comforts—my entire life, it seemed, had been put on hold as I pursued the career of a published writer. I didn’t know what else I had to give. I read the agent’s response again. Sure enough, a rejection. He could not represent the material “as is.” What he would do, if I was interested, was offer specific advice on how to make the story more salable. It would require a lot of work on my part, but he wouldn’t offer even this much if he didn’t think the story had potential.
Though I could have yelled and pulled my hair out before seeking another agent, I made the more mature, more sensible choice of thanking him for his time and agreeing wholeheartedly to take his professional advice into consideration. After all, it’s rather impossible to convey within a two-page story summary one’s ability to successfully execute his or her idea. The best I really could have hoped for was to entice someone to read more, and that much I had done. If it was true that publishers would not purchase a story that wasn’t already in its best possible shape, then I owed it to myself to try to fix as many flaws as I could beforehand.
What followed was a series of rewrites over nine months’ time, in which almost every aspect of my novel was deconstructed, reevaluated, and shaded for maximum dramatic impact. With fantasy and science fiction, a writer must be “the same, yet different,” both fresh and familiar, covering time-tested ground in new and exciting ways. A precarious balance, as anyone who has tried already knows. Too similar, they call you a hack. Too unusual, and you risk being labeled radical or esoteric or confusing. Maintaining that balance within the novel is difficult enough. Trying to convey it while boiling so many epic elements down to just a couple pages is a much more considerable challenge—and may seem entirely pointless once the book is already written.
Looking back, however, I’m glad of every extra step I took. There’s nothing exact about storytelling. Outline, synopsis, manuscript—each has its purpose within the publishing process. In my experience, it’s best not to skimp on one or another and plan on making up for those deficiencies in the final product. If you can’t properly frame your story idea in its embryonic stages—a sentence, a paragraph, a synopsis—then you may never get someone to consider the novel itself.
And if the best response you receive is that your idea has “potential,” consider that a step toward success.
—Eldon Thompson
The Crimson Sword
Eldon Thompson
SYNOPSIS
The Age of Man has begun. Gone are the elves and dwarves, ogres and trolls, and other creatures of legend. Having driven the “undesirable” races from their lands, the kingdoms of the island continent Pentania have started a new chapter in human history. A history that seems destined to fail as it unfolds …
When the king of Alson is assassinated and the castle falls under a wizard’s attack, Queen Ellebe races to her onetime homeland village. She bears the news to the villager Jarom that he is really Torin, heir to the throne. As such, he is assigned the task of journeying to Kuuria, where he is to petition Emperor Derreg and the Imperial Council for help in Alson’s defense against the wizard’s onslaught.
Unbeknownst to Jarom, a reclusive council of mystics has designs of their own concerning the fate of mankind. Their machinations lead Jarom to delay his mission and take up a seemingly preordained quest to find one of the mythical Swords of Asahiel, the “Crimson Swords” used by elven avatars in the forging of the earth. The wizard’s assassins, however, nearly end Jarom’s quest before it can begin. Only the warrior skills of the enigmatic Kylac Kronus and the healing arts of the lovely Marisha Valour preserve Jarom’s life and enable him to embark on his perilous journey. Hunted by strange demons at every step, Jarom and his companions penetrate the ruins of the legendary city of Thrak-Symbos and claim the last known Crimson Sword.
Upon escaping with his prize, Jarom finds all of Pentania locked in a furious war against the legions of the Demon Queen, summoned from her slumber, and fighting the wizard, whom he learns is his brother, becomes a secondary concern. After a visit with the mystical Entients, Jarom learns that the Demon Queen’s armies of dragonspawn are limitless, as they are born of a magical union between the black dragon Killangrathor and Mount Krakken, into which the creature was driven by the Finlorian elves and their Swords of Asahiel at the close of the Dragon Wars. The only way to truly stem this evil tide is to slay the dragon, the last of the most powerful creatures to have ever inhabited the earth.
In this dark moment, Jarom is exposed to yet another bitter truth. Success is not preordained. Destiny, as he has come to see it, is an illusion. Circumstance and determination have made him wielder of the Crimson Sword, but the truth of its power remains a mystery to him—a mystery that is not necessarily his to uncover. Furthermore, the weapon cannot be used to hunt the dragon Killangrathor, because to do so would only drive the dragon from his self-imposed prison and unleash his fury upon an already tattered world.
Stripped of his absolute faith in destiny and himself, and without the true power of the Crimson Sword to shield him, Jarom sees little reason to proceed. But when the wizard, in service to the Demon Queen, snatches Marisha from under his nose, Jarom finds the will to fight back, and determines to forge his own fate. While Kylac Kronus journeys into the Skullmar Mountains and Killangrathor’s lair, hunted once again by the minions of the Demon Queen, Jarom rallies Pentania’s armies against the dragonspawn, then sets forth after the Demon Queen herself.
During the encounter with Killangrathor, the dragon is driven into a suicidal frenzy upon recognizing the origin of Kylac’s blades—a twist of fate predicted by the Entients, but which the youth himself is unable to explain. With the dragon dead, the magical dragonspawn die as well. However, it is not until Jarom is able to vanquish the Demon Queen, by unraveling at last a small portion of the Sword’s mystery, that the threat to mankind is ended and peace may return to Jarom’s world.
***
About the Author
Christopher Sirmons Haviland, also published as C.S. Haviland (CSHaviland.com), has a Bachelor's degree in Radio/TV/Film from the University of North Texas. He is the author of the fantasy novel
Faith & Fairies
and his short stories include “Change” published in
Pronto! Writings From Rome
and “The Reality Division” published in
Bad-Ass Faeries 2: Just Plain Bad
(winner of the 2009 EPPIE Award).
Haviland was Co-Producer on the feature film
The First of May
(FirstOfMay.com), starring Julie Harris, Dan Bird, Mickey Rooney, Charles Nelson Reilly, Gerard Christopher, Tom Nowicki, and baseball legend Joe DiMaggio in a cameo role. The movie ran for years on HBO Family and won a half dozen awards, including the Award of Excellence by the Film Advisory Board, The Dove Award from The Dove Foundation, and two Best Film Awards from the Burbank International Children's Film Festival.
As a spec screenwriter, Mr. Haviland has been a Quarter Finalist and SemiFinalist in the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting (sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences), a Quarter Finalist in the New Century Writer Awards, a Quarter Finalist in the Screenwriting Expo (sponsored by Creative Screenwriting Magazine), a multiple Semi Finalist in the Chesterfield Writer’s Film Project (sponsored by Amblin’ Entertainment and Universal Pictures), a Semi Finalist in the Maui Writers Conference National Screenwriting Competition, a Finalist in the People's Picture Show contest, a multiple Quarter Finalist in the Zoetrope Screenwriting Contest, and a Finalist in the AAA Screenplay Contest (sponsored by Creative Screenwriting Magazine).
Haviland is a highly sought veteran in online advertising operations and was staffed in the startup phases of About.com, Mail.com and the Softcard mobile app.
He lives in Frisco, TX with his wife Sara and his three boys, Forest, Sky, and River.
***
The Million Dollar Writing Series
Drawing on the Power of Resonance in Writing
Million Dollar Book Signings
Million Dollar Outlines
Million Dollar Productivity
Million Dollar Professionalism
The Non-User-Friendly Guide for Aspiring TV Writers
***
Additional Copyright Information
Foreword to
The Synopsis Treasury
by Christopher Sirmons Haviland, Copyright © 2014 by Christopher Sirmons Haviland.
Introduction to
The Synopsis Treasury
by Betsy Mitchell, Copyright © 2014 by Betsy Mitchell.
Biography and introduction for H. G. Wells, Copyright © 2014 by Christopher Sirmons Haviland.
Letter to an American Publisher (for consideration to publish
The Wheels of Chance
) by H. G. Wells and photograph of H. G. Wells published with written permission from A P Watt at United Agents on behalf of The Literary Executors of the Estate of H. G. Wells. Additional permission to publish from the H. G. Wells Collection, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University. Photograph courtesy Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org).
Introduction by Jack Williamson, Copyright © 2006 by Jack Williamson. Letters from Jack Williamson to Frederik Pohl, biography, and photograph of Jack Williamson published with written permission from the author. Additional permission for the letters granted by the Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries.
Biography of Andre Norton, Copyright © 2014 by Christopher Sirmons Haviland.
Excerpts of letters from Andre Norton to Christopher Sirmons Haviland, photograph and synopsis of
Port of Dead Ships
by Andre Norton published with written permission from the author. Photo courtesy Beth Gwinn.
Biography and introduction for Robert A. Heinlein, Copyright © 2014 by Christopher Sirmons Haviland.
Excerpts of letters from Robert A. Heinlein to Frederik Pohl published with written permission from Arthur M. Dula, Esq., Trustee, The Robert A. & Virginia Heinlein Prize Trust. Additional permission for the letters granted by the Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries.
Photograph published under the Wikipedia GNU Free Documentation License.
See: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Free_Documentation_License.
Detail from the wikimedia commons image: RAHeinlein.autographing.Midamericon.ddb-371-14-750px.jpg.)
Letters from Frederik Pohl to Robert A. Heinlein published with written permission from the author. Additional permission for the letters granted by the Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries.
Introduction by James Gunn, Copyright © 2014 by James Gunn. Biography and photograph of James Gunn and synopsis of
Transcendental
published with written permission from the author.
Introduction and biography by Brian Herbert for Frank Herbert, Copyright © 2006 by Brian Herbert, Herbert Properties LLC. Photograph of Frank Herbert and letters from Frank Herbert to Damon Knight published with written permission from Herbert Properties LLC. Additional permission for the letters granted by the Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries.
Letters by Damon Knight to Frank Herbert published with written permission by Kate Wilhelm. Additional permission for the letters granted by the Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries.
Introduction and biography by Ben Bova, Copyright © 2003 by Ben Bova. Photograph and synopsis of
Mars
published with written permission from the author. Photo courtesy Beth Gwinn.
Introduction and biography by Piers Anthony, Copyright © 2004 by Piers Anthony. Photograph and synopsis of
Being a Green Mother
published with written permission from the author.
Introduction and biography by Michael Bishop, Copyright © 2004 by Michael Bishop from the author. Photograph and synopsis of
No Enemy But Time
published with written permission.
Introduction and biography by Joe Haldeman, Copyright © 2004 by Joe Haldeman. Photograph and synopsis of
Old Twentieth
published with written permission from the author.
Introduction and biography by Terry Brooks, Copyright © 2014 by Terry Brooks. Photograph and synopsis of
Magic Kingdom For Sale: SOLD!
published with written permission by the author.
Introduction and biography by Robert E. Vardeman, Copyright © 2004 by Robert E. Vardeman. Photograph and outline of
Crisis at Starlight
published with written permission by the author.
Introduction and biography by Orson Scott Card, Copyright © 2006 by Orson Scott Card. Photograph and synopsis of
The Redemption of Columbus
published with written permission. Photo courtesy Terry Manier.
Introduction and biography by David Brin, Copyright © 2007 by David Brin. Photograph and synopsis of the
Out of Time
series published with written permission from the author.
Introduction and biography by Connie Willis, Copyright © 2007 by Connie Willis. Photograph and synopsis of
To Say Nothing of the Dog
published with written permission from the author.
Introduction and biography by Janny Wurts, Copyright © 2006 by Janny Wurts. Photograph and synopsis of
To Ride Hell’s Chasm
published with written permission from the author. Photo courtesy Don Maitz.
Introduction and biography by James P. Blaylock, Copyright © 2014 by James P. Blaylock. Photograph and synopsis of
Winter Tides
published with written permission from the author.
Introduction and biography by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson, Copyright © 2006 by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Photograph and synopsis of the
Dune
prequels published with written permission from the authors.
Introduction and biography by Bruce Coville, Copyright © 2014 by Bruce Coville. Photograph and synopses of
The Ghost Saw Red
and
I Was a Sixth Grade Alien
published with written permission from the author.
Introduction and biography by Margaret Weis, Copyright © 2006 by Margaret Weis. Photograph and synopsis of
Master of Dragons
published with written permission from the author. Photo courtesy Michelle’s Studio, Delavan, WI.
Introduction and biography by Judith Tarr, Copyright © 2004 by Judith Tarr. Photograph and synopsis of
His Majesty’s Elephant
published with written permission from the author.
Introduction and biography by Nancy Varian Berberick, Copyright © 2004 by Nancy Varian Berberick. Photograph and synopsis of
The Jewels of Elvish
published with written permission from the author.
Introduction and biography by Robert J. Sawyer, Copyright © 2007 by Robert J. Sawyer. Photograph, synopsis of
Hominids
, and outline of
Neandertal Parallax
published with written permission from the author.
Introduction and biography by Irene Radford, Copyright © 2004 by Irene Radford. Photograph and synopsis of
The Guardian of the Vision
published with written permission from the author.
Introduction and biography by Sara Douglass, Copyright © 2004 by Sara Douglass. Photograph and synopsis of
The Wayfarer Redemption
published with written permission from the author. Photo courtesy A. Jennings.
Introduction and biography by Louise Marley, Copyright © 2004 by Louise Marley. Photograph and synopsis of
The Child Goddess
published with written permission from the author.
Introduction and biography by Roberta Gellis, Copyright © 2004 by Roberta Gellis. Photograph and synopsis of
Desiree
published with written permission from the author.
Introduction and biography by Ian R. MacLeod, Copyright © 2006 by Ian R. MacLeod. Photograph and synopsis of
The Light Ages
published with written permission from the author. Photo courtesy Gillian Bowskill.
Introduction and biography by Julie E. Czerneda, Copyright © 2005 by Julie E. Czerneda. Photograph, letter and synopsis of
A Thousand Words for a Stranger
published with written permission from the author. Photo courtesy Roger Czerneda Photography.
Introduction and biography by Jacqueline Carey, Copyright © 2004 by Jacqueline Carey. Photograph and synopsis of
A D’Angeline Tale
published with written permission from the author.
Introduction and biography by Chris Roberson, Copyright © 2004 by Chris Roberson. Photograph and synopsis of
Here, There & Everywhere
published with written permission from the author.
Introduction and biography by Eldon Thompson, Copyright© 2004 by Eldon Thompson. Photograph and synopsis of
The Crimson Sword
published with written permission from the author.
***