3/31/2011 I'd rather write an entire book than…

I’m serious.  I’d rather write a 94,156 word novel than do the back cover and author copy for the same book.

The confines of word count increase the tension of saying a lot in a little space.  There’s the knowledge that what’s on the back cover of a book will determine whether someone buys the book or sits it back on the shelf.

If you have time, read over this back cover copy as well as the dust jacket flaps.  (A Spent Bullet will have a hardback copy available.  This will be a first for my nine books.)

Italicized text are areas I’m stumped on.

A Spent Bullet  Back Cover Copy

Late summer 1941. Louisiana’s piney woods are engulfed by a tidal wave of soldiers engaged in the largest Army Maneuvers ever undertaken on American soil. For many of these young men as well as the isolated southern communities, life will never be the same and although no one knows it, America will be at war in three months.

Elizabeth Reed is a young Louisiana schoolteacher who dislikes soldiers. Harry Miller is a Wisconsin soldier who hates Louisiana. It only makes sense that they should meet and fall in love. Their story begins with a bullet—an empty cartridge tossed from a truckload of soldiers.  The note inside it will change the destinies of these two young people.

In the midst of large scale “battles” between the Red and Blue Armies, Harry and Elizabeth are each fighting a personal battle with a dark secret from their pasts. They have nothing in common except mutual desires to run from/escape the past.

In spite of clashing at every turn, they run right into each other’s arms as they jointly learn that the “hardest person to forgive is yourself.”

Within this clash of cultures lies the core message of A Spent Bullet. Piney Woods Louisiana is never the same, and neither are the soldiers who learn about Louisiana mud, mosquitoes, and misery as well as memorable Southern hospitality.

More than a love story, A Spent Bullet recreates a memorable but largely forgotten time in Louisiana and our nation’s history. Told in the funny and touching style loved by readers of his previous eight books, Curt Iles weaves a story of love, history, redemption that will be enjoyed by all ages.

Front Dust Jacket Flap

The foxholes are now filled in.  The camp sites are overgrown in pine forests, but seventy years later, the stories of the 1941 Louisiana Army Maneuvers are still remembered/told by those who experienced it as teenagers and children.

A Spent Bullet recreates that memorable time when a nation teetering on the edge of peace and war, took its last deep restful breath before America was plunged into World War II.

Told through the eyes of a country girl named Elizabeth and a disillusioned Milwaukee Wisconsin soldier named Harry,  A Spent Bullet captures the spirit of this time and weaves a story that will keep readers laughing, crying, and reading on to the last page.

Back[CI3] Dust Jacket Flap

<Author Photo>

Curt Iles writes from his hometown of Dry Creek, Louisiana.  This is his ninth book celebrating life in the Piney Woods of western Louisiana where his family has lived for eight generations/nearly two hundred years. A popular author and speaker, Curt can be reached at http://www.creekbank.net


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