While at the Grand Canyon last week, I learned some things about ravens that made me admire the birds even more than I previously did.
These fascinating birds--about the size of red-tailed hawk--fly upside down and do somersaults in the sky, just for fun. They drop sticks and then swoop down to get them before they hit the ground, in their solo game of fetch. They live to be 25-30 years old, and can make 100 different vocalizations--everything from a wolf to a toilet flushing.
However, the most surprising thing I learned was a study they did with ravens. People wore masks with different expressions. People with a certain mask were mean to the ravens. People with a certain mask were kind to the ravens. People with a certain mask were playful with the ravens.
Generations of ravens later, the birds still responded correctly. The younger birds--birds that had never seen people in the masks--stayed away from the masked people who were deemed as dangerous. They flocked to the kind ones and the fun ones, even though they had never encountered the people in the original study.
Wow. What brilliant birds.
And now onto the business of book blurb.
Look at the photo below. That is the cover of your book. You choose the genre. Is it a nonfiction piece? Is it a guide for nudists? You decide.
Write an enticing blurb--150 words or less. (The title doesn't count in the word count.) Blurbs are those enticing bits that prod you into buying the book. Sometimes they're on the back cover of the book. Sometimes they're on the inside front cover. What they always try to do is lure you into purchasing the book.
Lisa Ricard Claro was the original creator of this writing challenge. She moved to Florida and is now enjoying some much-deserved beach time--on a weekly basis, probably. (If you check out her blog and read this week's post, you can even see what she sees when she looks out the window of her writing room. Be prepared to drool. It's a lovely view.)
Include your blurb in a blog post. Include a link to this post. Also, link your post to Mr. Linky. Mr. Linky is easy. If you've never done it, you'll be impressed with how simple he is. And then, check out the other blurb(s). It's interesting to see the different directions writers take, given the same photo.
Here's the book cover, along with my blurb:
The Man With No Plan
Edwin went to the Grand Canyon for the first time. He was a pantser. In his everyday life he flew by the seat of his pants, so the trip was no different. He went into the park with only the clothes he wore, a half-filled tube of sunscreen and a gallon of water.
Unaware that the terrain was quite rough in spots, he snagged up this pants, shirt and boxers until they were shredded. Having no other choice, he took them off, and then admired the view below him.
Then Edwin realized that somewhere during his hike, he’d lost his car keys.
Will he have enough water to avoid dehydration? Will he have enough sunscreen to avoid his man-bits turning into crispy critters? Will he make it out alive, or will he have to find a herd of elk to live with? (147 words)
And for Val and Pat and anyone else who'd like to play along, here is the photo for next week:
How about you? What animal do you admire, and why?
