Hi everyone~ I'm thrilled to be on the blog tour for Eileen Cook's newest book The Hanging Girl! Many thanks to Raincoast Books for the opportunity! Below I have a great Q&A with Eileen and my thoughts on the book :)
The Hanging Girl
by Eileen Cook
October 3, 2017
320 pages
320 pages
Goodreads Summary:
Skye Thorn has given tarot card readings for years, and now her psychic visions are helping the police find the town’s missing golden girl. It’s no challenge—her readings have always been faked, but this time she has some insider knowledge. The kidnapping was supposed to be easy—no one would get hurt and she’d get the money she needs to start a new life. But a seemingly harmless prank has turned dark, and Skye realizes the people she’s involved with are willing to kill to get what they want and she must discover their true identity before it’s too late.
Q&A
BCP: I noticed The Hanging Girl has a tag line on the cover, "Trust No One. Deceive Everyone." How did you/your publisher come up with that and what do you think goes into an eye-catching tag line?
EC: I can’t remember who came up with which half, but I think I was the one who came up with Trust No One, and my editor came up with Deceive Everyone. We were trying to figure out which we liked best when the idea occurred to us that we could combine them.
I find titles and tag lines difficult to create. This book was called “the psychic book” the entire time I was writing it. (And nope, that isn’t very catchy.) It wasn’t until I finished it and went back through the manuscript that the idea for the title popped up. I often brainstorm tag lines with either my editor or someone in my writing group until we land on something that seems to work.
Attracting readers to a book is a tricky process. It’s a bit easier if they’ve read that author before—but otherwise you’re counting on an appealing cover, a catchy title and a tag line that intrigues them enough to read the blurb about the book’s plot. Whenever possible, what works best is to raise a question in their mind. “Hmmm, I wonder what that’s about….” However, in the end everything really comes down to the story. Readers either keep turning pages or they don’t.
I find titles and tag lines difficult to create. This book was called “the psychic book” the entire time I was writing it. (And nope, that isn’t very catchy.) It wasn’t until I finished it and went back through the manuscript that the idea for the title popped up. I often brainstorm tag lines with either my editor or someone in my writing group until we land on something that seems to work.
Attracting readers to a book is a tricky process. It’s a bit easier if they’ve read that author before—but otherwise you’re counting on an appealing cover, a catchy title and a tag line that intrigues them enough to read the blurb about the book’s plot. Whenever possible, what works best is to raise a question in their mind. “Hmmm, I wonder what that’s about….” However, in the end everything really comes down to the story. Readers either keep turning pages or they don’t.
Thank you Eileen for sharing this with us today! I personally really love the tag line. Nothing yells "thriller" better than those two little lines. It definitely captured my attention ;)
About the AuthorEileen Cook is a multi-published author with her novels appearing in eight different languages. Her books have been optioned for film and TV. She spent most of her teen years wishing she were someone else or somewhere else, which is great training for a writer. She’s an instructor/mentor with the Simon Fraser University Writer’s Studio Program.
You can read more about Eileen, her books, and the things that strike her as funny at www.eileencook.com. Eileen lives in Vancouver with her husband and two very naughty dogs and no longer wishes to be anyone or anywhere else.
Website Authors Goodreads
