“What is the book about?”

was talking to a friend who asked me that question the other day. Here’s how I answered it:

Me: It’s a fiction book.

Her: About what?

Me: [hmm? what is it about?] It’s about the end of the world, and a couple people that try to save things.

Her: So, its a religious thing?

Me: No. [Clearly I’m not explaining this well] No. There’s some religious themes interwoven I guess, but nothing that is strictly religious.

I had previously started to sketch out the little blurbs and taglines, and I have written every word of the thing so far, but couldn’t come up with anything better than that. My first chance to get some buzz going (albeit a tiny little baby buzz) and I blew it.

The truth is, the book is still evolving somewhat. Every time I write another chunk or two of it, I get some new ideas about the thing. I think I’m pretty well set on the plot lines and major events, now I just need to figure out how to describe this thing–which I’m close to having a few sentences that aren’t the written equivalent of my first attempt at kissing a girl (read: awkward and life-scaring).

I do have a couple of good taglines though. I will save them until the book is a little closer to being published and distributed. Plus, I do need to be a solid two drafts into the thing to make sure that everything is solidified. I figure after the second draft is complete, there won’t be anymore major plot shifts.