A Writer on Thanksgiving

                If you're like me, you hate telling people what your book is about while you're still in the first drafts, making Thanksgiving a minefield of well-intentioned relatives. Maybe it's because your book sounds too dark just by the synopsis (this is my problem, since I have never written a book where someone isn't dead, missing, and/or crying in the first couple of pages). Or maybe it's not of a subject that you really want to be discussing with grandma over turkey. The truth is that many of us (especially with Nanowrimo coming to a close) are in a stage where our plot could change (and hopefully will) any day now and are not ready to make any promises. So here are some ideas of vague topics to tell your extended family this Thanksgiving.*

1. "It's a coming of age story"

2. "Your classic boy-meets-girl story with a twist"

3. "It's the anti-[insert popular young adult series here]"

4. Or, if you are feeling particularly confident, "It's the next [insert popular young adult series here]"

5. Use some literary-sounding term like "post-modern" or "stream of conscience"

6. Along those lines, "Well, it's really more of a character study"

7. "It's a book that all takes place in one day/month/year"

8. "Have you ever read [insert obscure novel here]? Oh, it's not going to make sense if you haven't read [insert obscure novel here]."**

                And ta-da! Your great-aunt is moving onto your cousin's high school batting average and you are free from any awkward explanations.

*If you ever say any of these to an agent or someone who actually matters in your literary career, I will personally hit you upside the head with the biggest, heaviest book I can find.

**Options include The Metamorphosis, The Catcher in the Rye, Hamlet, or any book your uncle hasn't read in the 40 years since high school.