Writing is like being able to put life into a snow globe. It takes the things that are too big and scary and reduces them into a form that I can put away when I want and look at from a distance. It also takes all that’s good in life and captures it into something I can take out when I want and look at close up and keep forever. It makes the bad things into something I can hold…and the good things into something I can hold onto. Both help so much that I need that little souvenir of life.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Book Blurb Friday #8

It feels good to get back to blogging with Book Blurb Friday, hosted by Lisa Ricard Claro of Writing in the Buff! Each week, she posts a pretend book cover. The challenge is to write a blurb of 150 words or less to go with it. I really struggled with picking one quote this week...so finally settled on two.

And thank you so much to Sioux of Sioux's Page for the award! I hope to pass it along in the coming week along with Donna's "Sisters of the Quill" award, which I never got to pass along before my dog got sick.

Here's my Book Blurb Friday, at 139 words.

~Soul of Stone~
Annie thought she had married the sweetest man. But right after the wedding, it seemed as if her husband’s pleasant exterior crumbled. It wasn’t until much later that she realized appearances were all that mattered to this effigy of a human. Like a statue of Narcissus, the husband she had once loved knew only how to pose in order to manipulate others like chess pieces. Underneath it all, her husband was stone cold evil who never truly loved, but viewed others solely in terms of himself.

When she filed for divorce, Annie learned about the rest: the cheating, the tens of thousands of dollars he’d stolen outright, and always the lies he used to cover it all up. Yet again, he portrayed himself as the victim. She learned that divorcing a Narcissist means the worst is yet to come.

…most people are unsuspecting and are unaware of the degree to which they are being taken advantage of, used and abused. This unawareness is not due to a general lack of intelligence in people, but to their tendency to project their own range of normalcy onto others. Hence, their disinclination to suspect someone so profoundly depraved to be in their midst, carrying on an existence that is fundamentally and thoroughly alie (sic). But the character disordered conveniently regard this trait as evidence of intellectual inferiority and will take a twisted delight in the knowledge that they have so many fooled. ~Doug McManaman, “Narcissism and the Dynamics of Evil.”

The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
An evil soul, preducing holy witness,
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
A goodly apple rotten at the heart.
O, what a goodly outside a falsehood hath!” ~Shakespeare, Act one, Scene 3, Merchant of Venice

16 comments:

  1. Tammy, I think these people are true sociopaths, and I have known many of them. They are clever in their ability to hit the weak spots in others and use them to get what they want. Good blurb, Tammy!

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  2. Lord, you are good at these! All I thought of while looking at that picture was Janet Jackson. :)

    Your dog is okay now? You know I have a HUGE tender spot for animals.
    Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow

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  3. Powerful stuff there, Ms. Tammy!!

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  4. Was a person you know the inspiration for this? (I hope not!)

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  5. Wow, Tammy, I was married to one of those once.
    -- K

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  6. This would be an amazing psychological thriller. I know these people exist, and I've met a few, but only peripherally, thank goodness. The misery and havoc they wreak on those close to them is horrific and sad. As a book, I'd like to see how this plays out. I'm figuring she stands tall in the end.

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  7. Wow ... yours is such a true one that it could be the storyline for a crime show. It sure has my attention, and I'd love to read your book.

    Have a great weekend,

    Kathy M.

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  8. Powerful stuff Tammy. You are a strong writer and person!

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  9. The Narcissist sounds like a guy we'd love to hate. That left me with a bit of a creepy feeling and an urge to read more.

    My Blurb: The Sculptor

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  10. Sounds like Annie could be in store for more unpleasant surprises. Great job on your blurb!

    I'm glad to hear your boy is feeling better. A very happy belated birthday to him...please give some extra ear scratches from me!

    Pat
    www.critteralley.blogspot.com

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  11. This will be a nail-biting read. I hope she survives!

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  12. Judie, I agree. And Jules--LOL about the wardrobe malfunction! Thanks to you and Pat--I know you can relate to pet issues. He's much better but not entirely out of the woods...but we are hopeful! Thanks, Becky, Kathy and Grandma! Linda, that means a lot. Sioux, let's just say this one would be only too easy for me to write. Kay, I am so sorry. What amazes me about Narcissists is that they so overestimate their own self-importance when the only thing people ultimately remember about them is how deeply evil they are. And in the end, who really wants to remember evil? Lisa and Jabblog, she does. ;)

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  13. Wow, what could be worse? Very nice lead in to what looks like a very promising story!

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  14. Susan, what's worse is NOT divorcing that.

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  15. Lisa said it: "an amazing psychological thriller" and I've not a clue how it could all work out, but suspect it'd be interesting to find out.

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  16. Very powerful. Sounds like someone I... err, I'll be nice.:-)

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