A Shameless Act of Self Promotion

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Here's the synopsis from a book proposal I recently submitted for review. It's turning out to be quite a beautiful book, and I'm proud to have my hand in it. If you have publishing connections and would like to see sample chapters or marketing information, e-mail me at amyATgregscheerDOTcom.


Frames

a picture of death, drugs and forgiveness

Amy Scheer


On August 21, 2004, at 4:45pm, Marilyn Jansma slowed her Honda CR-V into line to pay toll on a Chicago highway. Kevin Jansma, home in Iowa, played blocks with their son, Trey. A Chicago car mechanic, tired from a raucous all-night birthday celebration, left work and fell asleep at the wheel.

The crash that resulted killed Marilyn, shattering the lives of all who knew this spirited church leader and budding clinical psychologist. And it forever changed the man who took her life.

Frames presents a picture of this real-life tragedy and its hopeful end by letting the central characters speak for themselves. First-hand accounts stand side by side, forming an elegant and complex narrative collage. Interviews with the young widower and driver, as well as excerpts from Marilyn’s journals and other primary source materials, engage the reader with their highly personal revelations.

Part oral history, part elegy, Frames displays moments in poignant pairings. Tales of a church group awaiting news of the accident and faithfully reciting the Lord’s Prayer sit alongside a recounting of the meeting of Kevin and the driver—which began with the same prayer and ended with Kevin saying, “I forgive you.”

As Kevin later made plans to remarry, he encountered a new set of difficulties when friends and family proved unwilling to allow him to move on. His mother, overwhelmed in her grief, became preoccupied with the space on her mantelpiece. If there will be a second wedding, what should she do with the first framed bride and groom?

Her question becomes a metaphor for Frames, showing that the many snapshots of our lives rarely stand alone, and one picture of death, drugs and forgiveness has lessons for us all.

Comments

  1. _*rachel*_February 6, 2010 at 11:30 PM

    If you're submitting this soon, here are the links I'd recommend for synopses:

    http://misssnark.blogspot.com/search/label/Crapometer-synopsis
    http://rejecter.blogspot.com/2009/06/infamous-synopsis.html
    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=synopsis&as_epq=&as_oq=1*+2*&as_eq=&num=10&lr=&as_filetype=&ft=i&as_sitesearch=http%3A%2F%2Fevileditor.blogspot.com%2F&as_qdr=all&as_rights=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=images

    (sorry about the last URL; I had to google to find them buried in the rest of the blog)

    ReplyDelete

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