Here's the Who/What/How (Who tries to do What How?) formulaic version:
After helping hide an escaped interstellar criminal for the past sixteen years, a New Mexico bar owner plays one last gambit to save his town and the alien--by erasing everyone's memories.--Sounds okay, but unfortunately it's not entirely accurate, and the focus of the book isn't on the last gambit anyway.
Here's the "Write it like a movie trailer" version:
[NINA is sitting at a table in an eclectic barroom. A hand comes out of nowhere to slam a mug of bright blue beer on her table.]--Fun to write, but NOT a log line. Also, Bill may seem too passive.
BILL: 'Lo there, missy.
VOICEOVER BILL: I got a story to tell--and one night to tell it. It all started when Anam Ba'hana came to town. He ain't human...
[Cut to a small, old-fashioned courtroom, tinged in "flashback sepia." MAYOR JACK sits on the edge of a table, glaring at professional MARTIE. BILL stands on the other side of the table, agape. Sitting beside MARTIE is ANAM, looking like a famine victim in a cheap suit. ANAM shakes so hard the table rattles on the floor.]
BILL: You want me to help hide an alien with a death sentence?
MARTIE: [Matter of fact, ignoring BILL] Jack, it's only until we can figure out how his ship works.
JACK: Now, that's the cold-hearted bitch I remember.
BILL: And how do you think we're going to do that?
MARTIE: Tell them he's a paleontologist. A dinosaur-hunter.
[BILL and JACK look at ANAM. A rope of drool rolls off his gaping lips.]
BILL: Right. Nobody's going to figure that out.
VOICEOVER BILL: ...And neither are the people chasing him.
[Cut to a small bathroom. MARTIE is gripping the sink and staring angrily in the mirror. A cracking sound, and the camera zooms in on what looks like a barnacle, which leaks a stream of blue goo up the wall. A rustle of clothing and a muffled scream. MARTIE's arm flashes by the screen, with a trail of blue along her wrist. A thump. A pause. The toilet flushes.]
[Cut to the barroom. BILL is encouraging SAM to take a sip of beer. The door chimes.]
MARTIE: [In a flat voice] Anam is coming with me.
BILL: No, he ain't.
[MARTIE pulls out a gun and aims it at ANAM. BILL hits her repeatedly with the beer mug.]
[Cut to MARTIE lying on the barroom floor. Blue flecks are dripping out of her mouth. Bill pushes back her lower lip and sees a mass of blue shards.]
BILL: What the hell?
ANAM: My brother has stolen this body. Maybe more.
BILL: [Sitting back and looking out the window] Jack!
[Cut to BILL high-tailing it down a dusty, small-town street, dragging ANAM behind him.]
VOICEOVER BILL: And that was just the beginning.
[Cut back to NINA in the present. She's sipping the blue brew while BILL watches her.]
NINA: What did you do then?
BILL: It's a long story.
[Cut to a bunch of exciting snippets from the rest of the story, which I am too lazy to go into here.]
NINA: I have time.
[Cut to Nina, who sets the mug back on the table. The camera zooms in until it's following a suspiciously blue drip down the side of the mug. Title flashes: ALIEN BLUE.]
Here's a more sensible version:
A small-town bar owner fights to save his friends from alien invaders after they hide an interstellar criminal in the New Mexico desert.--Which does NOT capture the feel of the book whatsoever, but it's accurate and short.
More after tomorrow's practice, I guess.
