The best and worst question you can ask an author about their book is “What's it about?” If I'm in a good mood, I'll give you a brief synopsis. “ Live to Tell is about a writer who meets a girl who has a new idea for his next book.”
If I'm in a mood, however, I'll say something glib like, “It's about the pain of human conscience.” In other words, that's it as a thematic concept. This is pretentious. Stephen gets pulled into the story of the Brotherhood of Karden, but he's left questioning its validity and even its existence. Jacinta is hoping she has the evidence needed to incriminate her father, but she knows her enemies are working against her to avoid arrest.
It's probably the hardest thing for me to talk about when I'm asked what my books are about. I know the person is expecting me to launch into an enthusiastic pitch with embellishments. I'd prefer they simply read it, and they might decide it's about something else entirely. “What's it about?” isn't as simple a question as it sounds.
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