Many authors are offering trailers of their books these days. It’s an entertaining way to introduce readers to your story in less than sixty seconds, using just a few key images, select quotations, and music. But how do you do it? There are a couple of ways to go about it. One, pay someone who knows what they’re doing. Two, take a risk and create your own. It’s actually not that difficult.
If you decide to make your own trailer, there’s a techie part and an artistic part. I read a couple of articles (here’s one) that explained how to create slides in Canva Pro, animate them, and add text. Creating the slides is the artistic part. Use your book blurb; you know that little piece you sweated over that went on the back cover? You have to search through tons of images to find the ones that grab you. I was stoked to find images that really portrayed my key characters. I honestly think the gods were with me that day.
Once I had the slides created, I dropped them into I-Movie. After that, all you need is a cinematic soundtrack and you’re off. Be sure to use royalty-free music and not just some song that you really like. Youtube has lots of royalty-free music that can be used commercially. This music is “Claim of Thrones.”
I penciled a storyboard and worked a few hours creating the slides. The hardest part was capturing the theme and key points that really described the story. After that the whole thing magically came together with the soundtrack. Here it is. What do you think?
Once upon a time in a house deep in the woods of Northern BC, a strong, thoughtful woman invited all her family and friends to Thanksgiving dinner—her parents and in-laws, convict brother-in-law, divorcing neighbours, and her two children: ten-year-old Tommy and his teenage sister, Charlotte. There were twelve in all, as one couple didn’t appear; at least, not in their human forms. It wasn’t quite “The Last Supper” but close.
Wolf at the Door is a kick-ass tour de force, a brilliantly plotted and masterfully written debut novella that will keep you sitting up in bed with your eyes and ears wide open long after its done. You may never venture out in the dark again.
This enchanting 125-page-story is told in six parts: Before Dinner, Cocktails, The Dinner, Dessert, Second Helpings, and A Late Night Snack. McKay treads the fantasy/horror trail but his psychological deep-dive into the characters of these people-next-door is what impresses most. When I taught English we often gave out an assignment: create a dinner party with several characters. Explain who and why and what transpires during the dinner. In a shorter story, an author must be concise and discriminatory with psychological details, and as I read the carefully selected backstories, personalities, and foibles of Char’s dinner guests, this came to mind.
How will Char and her husband Doug save their family and friends from being the main course for a couple of vicious werewolves equipped with mythic speed, superstrength, razor teeth and claws, and a hinged jaw that opens wide enough to take in Grandma’s whole head? Even the quintessential minivan can’t stand up to this brutality. “The monster’s arms broke through the window next to Owen like a knife through an eggshell. The glass shattered inward, scattering across the seats and floor in tiny square little chunks. Char tried to reach for Owen, but the seat belt locked and held her back” (104). I’ll stop there in case werewolf horror isn’t to your taste.
Joel McKay is a superhero in a suit. Trained as a journalist, McKay made Prince George his home a decade ago when he joined the Northern Development Initiative Trust. He’s now CEO. The Trust works with First Nations, local governments, and businesses to invest in Northern economic development. By day, McKay distributes millions of dollars in grants to create a stronger BC but by night he turns his literary skills to the realm of Sci-Fi, fantasy, and horror. His short story, “Number Hunnerd” was recently published in Tyche Books’ anthology, Water: Selkies, Sirens and Sea Monsters. I honestly cannot wait to read his first novel.
Wolf at the Door is a TV show waiting to happen. McKay’s sensory writing, keen dialogue, relatable characters, and perfect plotting creates a screenwriter’s dream. But don’t wait for that. Read it today, preferably in the daylight hours.
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