The Next Big Thing . . .
Welcome to the next big thing blog hop! Join the fun blog hopping our way through some new reads, including works in progress and new and upcoming releases. For those who haven't been part of a blog hop before, you read my blog and hop on over to the next blog link for more entertainment. Bloggers hand picked by yours truly!
Thank you to Richard Weatherly for tagging me in this blog hop. Richard is a successful writer and social media icon, at least in my little world on twitter and facebook. Check out his site here.
Part of the Blog Hop is to introduce you to my work in progress by answering ten interview questions. This was originally posted in October of 2012.
I hope you'll take some time to follow the links to my author friends' blogs as well. They have some truly impressive books in print and a few in the works as well. See the end of the post to see who I've tagged.
Ten Interview Questions for The Next Big Thing
What is the working title of your book?
Stealing Time
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| Cover art for Stealing Time |
Where did the idea come from for the book?
I've always been fascinated by time travel stories, especially ones that take you to the past. After a harrowing summer in Florida with four major hurricanes, the first striking only three days after I moved into the state, the idea to combine hurricanes and time travel into Stealing Time began brewing in my head. It wasn't until the following summer that I began working on it.
What genre does your book fall under?
Time Travel Thriller (Hey that's T cubed).
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
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| Gerard Butler as Mike Walsh |
The only actor I've pictured in the movie version of Stealing Time is a character in book two, Mike Walsh, who would be played by Gerard Butler. Sigh. I'm not sure it's helpful to put anyone else in the reader's minds. I want them to imagine Ronnie, Jeffrey, Jack, Steph and Mathias on their own.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Wow, that's a toughie. Ronnie Andrews has a bad day or two? No, surely I can do better than that. Let me try again: Ronnie Andrews finds herself inexplicably thrown back in time during the worst hurricane to hit Central Florida in more than forty years.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I will self publish this first one and maybe try for traditional publishing after I see how this one goes.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Ahem, you had to ask. OK, confession time. I've been working on this for 7 years. But . . . I will have 3 books completed by year 8ish. I've decided to split the story into 3 separate books and then I'll release them as a compilation at a later date.
Why? I realized last spring that e-books were running a lot shorter than traditional pubs, at least in my genre. It occurred to me that people may not want a tome, even if it is amazing, er, really good. So Stealing Time will be a trilogy.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I like to compare my story to Michael Crichton's Timeline, in that it is science fiction that is more reality based than spaceships and weird creatures from the future. Timeline also has a healthy dose of historical fiction thrown in along with the sci-fi aspect, like Stealing Time.
Other works that are similar, although I don't think anyone has tackled the material in the way that I have, are perhaps Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. This series is technically a fantasy set up as opposed to science fiction since the character is sent back in time via druid standing stones in the hills of Scotland instead of a time travel device. My series is less romance type and is not any where as long or detailed as Diana's works.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I first decided to write a novel after becoming enamored (some may say obsessed) with Outlander. Diana has a book called the Outlandish Companion that describes the characters and tapestries of her vast novels. She also talks about her writing process and one section in particular describes how she writes a scene without knowing how it fits in to the rest of the story and then makes the connections afterwards.
I was very inspired by that, being similarly challenged with structure while having an abundance of creative ideas. The thought of a successful author having a creative rather than structured approach to the novel seemed a heck of a lot more plausible strategy for me. I've used some very helpful tools to give me the structure, which you can read about on my guest blog here that involves a book called The Marshall Plan, by Evan Marshall. A thank you to Kirkus MacGowan for allowing me to guest blog on his site.
My son has been my biggest supporter on this journey and has contributed some great ideas to the book. I think I may have a budding writer in the family.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
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| I rather like extreme weather! |
If you are fascinated with weather, as I am, I've included a healthy dose of bad scary weather, written from actual experience. I've been in about 15 hurricanes and tropical storms in my lifetime and can easily convey the power and awe I felt during those storms.
I've also tackled the time travel component in a very original way, without spoiling it, I can only say as the story develops the method of time travel and the intricacies of how one is placed back in time is revealed and it is very complex.
If that's not enough, I've got a sexy blonde heroine as the main character and a tall, dark, and handsome accomplice to throw another curve ball in her unsettled world. Oh, I forgot to mention there is a mad scientist and a sadistic captor. Interested? I hope so!
Watch for posts on January 24, 2013 from these authors:
Check them out now and learn about their current novels and works in progress.
Connect With Me
When I'm not working on Stealing Time you can find me on my social media at the links below. I hope to have my novel completed by late summer 2013 with book two close behind.
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