And now for The Next Big Thing!
This blog hop includes ten questions to help you learn more about an author’s current work in progress, so here’s a little info about my current project:
1: What is the working title of your book?
THE ANDERSEN ANCESTRY…the sequel to my novel, THE GRIMM LEGACY, which came out in ebook last year from Musa Publishing.
2: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Janie Grimm has survived being targeted for her ancestors (the Grimm Brothers) actions, only to have the faerie courts request her help in locating and protecting a relative of Hans Christian Andersen from the Seawitch, while trying to start a summer internship and keep a part time job.
3: Where did the idea come from for the book?
The better question is where the idea for both books came from…I’d watched a movie about the Grimm Brothers (the one with Heath Ledger) and thought about how I’d tell a different kind of story. As I’ve done more and more research on fairy tales and folklore, more and more ideas come to mind!
4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
This isn’t easy at all! Janie and her friends are in their early twenties…and anyone who would be good for them now wouldn’t necessarily be young enough down the road! I do think that the voice of Bert the frog could easily be Alan Tudyk (Wash from Firefly…I’m a big fan), but Woody Harrelson could also be interesting. Janie could be Jennifer Lawrence, from the Hunger Games. Mia…well, that could be Amanda Seyfried, from Mamma Mia. Aiden, on the other hand, is the difficult pick. I don’t know that I have anyone in mind for him.
5: What genre does your book fall under?
Definitely fantasy; it could also be labeled as contemporary fantasy.
6: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I’m still writing it! Have been working on it for the last year, but the pieces are quickly falling into place on it, and I should be done with all of it, and the editing (at least the stuff I do before I turn it in to the editor) in mid to late February.
7: Who or What inspired you to write this book?
I like the idea of what if. What if you were suddenly faced with something totally unbelievable at a time when you’re already stressed out over what’s going on in your life? The most stressful time I could think of was starting law school (I graduated from the same law school where THE GRIMM LEGACY was set). I remembered my parents reading me fairy tales when I was a kid, and actually going back and seeking them out to read them myself when I was old enough to read on my own. Smash the two ideas together, and I got started on the ideas in the first book. The one I’m working on now is the sequel.
8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Yikes. I’ve described these books as The Paper Chase meets fairy tales, but that’s more about the first book than the second. The second book, the one I’m working on now, talks about the characters in their first summer internship. I’d like to think it’s a good mash up of the tone in Janet Evanovich’s books with the fun humorous fantasy in Christopher Moore’s books.
9: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Oh, that’s easy! Englebert Maximus Jorganson Horace the Sixth. Also known as Bert, a former prince who was turned into a frog by a witch, and serves as Janie’s friend, advisor, and comic relief in both books. Bert’s soooooo much fun to write. Who ever thought that a frog prince would like NASCAR and imported beer, and have a snappy comeback for just about everything?
10. Where can we find you? How do we follow when your book is coming out?
My website is, of course, right here…and I’m on Facebook and Twitter, and I have an Amazon author page and a Goodreads author page.
You can find links to all those sites here.
There are a handful of authors I would love to introduce you to (or you may already know them!)
They will be next week’s blog hoppers starting on the 31st.
In no particular order, may I present:
Terry W. Ervin, II is a writer from my own neck of the woods, as he and I both live in Champaign County, Ohio. We met last year at an art event in Urbana, where local authors were promoting their work, and had a great time talking books and conferences and all kinds of stuff. Terry’s got some interesting projects available from Gryphonwood Press, and has published numerous articles and short stories. There’s a whole list of his stuff on his website, which is at www.ervin-author.com, and he runs a blog connected to that website.
I hadn’t realized that Chris Garrison had already posted in this blog hop…and I’m excited to see that his projects have recently gotten picked up by Hydra Publications and Seventh Star Press…so I’m linking back to his post talking about the same kind of stuff here…follow his website at www.ericgarrison.wordpress.com Christ and I got to serve on some panels together last year at Context in Columbus, Ohio, and we had a great time! I’m looking forward both to getting his stuff and to hopefully seeing him at conferences in the next year!
There’s also my friend, Dana Brantley-Sieders. We met at Killer Nashville last year, and got a chance to swap projects and hang out for a bit, and she’s represented by the fabulous Natalia Aponte at the Aponte Literary Agency. Dana’s a ton of fun to hang out with, and her writing’s a ton of fun, too! She’s got a romance novella coming out in 2013 from Lyrical Press, and she’s got some other fun stuff on the way…You can find her website at www.dbsieders.wordpress.com
I’ve said before that going to conferences and meeting and networking with other writers pays off…so here’s a shout out to Anne Marie Lutz at www.annemariesblog.wordpress.com I met her at Context last year, and she’s the one who tagged me in this blog hop. Her stuff sounds pretty awesome as well, so stop by and check her out!
Weathering the Storm 