Week 18: The Next Big Thing

I’ve been tagged – blog tagged – by my very talented writer friend, Lisa Koosis. She answered the same questions on her own blog post last Wednesday: http://writingonthinice.blogspot.com/

Here are my answers about my own work-in-progress:

What is the working title of your book?

Voices in the Waves

Where did the idea come from for the book?

A few years back, as my family and I drove north on highway 684 to upstate New York, I was getting sleepy (no, I wasn’t the one driving) and watched the trees wiz by at incredible speeds. Call it my muse, but inspiration struck and it was hard to ignore. A phrase popped into my head – tree herding. So I asked my muse, “why would people herd trees?” And she answered matter-of-factly (in that annoying professor voice), “because the trees have an inner essence – soulvapor – that is needed to protect an island and its people against their predators – the ocean-dwelling Merbeasts.” Then the image of a girl popped into my head, a beautiful, red-headed girl, who has never been allowed into the ocean. Why? Because once her body touches the waves, she transforms into a Merbeast. Thus began the epic journey of Anaïs Willow, seventeen-year-old human-Merbeast hybrid.

What genre does your book fall under?

Young Adult Epic Fantasy

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Once I saw the movie, Hanna, I knew immediately, hands down, that the image of Anaïs in my head was really Saoirse Ronan. As I’ve been writing and revising Voices in the Waves (and summaries of its subsequent two books), it’s this talented and beautiful actress I’ve pictured in my head. For Anaïs’s love interest, Akron, I picture someone like Ian Somerhalder, except Ian’s very pretty (no offense), so maybe a bit rougher looking.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Seventeen-year-old Anaïs Willow discovers she’s a descendent of a human-Merbeast experiment and that she holds a power over water that casts her as a pawn in a brewing war with the ocean-dwelling Merbeasts. (Woah, that’s a mouthful. Try saying that in one breath.)

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

My book is represented by my agent, Paula Munier of Talcott Notch Literary.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I started the original story years ago, but the current version and the version I’ve seriously considered for publication, took me about a year of working nights and weekends.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

May I compare it to books and movies? My story is similar in scope and style to Kristin Cahore’s Graceling and Maria V. Snyder’s Touch of Power, with a sprinkle of Hanna meets Avatar meets Waterworld

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

My inspiration for this book really was nature itself – our conservation of nature, and our abuse of it. But it’s also a story of a girl who feels different, left out, because she is different and people fear her. I love the idea of a girl on the outskirts of society who ultimately becomes its potential savior.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

There are several big themes in my book. One of them is the message – there are consequences to playing God. The Experimentors of the world I created have produced a new kind of being – a creature of land and sea. But their strange experiments have created a being that thinks and feels and has a soul – something they’re unprepared to deal with or analyze. Most of all, the story is about a girl who’s journey not only tests her outer strength, but is a testament to her inner one as well. I really didn’t think about these themes as I wrote the story. It was during revisions when I realized I had these themes.

Thank you so much for reading about my work! 

Tagged for next week (Week 19) are some of my very talented writer friends. Check out their blogs next Wednesday when it's their turn to post answers to these same questions about their own works-in-progress!

Liz Coley lizcoleybooks.blogspot.com

Albert Harris http://www.bond-eye.blogspot.com/

Lee Kelly http://newwritecity.com/ 

Amy E. Robertson www.amyiswriting.com

Rules:



***Answer these ten questions about your current WIP (Work In Progress) on your blog


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***Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.

Ten Interview Questions for The Next Big Thing:

 What is the working title of your book?

Where did the idea come from for the book?

What genre does your book fall under?

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?