I would like to welcome you
to the NEXT BIG THING blog hop, which is designed to raise awareness of the
work, or work in progress, of new authors. First of all, thanks to my fellow author, Elsie Rees Park and one of my dear writing buddies,Erika Mailman for inviting me hop on board.
The rules
of this blog hop go like this: I answer ten questions about my book then tag
four to six other authors whose work could very well be the NEXT BIG THING.
So, here goes:
1)
What is the working title of
your next book?
Up In The Air.
2)
Where did the idea come from
for the book?
One day while I was
meditating, several scenes for the story popped into my head. This was a shock,
as something like this had never happened to me before.
3)
What genre does your book
fall under?
Middle Grade Fantasy.
4)
Which actors would you choose
to play your characters in a movie
rendition?
This was a
challenging question, but thanks to my eleven-year old daughter, with whom I
watch way too many kid shows, I was able to come up with a couple of possibilities.
For the main
character, Melody: Sierra McCormick.
For Sara, Melody’s
guide on Chimeroan: Brenda Song.
For Jackson, one of
the fliers: Jaden Smith.
If dreams could
become reality, then for the character of Patrick O’Hara: Peter Dinklage (think
Tyrion Lannister in the Game of Thrones).
Honestly though, I’m
thrilled with the idea of having as-yet unknown actors and actresses play the
parts.
5) What
is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
A young girl dreams
of flying but when her dream comes true and she gets wings, she realizes that
she can’t fly away from her problems.
6) Will
your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Up In the Air will be published
by Jolly Fish Press. The publication date is July 6th of this
year.
7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of your
manuscript?
I didn’t keep track,
but if I had to guess, I’d say at least a year; maybe even longer. My answer to
Question 9 will explain why.
8) What other books would you compare this story to within your
genre?
This is a tough one.
Even though I’ve read an innumerable number of children’s books, none quite
compares with Up In The Air. Still, I
will go out on a limb and say (with cheek in tongue) that one or two aspects of
my story can compare to some degree with The
of Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis and Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass.
9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
As I mentioned
above, scenes for Up In The Air
popped into my head while I was meditating. I was so excited (plus afraid I’d
forget the ideas) that I immediately jumped up, ran downstairs to my computer
and started typing. By chapter 3 I knew I was in deep trouble, so I went back upstairs,
closed my eyes and resumed my meditation.
Nothing, Nada, Zilch.
It took me months to
figure out the best way to convey the essence of the book and the ideas that
had come to me during the meditation. Then I had to write and rewrite and
rewrite (ad infinitum) certain chapters before I could complete the book.
Whenever I felt like giving up or found myself working on one of my other
manuscripts, I would remind myself that if I had received the idea for Up In The Air during a meditation, then
it needed to be written. I had to find a way.
And eventually I
did.
10) What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Imagine a world where dreams come true; anything
imagined or desired. Well, Chimeroan is such a place. Yet be warned. Dreams
come with a price.
Here are some of the amazing authors joining the blog hop
next week: