The lovely and talented mystery author Susan Spann tagged me last week in a blog train called “The Next Big Thing.” The idea is to tell everyone about your current writing project. Because everyone loves spoilers! Okay, kidding. I may be the only one, but that’s not surprising given that I have been known to unwrap Christmas presents that were unwisely left under the tree before Christmas (and rewrap them to hide the evidence). Um...(Mom and Dad don’t read my blog. I hope.)Anyway, I released my first novel, Contract of Defiance, earlier this year and will be releasing it’s follow-up, Contract of Betrayal in spring of 2013. Here is a bit more information about it.
Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing
What is your working title of your book?Contract of Betrayal, the follow-up to Contract of DefianceWhere did the idea come from for the book?Writing a military science fiction novel like Contract of Defiance necessarily requires a solid thinking through of the socio-cultural and political foundations of the time and culture one is writing about. Thus, Defiance evolved as a story about a possible future that was too big to be contained in a single book (and, if I’m being honest, took too much time and effort to think up to want to forget about after a single book. Every author knows how invested we get in our stories and characters; it’s the ultimate in codependent relationships). With a juicy history and social order, and a number of fun and crazy characters, the setting Defiance naturally lent itself to further development and adventures, and I started penning ideas and a rough outline for Betrayal before Defiance was complete (having to remind myself everyday not to get too attached to the new storylines yet because I wasn’t sure who would survive the first one). Thankfully, the ending of Defiance left itself wide open for a sequel.What genre does your book fall under?Military science fiction. To be technical, however, one could easily make the argument that it is anti-military sf.Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?Oooh, I love this question! And since many of my character ideas come from characteristics and attributes of a variety of film characters, it’s an easy one to answer.Aly Erikson ~ Dina Meyer (think Starship Troopers)Karl Strahan ~ Karl Urban (think Doom)Janós Rajcik ~ Dwayne Johnson (think Doom)Venus ~ Lori Petty (think Tank Girl)Bodie Murdock ~ Gerrard Butler (think him with lots of facial hair)David Erikson ~ Martin Henderson (just think...mmm...)Patrick Brady ~ Josh Brolin (because he's been awesome since the Goonies)Kellen Vilbrandt ~ David Tennant (squirrely, yet clever)Bomani Desto ~ Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (just a bad ass)Eleanor Vitruzzi ~ Claudia Black (think Pitch Black)Kurasawa T'Kai ~ Ken WatanabeRob Cross ~ Rob Morrow (think Numb3rs)Quantum ~ John Lequizamo (c'mon, it's John Lequizamo. Think anything because he just rocks.)Doug Mason ~ Jason Statham (given the wide range of characters he plays, er...)Fuller Thompson ~ Toby Kebbell (think RocknRolla)Jeremy Lahoud ~ Keith Hamilton CobbWhat is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?When the Admin’s tyranny is no longer limited to hunting down criminals and vagabonds but spreads to threatening everything Aly, her crew, and the settlers of Agate Beach have built, they must decide whether to run or finally stand up and fight, maybe to the end.Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?I’ve had a lot of success publishing on my own and plan to continue the experiment.How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?About a year. The editing process...let’s just say, slightly longer.What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?Anything by Heinlein or the Honor Harrington series by David Weber.Who or what inspired you to write this book?I owe most of my writing inspiration to Stephen King—no one builds a set of characters like the King—but my scifi love comes more from movies. Everything from James Cameron’s Terminator and Aliens, to Ridley Scott’s Bladerunner, to Joss Whedon’s Serenity.What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?Based on some of the feedback I’ve received, one of the things that people have enjoyed about the style of Defiance, which carries over to Betrayal, is the closeness of perspective—the sense of being in the action—that the reader experiences from the story being told in the protagonist’s first person POV. The intent of this series is to keep the reader riveted by taking them on a wild ride through the fringes of space, hence making the action, danger, and suspense N.O.N.S.T.O.P.As you all know, I'm an action girl, but some of my favorite writers happen to be in categories far removed from the fringes of space. Yours may be too. So, it is my great pleasure to introduce you to these fabulous writers and encourage you all to visit their blogs to find the Next Big Thing!Molly GreeneDale Ivan SmithCari ZMartha BourkeStephen WoodfinA message for the tagged authors and interested others:Rules of the Next Big Thing*Use this format for your post*Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (work in progress)*Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.Include the link of who tagged you and this explanation for the people you have tagged.Oh, and speaking of Christmas, i just got the BEST EVER pre-Christmas present. Please observe ~~> (Thank you, Mark C.!)
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