THE NEXT BIG THING (yes, all caps)

A few weeks ago Tera Fulbright tagged me on her blog as part of a chain of authors (or creative people) recommendations called THE NEXT BIG THING. Given that I’ve been away on travel a lot & I found a free minute today, it’s my turn to reciprocate and to pass on the torch. I’m going to answer questions about my new project War of the Seasons, book 3: The Hunter. Then I’m going to tag five wonderful authors who will tell you about their Next Big Thing on… whenever they get a chance.

What is the working title of your next book? War of the Seasons, book 3: The Hunter

Where did the idea come from for the book? Well logically it is an extension of my previous two novels in the series (The Human, & The Half-blood). But initially what inspired this series was a young man named Will. Full post here.

What genre does your book fall under? Fantasy. Most people consider it YA Fantasy since the heroine in the first book, Story Melissa Sorenson, is 17 (then 18 in the two following), but my readers are all ages.

If you found yourself in an elevator with a movie director you admire and had the chance to pitch your book to them, what would you say? Think Lord of the Rings mixed with the Hunger Games and Chronicles of Narnia. Oh, and a strong female lead, action, adventure, and Romance. Its got it all.

Every writer dreams of their book being turned in a movie or a TV show like Game of Thrones. If this happened to your work, which actors would you choose to play your characters? Oh geez… I’ve never thought about this before, seriously. If my book was ever turned into a film or mini-series I’m sure they’d cast it brilliantly.

That said, I supposed if I have to “cast” it, I do have a couple actors who were in my mind when I wrote The Human:

Story – Eliza Dushku
Eirnin – David Boreanaz

Milt, Will & Katie in my mind were my late uncle Milton, my foster son Will, and my friends Al & Kathy’s little Katie.

And as for everyone else… well, again, I’d have to trust a casting director. I really didn’t see any specific actors in their role. Though after seeing Lee Pace as Thranduil in The Hobbit, hmmmm…

Who or what inspired you to write this book? Answered above.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript? For The Human it took me a year. For the Half-blood it took me 3 months. Hopefully The Hunter will be just as quick…

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? This is a tough question to answer, as I don’t really compare my books to others & visa versa, though I’ve heard it compared to The Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia (hence my answer to the movie producer above), Harry Potter, Through the Looking Glass, and interestingly enough, The Dresden Files.

When will your book be available? The first two books in the War of the Seasons series are available now wherever books are sold both in print and eBook. The Hunter will be available on December 21, 2013.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? Besides trolls, elves, dwarves, nasty faeries, and a great adventure? The cover and the print book are gorgeous. Seriously, check them out. My editor & illustrator did an amazing job!

And here are the five authors I’d like to introduce, and who you can follow, when they answer the Next Big Thing questions…
And sadly every author I tagged had already been tagged to do this… So I’m tagging YOU, creative person, yes YOU. If you’re reading this blog & haven’t done this, please go for it!