The Next Big Thing

I was asked to participate in The Next Big Thing blog chain by Charles L. Dougherty, author of the Bluewater Thrillers: http://www.clrdougherty.com/p/bluewater-thrillers.html

The rules for this Blog Chain are very simple: Answer a few question about The Next Big Thing you are working on (or the current one if you so choose), and then select 5 more authors to carry it on.  That's it, so here goes:

My latest release is The Phantom Student by Cool Well Press.  I will be giving away a signed copy starting Friday, December 7th in conjunction with The Kid's Books Blog Hop.  Check back for that ~ you will be able to pick up some great Christmas gifts for your kiddos.  My ebook, The Phantom Pilot, will be FREE on Amazon during the hop.  Read on for a preview.

Here are my answers to The Next Big Thing:

1) What is the working title of your next book?  My latest book is The Phantom Student

2) Where did the idea come from for the book? It is book two in The Phantom Series so the characters were already there.  However, the addition of Derol Pavey, the student with Tourette syndrome, came from my years of teaching elementary school.  I had a few students with Tourette’s, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, ADD, ADHD, and so on.  But no matter the label our system stuck on them, all these kids were precious to me.

3) What genre does your book fall under?  It is Middle Grade fiction, but many of the reviews on book one (The Phantom Pilot) came from adults.  On The Phantom Student, I think one of the best reviews is the one that said, “I loved this, and so did my daughter.”  That is exactly what I’m aiming for!

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition? For Stevie, I would choose someone like Jennifer Lawrence from The Hunger Games.  She is brave and strong, but she doesn’t realize it until she is tested.  For Jase, I’m thinking Liam Hemsworth, he’s tall, blond (I think) and heroesque (is that a word?).  And for Derol Pavey, picture the Filipino child actor (now grown up) named Carlo Aquino.  There is a sweet, child-like innocence about him.  For the phantom student, I would definitely choose a very young Dakota Fanning.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?  Jase and Stevie try to keep a new kid (who has Tourette syndrome) from being bullied at school, while at the same time attempting to figure out why Stevie is being haunted by a phantom student. 

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?  It was published by Cool Well Press http://www.coolwellpress.com

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?  Several months.  But it was easier on this book because Jase and Stevie were already established characters from book one, The Phantom Pilot.  Book three, The Phantom of Crybaby Bridge, is taking much longer to write because I’ve taken the kids out of Crossroads and put them into the woods (camping trip).

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?  I think it could be compared to other MG books like Bridge to Terabithia (because of the relationship between Jase and Stevie), or The Dollhouse Murders (because of the inherent mystery they must solve). 

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?  The characters from The Phantom Pilot weren’t finished with me!

10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?  It has some scary moments, the kind that make you look over your shoulder while you are reading.  It also has some very touching moments.  My editor said she forgot to edit the last forty pages because she was sobbing (she had to go back and edit later).  

Here is a snippet of The Phantom Student.  This is one of my favorite scenes.  In it, the phantom girl has just made her first appearance in the kitchen where Stevie has just got up from the table and crossed to the sink:

             I stood very still, my back to Gramps.  In the reflection of the dark kitchen window, I could see Sally Jean standing behind him at the table.  I’d never seen her outside the mirror before, except in the schoolhouse.  I closed my eyes when she reached toward him, afraid she would shudder and fall.  I didn’t want to see what would happen if she actually touched him.

            When I opened my eyes, Gramps was rubbing his hand across the back of his neck as if he’d caught a chill.  Sally was nowhere to be seen.

For another link in the Next Big Thing blog chain, visit Ashley Fontainne at ramblingsofamadsouthernwoman.blogspot.com

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The Next Big Thing

Best-selling author Carmen DeSousa, and another famous author-buddy, Emerald Barnes, both tagged me for this cool challenge called The Next Big Thing.  I love a challenge, so here you go:

1. What is the title of your book or current Work in Progress?

This one is ALL FOR LOVE.  It was just published on 8/23/12.

2. Where did the idea for this book originate?

It came from the black lagoon...no, wait, that was a different story.  This idea came from the idea file I keep on my computer.  A bunch of little ideas float around in there until they coalesce into something readable.  The internet is a good source of ideas.  That number for the 81,000 club, that number came from an article on the internet.  I made up the part about the club.

3. What is the genre?

This is my first Contemporary Romance.  I also think it could be filed under Women's Fiction, just for grins. 

4. Which actors/actresses would you choose to play in the movie version of your book?

This guy is not an actor, he is a Latvian Olympic Volleyballer named Aleksandrs Samoilovs.  But when I saw him on TV during the games, I emailed my cousin and said, I just saw "Quinn" on TV.  Perhaps it is because of the hair and the fact that Liz and Quinn met during a volleyball game. 

I think Liz could be portrayed by Rachel Weisz, the actress who played in The Lovely Bones (one of my favorite books).  I believe she would be good because she has sort of a shyness about her.


5. Give us a one sentence synopsis of the book.

Liz will do anything for love, but will she be able to live with the consequences?

6. Is your book published or represented?

It is published by 5 Prince Publishing

7. How long did it take to write?

Whew... this one took about a year.  It went through many drafts.  At first it was written in flashbacks alternating with present-day events, but my editor said that was too confusing so I went back and reordered it into three distinct time periods.  I think it worked out pretty well.  She was right.  It was confusing.

8. What other books in the genre would it compare to?

I like to think it compares with books like Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler, but I'm afraid that is being way too optimistic.

9. Which authors inspired you to write this book--or any book?

I think it was Ernest Hemingway who said that the key to writing is to "Just write one true sentence.  Write the truest sentence you know."  That inspires me to try and get a little deeper into the emotion of a character. 

10.  Name one more thing that might pique our interest in this book...

It's raw in places.  And heartbreaking.  I tried to pull out all the stops.


Now, to continue the fun, I am tagging Sara Barnard, Katy Huth Jones, Deanna Lynn Sletten, Katie Jennings, Vickie McKeehan and Sandy Wolters.  Oops, once again, I went overboard.  But hey, Sandy is injured, she may have to wait for a few weeks~until her cast comes off!