I was so pleased the other day when my friend
J. Kathleen Cheney tagged me in the "Next Big Thing" meme. I met J. Kathleen a few years ago, when we were both winners of the Writers of the Future contest for science fiction and fantasy. The contest flew us out to California for a week of writing workshops and a gala awards ceremony, but the best part was getting to know the other winners. I can still remember J. Kathleen and I smiling at each other, bleary-eyed, as we finished the "write a short story in 24 hours" assignment. She's gone on to make a name for herself in scifi and fantasy and her work is truly worth checking out! If you would like to read her answers to the Next Big Thing interview, you can find them on
her livejournal. And if you'd like to read mine, read on...
1)
What is the working title of your next book? Right now
I’m revising
Crossfire.
2)
Where did the idea for the book come from? Crossfire is
the second book in my young adult paranormal romance series, The
Darkride
Chronicles. The idea for the first book,
Darkride, came from stories that my
partner Marcy and I made up about a vampire blood bar called the Nightlife,
where the waitresses are the drinks. I combined that secret world with the
stories of three teens: Ander, who used to be the favorite son of a great
monster hunting family - until he was bitten by a werewolf; Luke, who is a
vampire prince trying to regain his lost immortality; and Cicely, who is a
smart, practical girl discovering that the paranormal world really exists.
The second book,
Crossfire, continues their
story were
Darkride left off.
3)
What genre does your book fall under? It is a young adult
paranormal romance (with a lot of adventure and action thrown in!)
4)
What actors would you have play your characters in the
movie rendition? I would love Lily Collins to play Cicely. Avan Jogia would
make a very handsome and brooding Luke. Alexander Ludwig, who plays Cato in the
Hunger Games, would be my first choice to play Ander, and Antonia Thomas is my
ideal Emmie.
5)
Give a one sentence description of your book. “Cicely
Watson recovers from her own death and tries to win the love of her life while
escaping the powerful forces that are out to kill her all over again.”
6)
Will the book be self published or represented by an
agent? Crossfire will be self published.
Indies
are awesome.
7)
How long did it take you to write the first draft of the
manuscript? It took me about 6 months to write the first draft of
Crossfire,
and it is taking me about another six months to revise it.
8)
What other books would you compare yours to within your
genre? Well, most people compare it to
Twilight, because both are love triangle
that involves a werewolf and a vampire. I would say that people who love the
Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Daniel Waters’ Generation
Dead books, ghost hunting books like
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake or werewolf books
like Andrea Cremer’s Nightshade series would probably be into
Crossfire.
9)
Who or what inspired you to write this book? Since it’s
the second book in the series, I was inspired first of all by a responsibility
to the characters. I really love these guys and I left them in a tough place at
the end of
Darkride, so
Crossfire was very much about trying to get these
characters to a better place. I’m also inspired by my readers, who are super
encouraging and were eager to read more, and by the setting of the book, the
coast of
Maine,
where I grew up. I also felt like I really wanted to explore some bigger
themes: How do we recover from tragedy without losing ourselves completely? How
can we really connect with each other, even if it means opening ourselves to
the possibility of being hurt? Can we trust ourselves to not do wrong? You
know, light stuff like that.
10)
What else about your book might pique the readers
interest? At the end of this book you will know who winds up with whom (and the
answer might not be what you’d expect!) Plus, you get to learn more about the
witches, meet a vampire pirate, find out what made Five so bat-shit nuts and
hear how Emmie describes her “type” (hint: It has to do with chocolate.) Plus a
lot of other stuff I can’t talk about without spoiling anything! I hope you’ll
read
Crossfire and see!
Now I would like to pass the baton to four women who truly
are the “next big thing.” Actually, in my opinion, they’re pretty big things
already.
Liz Reinhardt is the author of the brilliant Brenna Blixen novels, along with some other awesome YA and new adult titles, including the YA paranormal
Inherit and her latest collaboration with Steph Campbell,
A Toast to the Good Times. She is also one of my favorite people ever.
Angie Stanton is the author of wonderful YA contemporary romances like
Rock and a Hard Place,
Snapshot, and
Dreamchaser. Her books appeal to my love of all things theatre geek! This holiday season I'll be enjoying her new Christmas novella,
Snowed Over. I also love her because she's a Wisconsin girl. Midwest authors unite!
Lani Wendt Young is my living proof that people can live on opposite sides of the earth and still be close friends. She's also the author of the awesome Telesa series, which blends fiery paranormal romance with the mythology of the Pacific islands. She also shares my obsession with Diet Coke.
Rachel Gold is the author of
Being Emily, an empowering YA novel about a transgender teen that's sparking much needed conversations all over the literary landscape. She's also a college friend of mine, so I've been fortunate to cross paths with her many times over the years!
I can't wait to hear about the works-in-progress of these excellent authors! Check out their sites. They'll be posting their answers soon!
I'm waiting for this sequel!
ReplyDeleteI too am waiting ANXIOUSLY for Crossfire! Thanks for the shoutout Laura. So honored to be included alongside mega rockstar authors whose books i am slightly obsessed with... Im in Samoa at the moment, getting LOTS of creative inspiration from my tropical retreat WITH lots of Diet Coke too.
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