The Next Big Thing

Huzzah! I've been tagged by Lauren over at Unwrittenlands to do this awesome meme. If there's one thing a writer likes it to be asked about his/her current WIP because then we can talk your ear off for the next hour or two (except when it's The Publishing World Powers that Be and then we all go blank...).

In this meme, each week an author provides his or her answer to the ten questions below and then tags five additional writers, each of whom answers the questions on the subsequent week, again tagging more writers, and so on. So! Here are my answers :)

1. What is the working title of your next book?
Out of Control (A MYTH novel #1)

2. Where did the idea com from for the book?
It came from having to come up with an idea for NaNoWriMo 2011. As with most of my stories, it started with a scene I imagined and a main character: A human girl that wanted to go to a school for supernatural teens. Of course, the kids there treat her as the outsider she is. The idea and the scene have both evolved drastically since then. She's no longer a human but a hybrid of two supernaturals, and she's having trouble controlling her deadly draining power which still makes her an outcast.

Now that I'm about to start on revisions, I'm sure some things might still change.

3. What genre does your book fall under?
I've been calling it a YA Paranormal Romance, but I feel it still needs extra sizzle in the romance department ;)

4. What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
Oh wow. This is a fun question. The only two characters I've had an actor in mind for since the beginning are Jayson (my vampire) who I've always seen played by Xavier Samuel and Liam (faery that gets killed by Annabel) who I know must be plated by Nick Roux. I haven't thought much about the others, but lets give this a try!

Maybe Dakota Fanning as Vinnie (my fire faery) because she's so petite. OH! And after watching Hairspray, I've definitely begun imagining Caleb (my wolf) as Diego Boneta (totally in love with his hair). As for Annabel (witch and heroine) I honestly don't see anyone playing her, but if Emma Stone wants to go red-head again or Ellen Page wants to dye her hair a bit, then I'm all for it!

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
After accidentally draining her best friend, teenage witch Annabel Ray gets sent to MYTH, a school for supernaturals, to learn control over her rare power, but Annabel's fears get in the way and after draining a classmate she becomes the main suspect for the mysterious student attacks at school.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I admire those who go down the self-published road, but I'd like for mine to be represented by an agency simply because the publishing world can be so intricate and overwhelming.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
A year, two months, and ten days...but who's obsessively counting, right? I started with a 50k NaNo novel, which I then split in two and reworked most of the first part to be book 1. I could've had a new draft done sooner, but I've been taking it slow, working 30 pages a month, then taking a month-long break during residencies at SHU so that all I learn there seeps in.

Last week I went back to read chapter one and I couldn't believe the difference in my writing. I believe revisions will be a pain but they'll be fun!

8. What other books would you compare this story within your genre?
Hahaha I wouldn't compare it with any story, but I'd say it has a bit of Harry Potter and Hex Hall, with maybe a slice of Vampire Academy, and a sprinkle of technology thrown in the mix. I was once told it was X-men meets Twilight...I've worked hard since then to correct that....

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?
There's no specific person or thing that inspired me. It's a bit of everything that I love in books: boarding schools, beautiful and intricate world-building, romance, intrigue, supernaturals, strong heroines, swoon worthy heroes, hilarious sidekicks, unexpected villains, magic, and technology.

10. Who's up next?
All my writer friends have all been tagged already! So, If you stop by and are a writer, you've been automatically tagged. Yep. That's right. Now get answering those questions and when you have your post, drop by again and leave me a link so I can read your answer :D

Pride and Prejudice 200th Anniversary

From the words in the book...

to stunning movies and TV series...

to fashion...

and fun spinoffs...

There is no doubt Pride and Prejudice has bewitches us all body and soul.

Interviewing and Interviewed

If my first love is writing, then my second love is book blogging. One of the many 'jobs' of a book blogger is to bring the readers closer to the authors via fun and short interviews. I've had my blog for about a year now, and I decided that it was probably time to do just that. There was just one little problem.

I was intimidated.

The prospect of talking to these people, these amazing creatures whose books held special places in my bookshelf and my heart, these paragons of YA literature!...When I read and fall in love with a book, I put that author in a shinny platinum pedestal with a plaque that reads "This person rocks!." My only question was, would they even talk to a lowly peasant blogger like me?

The answer was yes. Why? Because they're human! Not demi-gods...And because they have to market their stuff. This only clicked in my head this past week when I found myself on the other side of the coin when a fellow classmate interviewed me. Yes, my first interview as a writer/author! I'm still all giddy and excited about it. It's up on Mary DeSantis's blog Out of the Lock Box if anyone is interested <.<

I also interviewed her, and will be interviewing other classmates. So stay tuned :)

A Writer's Journal

The blogging world isn't new to me. I've been running a successful—or so I like to think—book reviewing blog for the past six months, and writing a post shouldn't be that hard for me.

But damn it, it is.

Because this time I won't just be writing about books, I'll be writing about myself, my opinions, and experiences as I work on my thesis for the Seton Hill University Writing Popular Fiction program. And writing about oneself is never easy.

So, I welcome you, random stranger, who have just stumbled in here into my writer's journal, where fantasy, imagination, silliness, and a desire to be a better writer can always be found in abundance.