The Next Big Thing

If you haven’t already heard the news, I’m excited to announce here that I’ve finished my novel!

The first draft of Silent Destruction weighs in at just over 57,000 words, but trust me when I say it’s going to take a rewrite (or two or three) before this one is really finished. 

But I’m going to live in this moment for a little while at least! …Until tomorrow when I have to start thinking about my NaNo novel in earnest.

On that note, I was tagged recently by Felicia Tatum over at Lost in a Sea of Words for The Next Big Thing blog hop – and she couldn’t have had better timing.

Thanks for this girl!





What is the working title of your book?

Silent Destruction, although I’d thought about calling it Mute Eradication at one point.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

My sister andI decided to write a story together. It was meant to be a quick, short stroy that we could complete on the weekend. But the more we brainstormed and bounced ideas off of eache other, the more the story grew.

What genre does your book fall under?

YA high fantasy.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Wow, I really haven’t thought about that one much! I guess I like the idea of McKaley Miller playing Jess, but when it comes to the centaur Fayfairilynn, I have no clue! The voiceover for the humorous talking goat, Blue, is an easy one though – Chris Rock!

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

When Fate brings together a rebellious young centaur, a mute girl with newly discovered powers, and a comical talking goat, they must first figure out how to work together if they are to have any hope of thwarting an unnamed evil from razing the land; all the while, each is running from a secret destiny, past, and life that none of them want but which may just be the key to defeating the evil.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I have to put more thought into this one. I always thought that I’d like to go the traditional publishing route, but with all the changes I’m seeing in the industry, I’m starting to pay closer attention to the self-publishing options that are out there.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

My sister and I came up with the idea for this story in the spring of 2008. We wrote the first few chapters together over the next couple of months. Our schedules got busier and we found it hard to get together to collaborate so I eventually asked if I could continue writing it on my own. I worked on it for a while and ended up shelving the project for about two years. Then, this spring I decided to start take my writing more seriously; I joined JuNoWriMo on a whim to complete the manuscript, but through all the interruptions of life, it ended up taking me until October 15th of this year to complete. I don’t want to think about how much work the second draft is going to be though…

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Upon completing this first draft and announcing the news to my friends and family, someone asked me what kind of book Silent Destruction was. The person didn’t understand what YA high fantasy was, so I finally settled on describing it as a “C.S. Lewis – Chronicles of Narnia’ type of thing.” However, now thinking about it more, I’d say that Silent Destruction is a little more hardcore than that. Honestly, I’ve never read anything quite like it before.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

The initial spark for Silent Destruction came from wanting to do something with my sister that spring day at my family’s sheep farm, sitting on a hay bale next to my sister in the lambing shed with a notebook. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how much encouragement I received from the rest of my family, especially my mom, as well as a whole horde of people in the writing community – in person and on Twitter.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Silent Destruction has many aspects of a classic epic fantasy adventure, but it is so much more. It’s about coming together for a greater cause despite differences in backgrounds and about following your heart and doing what you believe is right no matter what others say or how hard the journey.

 

And now, for my victims-er, I mean, nominations…

 

Sydney Aaliyah 

M. Andrew Patterson

EM Castellan 

Melanie Conklin

Rebecca Green Gasper

AE Howard

 

…And I would nominate AM Schultz but he doesn’t like getting tagged in these types of things... ;)

Keep in mind that I'm looking for some guest posters for the rest of the month and through November. If you have an idea, send me an email!