If you’re an author, it’s quite common to be asked at a reading what’s your next project. You always need to be working on something, or you might as well hang up your pen! The question, “What are you writing right now?” inspired this blog hop where a number of writers from all over the U.S. are writing on “My Next Big Thing,” answering the same 10 questions you see here.
I’m honored to be tagged by Mary L. Moore, author of Sleeping with Patty Hearst, a coming-of-age novel set in North Carolina in the 1970s. It’s a genre-bending novel that features a lost sister, an illicit affair and a pregnant teenager who elopes. Last year, Mary and Sleeping with Patty Hearst were featured in the Wonderland Book Club, the writers’-centered book club I’ve sponsored since 2008. I was so happy to be able to share Mary’s book with so many! In the blog hop, Mary wrote about a few of her favorite things and who she thinks would be ideal to portray her characters. Please check it out!
Now on to the hop:
1) What is the working title of your next book?
Heroes Without Capes
2) Where did the idea come from for the book?
I’m a poet and a person who is fascinated with death. And I’m not talking about physical death all of the time. There’s death of a relationship, a career or of an idea. Take my death fascination and pair it up with my love for the characters of pop culture. What are they thinking about when they are facing a deep moment of personal crises? When they are facing a death? Remember, death is life’s change agent and an important part of an author’s tool kit. Death makes the plot much more exciting and it tends to quickly bring out a character’s true nature.
Heroes Without Capes will be my first full-length poetry collection. Featuring mostly persona poems and a few odes, the theme is pop culture, historical figures and celebrities—sort of like a Jeopardy! Board. Predator, Darth Vader, Bruce the Shark, Kathy Griffin, the Devil, Hamburger Helper, Captain Bligh, and the Road Runner will all be making cameos. My characters reflect on their issues in these poems usually after a stressful episode in their life. We’ll also meet Nolan, the Split Foyer house who has insecurity issues and Dina the Jet who is a snarky fashionista. As you can probably guess, there’ll be a lot of humor in this book. I love dissecting ironies and exploring socio-economic class issues through my poems.
3) What genre does your book fall under?
Poetry. I write long poems that are story-based and full of conflict.
4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
I’d have all of the original actors play their roles:
Native Australian Barry Humphries (who also is Dame Edna) as Bruce the Shark
James Earl Jones as Darth Vader (Vader doesn’t want to wear his cape in my poem)
Kevin Peter Hall as the Predator
and The Road Runner as the The Road Runner
5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
We’re all heroes of our destiny. Some of us just take a little longer to get there.
6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
It will be traditionally published! Check back with me later on publishing details.
7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
I’m still writing the poems for Heroes Without Capes—this book will take about 2 years to complete and it will be published in 2014.
8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Graphic novels where the artist and the writer meet. This is definitely a genre-bending book! It’s for folks who hate poetry, but want love something short and funny. It’s also for folks who love my characters and want to see where I take their stories—fan fiction if you will.
9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I’m a child of the eighties and of pop culture. It’s how I relate in the world and yes, I proudly admit, I’m a die-hard Star Wars fan. In addition to being fascinated with death, I also want to bring life to many of my favorite characters I knew growing up: the Predator, Darth Vader and The Road Runner.
10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
Haven’t you always wondered where the Predator gets his groceries?
Don’t you think The Road Runner looks a tad feminine?
What does Darth Vader really think of the Emperor?
Find out the answers in my upcoming book!
What’s the one piece of advice you would give a new writer?
It’s all about making an appointment with yourself on the calendar and giving your own work top priority. I choose certain days of the week to get my own work done and this further trains my brain to get into the creative spirit. I’ve also found that contests, publication deadlines and open mics help me get motivated to produce new work and they can help you! Even when I was on maternity leave four years ago I wrote every day and used my online and offline poetry groups to keep me accountable. My advice is to write down your deadlines in your daily planner or on your smart phone. Also you need to write down your writing goals and be specific. How many markets do you want to submit to in a month? When you do you want your first draft of your book ready? Writing your goals down will make them real and measurable and will fuel your desire. You can also give yourself a reward when you do reach your goal—my reward is hanging out on Pinterest or Facebook.
NEXT! I’ve tagged 4 fabulous authors and beautiful ladies to follow me in the Blog Hop!
Elaine F. Bayless is a fiction and creative nonfiction writer, living in Raleigh, NC with her husband, daughter, and three neurotic cats. Tori Amos is her musical muse and her strongest writing influences are Barbara Kingsolver and Margaret Atwood. Born and raised in East Tennessee, she lived in DC for many years until moving to NC in 2005. She has published a collection of short stories titled “Birds, Bees, and Church Trailer Thieves,” and is working on a memoir, a Bible story book, and a novel. Her blog post will be about her memoir.
Look for her post on Thursday, February 28th at http://www.elainefbayless.blogspot.com/
Joan Leotta has been writing and performing since childhood. Her newest work, Giulia Goes to War is book one of a four part series, Legacy of Honor, that traces the women of a family and how they find love and independence from WWII era through the Desert Storm era. Her other books include Massachusetts (Scholastic), Christmas Gift (Warner), Complete Guide to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia (Norton) and Tales Through Time: Women of the South (an anthology of short historic fiction co-authored with Edith Edwards, published by Lulu). She is working on the second book in the Desert Breeze Legacy of Honor series, Letters From Korea.
Look for her post on Friday, March 1st at www.joanleotta.wordpress.com and Joan Leotta, Author and Story Performer on FB
Elisa Lorello is a best-selling novelist and the author of four books: Faking It, Ordinary World, Why I Love Singlehood (co-authored with Sarah Girrell), and her latest, Adulation. Currently on sabbatical from teaching, Elisa recently returned to the northeast from North Carolina, where she is busy developing new projects (she’s superstitious and never talks about her works in progress!) and getting re-acquainted with snow. Elisa’s blog post will be about Adulation—perfect for Oscar season!
Look for her post on Monday, March 4th at http://www.elisalorello.com/blog-ill-have-what-shes-having.html
Julia Tagliere is a freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared in The Writer and other national magazines. She lives with her husband, their three children, and one crazy Weimaraner. Widow Woman is her first novel.
Look for her post on Friday, March 8th at http://juliascribbling.com/
Does it Count if You Go Blog a Good Comment on Other People’s Blogs?
Personally I think it does. Last week I started a competitive deal with two friends living on separate continents. We wanted to encourage each other to get back to posting regularly. So I came back to blogging here, a practice I want to make a daily part of my life with lots of good web design and SEO resources. I challenged them to blog as well, in their own venues. it worked!
Both of these friends have actually posted blogs every day, both of them creating new word press blogs for the occasion. They are enjoying it I think, or so they say. My email messages to them, after each time I posted, were “Tag, you’re it!” It worked!
Seriously though, one waxed profound about her experience and shared with me for posting: “I found myself staring at a blank page full of preconceived notions of what a blog post should be. Ben Franklin, Hugh Laurie, and Oprah rolled into one amazing post – right? Yikes, talk about writer’s block! I decided my first effort would be like jumping into a cold lake. At first I would resist, but once in and splashing around, it could be lots of fun. And it was.”
The other shares: “don’t dither, just do it.” Can you hear a bit of an English accent there?
So, then, what do I do but fall victim to the same old same old – no time – and I had such a good headstart. The schedule got slamming overwhelming, and what is the first to go but the last thing to get started, despite my proclamations of intentions. Isn’t it always this way. Well, determined as I am, what I did instead of blogging here was to go on both of their websites and post good comments, like posts in themselves. So I counted those and I am only a day or two behind schedule.
I’d like to offer this journey to others as a live walk through starting a new habit. So many people are kind of afraid to post and blog here. With all the opportunities that Pat Howlett has made for those of us who blog on this site, it is simply absurd not to do so as part of marketing your business. Its hard to get going though. But if I can do it . . . you can do it. Just look at all the blog posts on the right there – in the column to the right on this page – scrolling by, one new post after another literally seconds apart. Phenomenal. Join in!
Pepper P Oldziey’s Posts – The 919 Business Network – Local Business Networking
Does it Count if You Go Blog a Good Comment on Other People's Blogs?