The Next Big Thing! (Week 32)

Charlee Vale (click her name!) asked me last week to join up in The Next Big Thing blog hop, an event where we share some information about our current work-in-progress. I hope no one minds since it’s a sequel. Here we go! This is Week 32!

1: What is the working title of your book?

Flame Warriors.

2: Where does the idea come from for your book?

FW is the third book in a series, but honestly, it’s different from the others. The first book focuses on how far people will go for family. The second, how far they’ll go for power. My third diverges to address all that and more. Learning to forgive yourself and fighting fate are two main plotlines.

I’m not quite answering the question though. The idea came from something my mom said after she read the second book. She said, “You couldn’t really tell in book one, but Fortune has a soft spot for Ashley.” Fortune is the primary MC of Flame Warriors. Ashley is the MC of the first book, Flame Dancer. I considered the statement for a while and wondered why he would have a soft spot for her, and suddenly I had an entire book on my hands to address that simple question.

3: What genre does your book fall under?

YA Urban Fantasy.

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

Fortune: Callan McCauliffe – He needs to straighten/flatten his hair first though. (: No Edward Cullen hair permitted beyond this point.

 

Ashley: Joey King – She’s young, but her eyes are perfect.


Aroha: Mackenzie Foy. In myyyy opinion she looks a little like Joey, hehe.

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis for your book?

Eeeek, I haven’t considered that for this WIP. I’m going to wing this (therefore it’ll be awful).

With a prophecy to determine the world's freedom over his head, Fortune Treston attempts to reconcile his past with the present to protect those he loves.

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

I hope to be agented first, and then represented by an agency.

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

This question made me cringe... I started it in January of 2011, wrote steadily until August, and then stopped writing until July of 2012. I finished it in December. It shouldn't have taken so long considering in between July and December I wrote more than 100,000 words.

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

There aren’t really any books IN the genre. The closest one is The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa.

9: Who or what inspired you to write the book?

I always knew what the third book would be about, but my past books haven’t really addressed deeper issues such as love or faith. I guess this book was more of a challenge to see how well I could incorporate those worldly themes into the lore of this book.

10: What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

Love, life, death, hugs of death, a manor, elements, immortality, some uncontrollable flames, purple eyes, a challenge to save the world, and a promise for redemption.

Now I’ll tag some super awesome writer buddies for them to answer these questions, so we can learn more about their works-in-progress! Make sure to check them out for Week 33, January 16th!

Danielle (and Will!)

SC!

 

Rules:
Answer these ten questions about your current WIP on your blog.
Tag (up to) five other writers/bloggers with their links so we can hop over and meet them.

 

P.S. I was tired when I wrote this. I apologize for any grammatical errors in advance. ): Have a good Wednesday!

Bringing in 2013!

My school has its homecoming in January. This year my class, the Junior class, won the contest we have during homecoming week. We all participate in a bunch of different activities and gain points, and the winner gets the Spirit Stick. The Seniors decided to tear up the poster our class made for homecoming week, so they were disqualified…which sort of helped, but hey, we still won the contest!

In February a friend and I went out job-hunting in the local area. It was rainy and it was cold. However, it was pretty fun—though stressful—since the next day she was like “I’m turning my apps in!” and I was like “OMG BUT I HAVEN’T EVEN STARTED!” Regardless, since I don’t get out very much, it was a social and fun experience for me.

In March, I went to see the Hunger Games. Enough said.

April was so much fun. I went to my school’s prom. Since I’m not a celebratory person or a social person at all, I didn’t plan to go until a friend convinced me to. So after a few days of panicking over what I’d wear, make up, hair, etcetera; the night finally showed up. I went, everyone freaked out because they’d NEVER seen me dressed up, and I more or less had the best night of my life. No words can describe how much fun I had.

School got out in May, turning me into an official Senior. We have a “Fun Day” like the second to last week of school, and this year, the Juniors got together and had a cookout off of school grounds. The food took longer to prepare than expected, so some of us decided to disregard the bell saying we had to be back on school grounds—me included. We were forty minutes late. Therefore we were grounded to the cafeteria for forty minutes. I had no problem with this. Everyone else was just stunned that I’d “turned into a rebel.”

June was the month my blog was revived and I met alllllll of my writing friends on AgentQueryConnect! Kela, Cat, SC, Charlee, Utsav/Brighton, Krysten, you’re all awesome!

July was when I met the rest of my buddies! I entered a blogfest and met a bunch of amazing people, notably Danielle (and her sidekick, Will!). I also turned seventeen.

I left my home for three straight days to stay by myself for one sole purpose in August: writing. I wrote 13,000 words in that time. That’s a lot!! I finally got out of my writing funk for the MAIN work-in-progress I have, and my senior year started.

September was relatively boring aside from a sleepover I had with a friend of mine. That sleepover consisted of scary stories, WiiFit, and Truth or Dare. One of the dares in the game was to drink soy sauce. Another ended up with me saying the words “playing charades in bed”. Ah, good times.

In October…well. I got VERY, VERY excited. I received an offer of publication for my book. However, over the next two months, I did some research and tried to prepare myself for the things I’d face after it happened, and determined I wasn’t quite ready. Issue is…I still haven’t told them…so… HEADWALL. My fault. Now I'm scared to contact them.

November: Breaking Dawn Part II! Aro’s laugh! Enough said!

Of course, the one thing that someone would normally speak about in December is Christmas. Christmas WAS indeed amazing for me—I got all seven seasons of Supernatural and my new laptop—but as of yesterday, I finished the first draft of my third novel. The same one I was talking about in my previous blog post. It was a grievous thing to write, and at the same time so fun. I did indeed succeed in writing the full-on tragedy. Now I’m editing it, for it is 274,000 words, and I HAVE A LOT OF EDITING TO DO.

Now, you know how my year went. Share yours! Most of all, HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR! Good luck in all of your resolutions for 2013!