If you're an author, I'm sure you've heard of this "Next Big Thing" . . . um. . . thing happening. I won't lie to ya, I actually had no intent of doing this. . . but then my buddy Lee Stephen of the Epic Universe saga basically said, "Hey, I'm doing the Next Big Thing, and you're doing it to." :P LOL! So, here we go!
1) What is the title of your next book/work?
My next book is still under "pre-title" of Operation: Sand Gnat. I also got another big story I'm working on the side called Operation: Pirate Bee. Both are sci-fi, with Sand Gnat being the prequel to my first novel, "Prossia."
2. Where did the idea come from for the book/work?
People have been wanting another story in the Prossia universe for a long time, and I have regretfully taken way too long to answer that demand. So, this summer, I wrote out a quick origins-story of sorts for my protagonist in "Prossia," Aly. This prequel will shed some light on Prossial readers and give me a little extra time to work on my other numerous projects, like Pirate Bee.
3. What genre does your book/work fall under?
Whoops. I'm getting ahead of myself! LOL! As I said, Sand Gnat is sci-fi, Middle Grade sci-fi to be exact. "Prossia" is a YA, and given the subject manner and age of the key characters in Sand Gnat, I tried to make the story a little more accessible to younger eyes. Still, the people who've read "Prossia" will feel right at home with the underlying message and action. ;)
4. What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
People suuuuuuure do love asking that question, don't they? ^_^ I wrote a book, not a screenplay :P. I like to be ambitious, but I'm a realist too, so there's no point in fantasizing about silly things like that. I got real issues like planning blog tours and stuff like that before something crazy like movie talks could happen!
5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
A young alien girl tries to prove her worth to her tribe by preparing for a dangerous assessment that will test the skills her people naturally have, even when she lacks the most vital one.
6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Power to the indies! LOL! Nah, I'd love to get published by an agency if they're willing to grant me a little bit of the freedom that I enjoy as a self-published author. In the meantime, I definitely want Sand Gnat to be published on my own since I seriously doubt an agency would be thrilled about the thought of me giving away a free book. :P
7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
About 2.5 months and 75,000 words later. I'm now just getting myself into that type of writing speed. I went to this seminar in Vegas that encouraged me to speed up my writing process.
8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
"Mehhhh." I'm really not the type of person to tell someone that my story is a mix between such and such. See, in my opinion, while every story known to us has been inspired by many others, we writers are encouraged to make old ideas our own. Still, whenever people see the illustrations of my character, they always say they think of Avatar. . .
Even though I started writing "Prossia" and designing its characters YEARS before the movie came out. Grrr :P
9. Who or what inspired you to write this book.
That awesome power of youth. Young people these days get a lot of bad rep for being lazy and expecting everything to fall in their laps a la Generation Me. But that's not the type of people that amazed me when I stepped out into the real world for the first time. I saw young people, even when it seemed like life just had it out for them to fail, kept their tears to themselves, endured, and on top of that, encouraged others to do the same.
10. What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?
People are pleasantly surprised when they find themselves in a galaxy that doesn't have any humans, but they still relate to the characters very easily. Oh, and people love the areas on the web where they can dwell into the Prossia Universe even more, especially the art gallery filled with characters. That area slowly but surely increases over the months. Granted, there hasn't been a lot of updates to it lately since most of the artwork I'm doing now is exclusively for Sand Gnat, so I can't post those images.
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There you have it! Now, if only I could find some people to tag. Hmmmmmmm. . . >.>
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There you have it! Now, if only I could find some people to tag. Hmmmmmmm. . . >.>
Hey Raphyel, Here's the handling the "Big Thing" with grace and aplomb. I adored your answer to the whole choosing actors thing-- indeed, as you put it so well, you wrote a book not a screenplay! (applause) And kudos to you for skipping the camparison. Sounds like an interesting read, and a very interesting universe. P.S. Thanks for the email and visiting my blog. Later Alligator.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the compliment, Jill. I try to be as nice as possible when there's a question I don't feel the need to answer. It's funny. For some odd reason, people are fascinated with those two inquiries you mentioned, aren't they? :P
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