The Next Big Thing – Blog Hop!

The Next Big Thing – Blog Hop!

So this is a fun thing – I was “tagged” by author Olivia Fuller, author of The Wicked Game and Something Wicked (here’s her site, and here’s her Blog Hop post).  The deal is, you answer ten questions about your latest, or next project, and then you tag five more authors who will do the same. 

I’ll talk about the most recently completed book of the Dreams series, Dream Family:

1: What is the working title of your book?

“Dream Family” – this was pretty much the title all along, even before I knew what the story would be.

 

2: Where did the idea come from for the book?

The idea for what the book actually ended up being came from what was going to be a minor subplot that was going to happen late in the book.  Sara was going to be mistakenly arrested and spend an embarrassing night in jail, which would be a small roadblock as she dealt with the larger plot.  But that idea quickly became the main plot, as the night in jail changed from a brief and somewhat embarrassing experience, into a horrifying and traumatizing ordeal for Sara, and the story became: how can Sara recover from this?

 

3: What genre does your book come under?

Paranormal romance and/or suspense.  It’s tough to categorize exactly, though.

 

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

Although she’s physically not really right, I kind of think Jennifer Lawrence would make a great Sara.  She’s the right age that she could play Sara in all four books, from the 21-year-old college student to the 30-year-old practicing physician.

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He’s definitely too old (especially for the college-age Brian of the first two books; he’d be OK for the nearly-30-year-old Brian of book 4 and 5, though), but other than that, Lee Pace would be perfect as Brian.

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I haven’t figured out who would make a good Beth, or who’d be right for Sara’s parents, but Sara’s mother-in-law, Helen, would have to be played by Kelly Bishop.  I didn’t realize it until book 3, but I’d been unconsciously modeling her on Emily Gilmore from Gilmore Girls all along.

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

After she’s wrongfully arrested and shattered by an ordeal in jail, Sara will have to turn to her dreams to find her way back to herself.

 

6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?

Self-published, and hopefully ready to take off!

 

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

Two months or so.  This one went very quickly.

 

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

That’s a tough one.  I’m really not sure, because this whole series is much more “grounded” than most paranormal books – there’s only the one paranormal element (Sara’s dreams), and it doesn’t really define who she is.  Also, there’s a strong focus on more “mundane” aspects of Sara’s life, whether it’s the day-to-day grind of medical school, or the details of her life as a resident, or the everyday ups and downs of parenthood.

 

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

I wanted to continue Sara’s story, first of all.  Once I realized what the story should be and got into it, it occured to me that what happens to Sara in this book happens to far too many innocent people today.  There are definitely out-of-control prosecutors and police, and once a person gets caught in their sights and thrown into that world, their life can quickly become a nightmare.  There are stories in the news every day about this very thing, and it’s something that I don’t think a lot of people (who, thankfully, haven’t experienced it) really “get.” 

I didn’t set out to push a message or promote a cause, but if the book makes readers stop and think and imagine how they’d react if they got mistakenly caught up in “the system”, I’m happy about that.

 

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

It’s a story about finding the courage and the internal strength to overcome a horrible situation, and that’s something I think anyone can relate to.  But it’s also another visit with familiar characters that (I hope) readers have come to care about over the previous three books.

 

And now it’s time to tag five outher authors.  So, here goes:

James Bow (his website)

Tammie Clarke Gibbs (her website)

Aoife Marie Sheridan (her website)

Anne Conley (her website)

C.N. Faust (his website)

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