by Richard
This probably isn’t coming as a surprise to anyone here, but I’m a writer.
I know, dudes. Quel shock, no? It’s not like I’ve mentioned that A Dude’s Guide to Babies is coming out on April 15, 2013 any times here on the online Guide or anything.
What you might not know is that I also write a lot of fiction. Not that I’ve managed to get published by any big-time publishers, but I have sold all the short stories I’ve written to small-press magazines. Anyway, a writing friend of mine, Sharon K. Raemer, author of the great book called Primary Fault, has dragged me into this, well, this thing. It’s called The Next Big Thing and it’s where a bunch of writers talk about what their next project is going to be.
The writers send around questions and then ask their friends to answer those selfsame questions.
Sure I could go with the obvious and talk about how A Dude’s Guide to Babies is coming out, soon, but I thought I’d talk about my next fiction project, the one nearest completion. So, here’s the answers to those questions about
The Next Big Thing
1) What is the working title of your next book/short story/project?
It’s called Reptile Wisdom and that’s going to be the title for reals. Unless a publisher wants to buy the book and deems a name change necessary. Then it gets changed. Yeah, I’m a sell out. Nothing new there.
2) Where did the idea come from for the book?
It’s odd, really. I’ve been writing a series of short stories all set in the same fictional “universe” for a while. Stories like The Hand That Feeds You, The Accidental Ghost and Freakshow are all part of it. A couple of years ago, for National Novel Writing Month, I was searching around a day before it began for a story idea and I thought I would try and combine the characters from my various stories into one book. Reptile Wisdom is the result. I had no plot, only characters. Then I decided to open up the book with a really big explosion. No idea what was exploding or why, but it seemed like a good idea. Then I was off.
I kept the book under wraps for a year or so. Then, for last NaNoWriMo in 2011, I decided to haul out the book and rewrite it, one chapter a day for the month of November. That happened. No problem, cranking out an average of about 5,000 words a day was relatively easy since I already had the bare bones for a plot. Now I’m going through and trying to do actual editing.
3) What genre does your book fall under?
If anything, I’d say it falls under the category of Urban Fiction, although it’s really a genre mashup of sorts.
4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
I have no idea. To my, the characters in my book could be amorphous blobs, for all I know. They’re a bundle of tics and characteristics wandering around a volcanically erupting landscape. Still, if you held a gun up to my head. . . Hubris Jameson, disgraced former newspaperman, current paranormal investigator and universal scrapegoat worn down by life and our the main character, might look good played by the worn-out Michael Madsen. Natalie Harper, the girl genius behind the Freakshow science/magic research division, could look good as played by Natalie Dormer, who can be seen as Margaery Tyrell from HBO’s Game of Thrones. While the former police turned firefighter could be played well by a shaven Mark Boone Junior, currently seen on Sons of Anarchy.
5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Once sentence? Geez, not sure about that. CurseWerks is all that stands between the Earth and those things that go bump in the night while holding onto a high-tech raygun and a barely restrained hunger so it’s probably too bad that CurseWerks exploded seven minutes ago.
6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Well, I’m hoping it will published by an actual publisher, but I’ve not sent the manuscript around to any yet.
7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
See above. I ground out the actual first, complete draft in 30 days.
8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Not really sure it could be compared to any of them as it’s a genre blend of fantasy and science fiction.
9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I wanted to read a really cool book that had bits of fantasy and bits of science fiction, full of good characters, a farcical sense of humor, a slam-bang plot. And zombies. Can’t forget the zombies. Even though they’re just a distraction.
10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
Hey, it’s a darn good book. Seriously. It’s got laughs and fears, gasps and tears and all that good stuff. Mad science cackles madly in the corner while unknown things bump in the darkness of unreality. A former police seeks redemption. A girl genius seeks a day without snot monsters. A cynical former reporter seeks a little peace. One out of three is too bad, but it’s what we’re going to get. And zombies.