[The Next Big Thing Blog Hop: I'm Telling You A Bit About My Book]

The Next Big Thing blog hop is a chance for authors around the world to tell you what they’re working on. The author answers ten questions about their next book, and tags the person who first tagged them, plus two other authors.

I was tagged by the kick ass Fiona Paul (real name Paula Stokes), yeah that Fiona Paul.  She and I bonded on twitter over our love of the 90s and because we both like the film "The Crow".  Read about her Next Big Thing over at Adventures of a Book Junkie.  She crashed the blog, cause her Paula blog isn't up and running yet.

 (I personally think this is the best thing EVER)

 So, I'm going to be giving you some deets about my Work In Progress!  It's my first full length novel and I'm totally in love with the story!  But no one really knows anything about it.  Only two people have read incomplete portions of my MS, so you guys are getting the inside scoop on things.  Like the two scoops on a cone kind of scoop.  That's the best kind, right?

(Here I am in Switzerland in a picture with The White Unicorn's cousin The Invisible Unicorn)

Let us get on with the questions!!!

1. What is the title of your work in progress?

 

It's called "The Oxblood Files" at this point!
 

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

A weird mixture of things.  This horrible dream that I've had since I was little being one of them.  I won't tell you about the dream, it'll give too much away.  The other even weirder grouping of things would be, the weekend before Halloween, 3 of my closest guy friends, popcorn and a horror movie marathon via Netflix which happened to include "Paranormal Activity 3".  There was a scene in there that reminded me of my dream and sparked the inspiration for the book! 

3. What genre does your book fall under?

 

YA Paranormal weirdness!  It's a mind eff!

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

OMG guys, I totally made a character board on Pinterest months ago!  I wanted to know who I thought these people were and to be able to see a face when I was writing!  THIS CAST is perfect!  If the movie happened these guys would hopefully be in it and I would make sure that Joss Whedon or Danny Boyle directed it.  I honestly think Danny would blow the movie version out of the water!

 

5. What is a one-sentence synopsis of the book?

A girl thinks her life is normal and then she gets dragged (literally) into a world that she never imagined existing.

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

If I could have my dream with this book, I'd love for an Indie publisher to pick it up!  I think it would be cool to work with people in that sort of environment.  But at this point I'm just trying to finish revisions on my first draft... 

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

21 days.  "Oxblood" started out as a NaNoWriMo project, but I loved it so much that I just had to try to perfect it!  I believe in the concept and characters too much to not finish it and make it readable!  I've been revising for 3 months now.

8. What other books would you compare this story to in your genre?

Honestly when I got done with writing the first draft I watched the preview for the film version of "City Of Bones" and realized that I would have to change some of the things in my book right away.  The funny thing is that I haven't read the books yet (even though they are sitting on my shelf) and I hadn't watched the trailer.  I guess ideas are just out there in the open and if you grab them someone else might have picked the same one up as well.

I would compare my book style wise more toward a Joss Whedon or Danny Boyle film to be honest.  They are the best at writing things that make your jaw drop in shock all the time.  But of course mine has a female flavor to it.  And possibly isn't as mind bending as I think it is, but it will get there.  

It also has lots of Alice in Wonderland flavor too it, even though it isn't a retelling.

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

I'm going to go with the 3 guys that I mentioned earlier, because they made me watch that freaking movie.  I mean I did enjoy that movie and it made me come up with this idea.  So I guess I have to thank them and at this point we're cool.

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

The deep, dark, creepy mystery surrounding it!  Nothing is as it seems...nothing.  You think you know one thing and then BAM you get hit in the face with something else that you never saw coming.  I mean it did hit you in the face after all...

So who am I going to tag in this post?  I'm excited to let these girls tell you about their newest WIPs!  First off I have to give a shout out to my awesome new crit partner Lindsay Leggett (I can't believe how much she already believes in Oxblood).  And my dear English pal Emma Hart, who just let some exciting news out of the bag!  Look for their post sometime in the next week!  You'll want to get in on all of their great upcoming news!  Plus you might want to get your hands on both of their books that are already out!