The Next Big Thing
My friend and critique partner Eliza Graham “tagged” me in this author meme going around, called The Next Big Thing, in which we answer questions about our next book and then “tag” more authors!
This information below is the first time I’ve written at length about details in THE WHOLE GOLDEN WORLD. I’m very private about works in progress, but this one I just handed into my editor in what I believe is the final version, so I finally feel able to talk about it!
1) What is the working title of your current/next book?
THE WHOLE GOLDEN WORLD, coming out November 5
2) Where did the idea come from?
A newspaper article from my hometown.
3) What genre does your book fall under?
Commercial fiction, by my preference. But in the industry, my books are often called women’s fiction (a term that I find problematic! As opposed to what? Normal fiction? Men’s fiction?). That’s another blog post in itself. I am not mad at anyone for calling the book women’s fiction, to be clear. For better or worse, it is a handy shorthand for my type of character-driven novel with strong female leads.
4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
I’m always terrible at this! Now that I’ve been at this long enough to know what a long shot a film of the book would be, I don’t daydream about it much. Also, I think I’d be lousy at casting.
Maybe I’ll punt.
Who do you think should play a fortysomething firebrand of a mom named Dinah with a bad habit of speaking before she thinks?
Who should play thirtyish yoga teacher named Rain who is actually very down-to-earth and practical despite her hippie name? She also has an unbendable sense of duty passed down by her beloved Gran.
Who should play the handsome, boyish, wayward twenty-nine year old teacher named TJ, whose moods change with the winds?
Who should play the 17-year-old cello player and honor student Morgan, whom everyone calls an “old soul” and forgets is still actually a kid?
5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
A teacher-student affair unravels two families and a town.
6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
It will be published by Morrow/HarperCollins, and I’m represented by Kristin Nelson of the Nelson Literary Agency. (They have a new website! It’s awesome: http://nelsonagency.com/ )
7) How long did it take you to write the first draft?
Oh, I have no idea. I write so many drafts of every book. I’m a fast, messy writer. I have nine versions of this book on my hard drive.
8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Another tough one. I try not to read similar books while I’m writing mine, for obvious reasons. I’m a big fan of WHAT WAS SHE THINKING? by Zoe Heller about a teacher-student affair in the opposite genders (female teacher, teen boy). But that book is more about the relationship of the teacher and her confidante than the affair itself, and my own book is vastly different. (p.s. I much prefer the UK title of that book, NOTES ON A SCANDAL).
I suppose my book is a bit like Jodi Picoult in that it’s about relatively normal families put through extraordinary events.
9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I mentioned a newspaper article above. The headline was something like “Teacher admits having sex with student.” How can you not read on after a headline like that? But the most striking thing about the article was how the young woman in question chose to sit behind the defendant in the courtroom, and not with her parents.
10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?
My publisher recently showed me the draft catalog copy for this novel and one line they’d written jumped out at me: “How well do we really know our children?” It’s comforting to think, “My kids would never…” But it’s not like parents of children who got in trouble all went around saying, “Yeah, I saw that coming.”
Hope you enjoyed this sneak peek! Meanwhile, I tag Sharon Short ( www.facebook.com/SharonShortAuthor ) , author of the just-released MY ONE SQUARE INCH OF ALASKA (Penguine/Plume). Sharon is also the Literary Life columnist for the Dayton Daily News, director of the Antioch Writers' Workshop in Yellow Springs, Ohio and adjunct instructor of creative writing and composition for Antioch University Midwest.
I also tag Zinta Aistars, a local friend a lovely writer. Here’s more about Zinta: She’s the creative director of the writing and editing service, Z Word, LLC, and the editor-in-chief of the literary magazine, The Smoking Poet, online since 2006. She is the published author of three books in the Latvian language, and is currently at work on a novel (in English) based on her experiences of living on a small farm in southwest Michigan. Find out more about her at http://zintaaistars.blogspot.com , www.zintaaistars.com and www.thesmokingpoet.com .
Look for their answers on their own blogs next week!
This information below is the first time I’ve written at length about details in THE WHOLE GOLDEN WORLD. I’m very private about works in progress, but this one I just handed into my editor in what I believe is the final version, so I finally feel able to talk about it!
1) What is the working title of your current/next book?
THE WHOLE GOLDEN WORLD, coming out November 5
2) Where did the idea come from?
A newspaper article from my hometown.
3) What genre does your book fall under?
Commercial fiction, by my preference. But in the industry, my books are often called women’s fiction (a term that I find problematic! As opposed to what? Normal fiction? Men’s fiction?). That’s another blog post in itself. I am not mad at anyone for calling the book women’s fiction, to be clear. For better or worse, it is a handy shorthand for my type of character-driven novel with strong female leads.
4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
I’m always terrible at this! Now that I’ve been at this long enough to know what a long shot a film of the book would be, I don’t daydream about it much. Also, I think I’d be lousy at casting.
Maybe I’ll punt.
Who do you think should play a fortysomething firebrand of a mom named Dinah with a bad habit of speaking before she thinks?
Who should play thirtyish yoga teacher named Rain who is actually very down-to-earth and practical despite her hippie name? She also has an unbendable sense of duty passed down by her beloved Gran.
Who should play the handsome, boyish, wayward twenty-nine year old teacher named TJ, whose moods change with the winds?
Who should play the 17-year-old cello player and honor student Morgan, whom everyone calls an “old soul” and forgets is still actually a kid?
5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
A teacher-student affair unravels two families and a town.
6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
It will be published by Morrow/HarperCollins, and I’m represented by Kristin Nelson of the Nelson Literary Agency. (They have a new website! It’s awesome: http://nelsonagency.com/ )
7) How long did it take you to write the first draft?
Oh, I have no idea. I write so many drafts of every book. I’m a fast, messy writer. I have nine versions of this book on my hard drive.
8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Another tough one. I try not to read similar books while I’m writing mine, for obvious reasons. I’m a big fan of WHAT WAS SHE THINKING? by Zoe Heller about a teacher-student affair in the opposite genders (female teacher, teen boy). But that book is more about the relationship of the teacher and her confidante than the affair itself, and my own book is vastly different. (p.s. I much prefer the UK title of that book, NOTES ON A SCANDAL).
I suppose my book is a bit like Jodi Picoult in that it’s about relatively normal families put through extraordinary events.
9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I mentioned a newspaper article above. The headline was something like “Teacher admits having sex with student.” How can you not read on after a headline like that? But the most striking thing about the article was how the young woman in question chose to sit behind the defendant in the courtroom, and not with her parents.
10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?
My publisher recently showed me the draft catalog copy for this novel and one line they’d written jumped out at me: “How well do we really know our children?” It’s comforting to think, “My kids would never…” But it’s not like parents of children who got in trouble all went around saying, “Yeah, I saw that coming.”
Hope you enjoyed this sneak peek! Meanwhile, I tag Sharon Short ( www.facebook.com/SharonShortAuthor ) , author of the just-released MY ONE SQUARE INCH OF ALASKA (Penguine/Plume). Sharon is also the Literary Life columnist for the Dayton Daily News, director of the Antioch Writers' Workshop in Yellow Springs, Ohio and adjunct instructor of creative writing and composition for Antioch University Midwest.
I also tag Zinta Aistars, a local friend a lovely writer. Here’s more about Zinta: She’s the creative director of the writing and editing service, Z Word, LLC, and the editor-in-chief of the literary magazine, The Smoking Poet, online since 2006. She is the published author of three books in the Latvian language, and is currently at work on a novel (in English) based on her experiences of living on a small farm in southwest Michigan. Find out more about her at http://zintaaistars.blogspot.com , www.zintaaistars.com and www.thesmokingpoet.com .
Look for their answers on their own blogs next week!
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Thanks for tagging me, Kristina! I'm looking forward to you next book! Your answers are great; I'll mull mine over and post on my blog next week.
Zinta