The Next Big Thing

Thanks Patrice Caldwell for tagging me in this fun post. It gives me the chance to talk about the manuscript I’m working on and share that love with some friends.  I’m tagging Maria Rachel Hooley, Michelle S. Carey, Michael Coady, and Jamie Lee Scott/Livingston.

1. What is the working title of your book? Sovereign
 
2. Where did the idea come from the book?
I believe it came on the tail end of a Dystopia-obsessed reading stretch.  I didn't exactly come up with a premise, I just had a scene play out in my head, and I typed it up.  It was only later that I decided to develop it into a novel after first trying to play it off as a short story.   

3. What genre is your book? Young Adult Dystopia/Sci-Fi

4. Which actors would you choose to play the characters in a movie? 
I can't say who should play the roles, but I can say who the characters look most like in my head.  I have a Pinterest board here: character visuals.  The lead characters are Cori & Dylan.  For Dylan I picked Liam Hemsworth, but I wouldn't honestly want him to play the role.  I would want the wonderful Hollywood casting people to do their job and find somebody that fits the role who looks somewhat like Liam, but preferably with a Native American background.  For Cori I picked Mia Wasikowska, who played in Alice in Wonderland with Johnny Depp.  I picked her based on looks, so again, I don't know that she'd be right for the "role." 

5. What is a one sentence synopsis of your book? 
In a tyrant’s shadow, one girl will rise to defend Earth’s last colony.
 
6. Will your book be self-published or repped by an agency?
This is still up in the air, though the likely answer is self-published basically because of the market.  I think publishers/agents are kind of "over" dystopia for now, but I don't think readers who love the genre are over it yet, so I believe self-publishing will reach my target audience.

7. How long did it take you to finish your first draft?
Eh, I'm not really sure because I took a break in the middle, then won an award based on the first 20-something pages, so I hauled butt to finish a draft just in case anyone asked to see it.  I know I finished the second half in less than a month. 

8. What other books would you compare yours to in this genre?
Eh, tough to say.  Do I say "eh" a lot?  I don't know what Sovereign is "like," but I can tell you some books in the same genre that I love: 

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Legend by Marie Lu
The Hunger Games (obviously). 

Did I mention Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi???  Honestly, hopefully, my book isn't much like any of them.  What fun would that be?

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book? 
Hmm.  I never had that moment where I thought "I want to write a book about such and such."  I just had this character in this particular situation and wrote the story around her because I loved spending time with her, telling her story.  The theme kind of blossomed in the process and that theme became my "inspiration" in refining and editing. 

I also never decided to write a dystopia, it just was one.  Now that I'm trying to get an agent, I'm wishing this project wasn't a dystopia, but it is what it is.

10. What else about your book my pique a reader’s interest?  
Let's see... I "accidentally" (**coy smile**) wrote some very lovely boys. Boys, boys, boys.  Also, the hero, Cori, is a kick-butt female.  She's tough, she's complicated, and she's entertaining.  I think the opening scene will grab the reader and make them want to follow her story.


Thanks again, Patrice for tagging me!  This was fun!
-E.R.