The Next Big Thing

The lovely and bossy Laurie Laliberte asked if I'd like to talk about my next project as part of a chain blog thing. Even before she explained I'd get good luck and probably some kickback from a deposed Nigerian prince, I said yes. I mean, I'm an egotist, so I barely need an excuse to talk about my stuff.

And since it's Christmas Eve, we'll just call this you lucky readers' Christmas present.

I have just done the blog equivalent of giving everyone a picture of myself. I couldn't be happier. Now, on with the show!

What is the title of your next book?

I'm not actually working on a novel at the moment. Most of that is because I'm working on a series of novellas that bridge the gap between Aaron Pogue's second and third books in The Dragonprince Trilogy. The series of novellas are under the heading Tales of the Dragonriders and my particular offerings will be (in order of publication and internal chronology) The Abyss, The Dragonprince's Shadow, and A Dragonrider of the Tower?.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

Aaron has a lot of fans. He also has a lot of Dragonswarm story ideas. He wanted to do these tales of Daven's elite Dragonriders, but he didn't want to do them all himself. I want some of his fans to look at my stuff, so I volunteered. Plus, and this is not (just) ego talking: I take Aaron's already exciting plots and make them freakin' sing.

The short version of that is "Aaron handed me a bunch of plots and told me to figure out how to make them into a story."

What genre does your book fall under?

I'm not sure what Aaron would call them, but I'd say they're Epic Fantasy concepts wrapped up in Adventure Fantasy storytelling.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

I think Caleb was in Aaron's head as Michale Clarke Duncan until his untimely demise this year. Lareth the insane wizard with a weird sense of humor makes me think of Johnny Depp. Channing Tatum would make a pretty great Jaicin. Garrett Dain should be Idris Elba and Kemmas Raug should be Wood Harris, but that might just be because I'm in love with The Wire.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

Well, since we're actually talking some novellas that go between two books, this might be difficult. Let's go with "Between Daven's war with the Dragonswarm and his son Taryn's difficulties with the king, there were...Tales of the Dragonriders!"

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

Split the difference! I will be published by indie publisher extraordinaire Consortium Books.

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

Months, but it seems like YEARS AND YEARS. It is an interesting problem turning plots into stories in a world to which you don't know all the rules, especially when the creator of that world has everything around your story thought out in annoying detail.

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

This is another weird question for me. I'd like to say The Dragonprince Trilogy but these are going to read very differently than the main books, although I think they'll be just as satisfying to the fans. They don't really read like my own stuff though either.

Let's go with "They're like R.A. Salvatore and Robert Jordan had a love child who avoided the excesses of both her fathers."

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

A grand idea by Aaron combined with pure, unadulterated avarice on my part.

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

I've never really collaborated like this before and the output from it is absolutely fascinating to me. The ideas behind these stories are pure Aaron, but the executions could not be more different than what he'd do.

So if seeing two very different authors come together on a bunch of novellas isn't interesting to you, then I don't think we're even playing in the same ballpark of what sounds cool. Or the same league. Possible not the same sport.

Okay, them's the questions! I think I'll tag Aaron Pogue since he's already linked up there and I'd be interested to hear what he thinks about these things. I'll tag Courtney Cantrell since I just hit the Publish button on her latest piece and she'll want to chat about that. Also, fellow Consortium author and head editor, Jessie Sanders is doing a Dragonrider novella so let's throw her in this pile as well.

I'm a couple short. But I'll keep thinking and if I come up with another couple authors I know and who will want to take part, I'll update it with their links as well.