“My Next Big Thing”

Tagged!

“My Next Big Thing” is a meme making the rounds, a series of questions about one’s work-in-progress. Many national and international writers have participated—and part of the fun is tagging someone else at the end!

I was tagged (almost simultaneously!) by Ania Szado, author of Beginning of Was and Diana B. Henriques, author of The Wizard of Lies. Both are great writers for whom I have tremendous admiration.

Certainly my next big thing is The Comfort of Lies, as it releases tomorrow (Tuesday, Feb 12) but in the obsession of my life that is writing, I’ve finished the first draft of my next book, so I’ll answer the questions for that upcoming (barely titled) book.

What is the working title of your book? Working title is certainly the phrase—as I have about ten of them. So far my editor’s favorite is Accidents of Marriage. Feel free to offer better ones!!

Where did the idea come from for the book? When I worked with criminals and batterers, my path to the job included driving around a dangerous rotary, with drivers fighting to cut each other off. I’d imagine someone with road rage jamming his way in, and then causing an accident that (unbeknownst to himself for a bit) damaged a member of his family. The idea evolved into a drama of how emotional abuse and unchecked temper can have consequences far worse than one ever imagined.

What genre does your book fall under? Contemporary fiction. Domestic drama. My books gets tagged as everything from women’s fiction to literary fiction to upmarket commercial fiction. I think of them as novels.

 

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?  There are three point of view characters. A husband, a wife, and their teenage daughter. I can see the husband played by Matthew Fox, for his undertones of anger just under the surface—Russell Crowe would also be perfect. For the wife I would choose Rachel Weisz. And Ariel Winter (the middle daughter on Modern Family could bring the combination of fragility and strength needed to play the daughter.

What is a one-sentence synopsis of your book? Maddy Illica shields herself with pills and work as she protects her family from her husband Ben’s temper, but when his reckless driving precipitates a car crash resulting in her suffering a brain injury and coma, she can no longer protect anyone and nothing is certain—not Maddy’s life, not Ben’s ability to sustain his son and daughters, and not their love for him.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? Eighteen months seems to be my standard time to get a working first draft in order.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?  I’m awful at comparisons—it makes me feel as though I’ll be toppled by hubris, so I leave the comps to others!                        

Who or what inspired you to write this book? My inspiration came from a combination of working with batterers and taking their criminal behavior down to the more ‘everyday’ variety of men with anger problems. Road rage terrifies me and I often think of how little folks think of the possible consequences of their actions.

What else about your book might pique a reader’s interest? Issues of faith surface for the Jewish-Catholic children. As Maddy struggles to regain her body, the soul of her family seems lost. The novel’s three point of views (mother, father, teenager) illustrate how events impact each family member differently—and how children are often lost in the commotion of tragedy.

When and how will it be published? My editor has sent me her editing suggestions (the ever-brilliant Greer Hendricks from Atria Books.) I imagine it will appear in 14 to 18 months. (Of course, these are dates I pulled from thin air.)

And now it’s my honor to tag and introduce you to three wonderful writers. Please look for upcoming posts on their Next Big Thing:

1) M.J. Rose: “Rose is an unusually skillful storyteller. Her polished prose and intricate plot will grip even the most skeptical reader. “ —The Washington Post

Rose’s The Book of Lost Fragrances is releasing in paperback tomorrow, Feb 12.

“Rose’s deliciously sensual novel of paranormal suspense smoothly melds a perfume-scented quest to protect an ancient artifact with an ages-spanning romance. Rose imbues her characters with rich internal lives in a complex plot that races to a satisfying finish.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred and Boxed Review

Her next book, Seduction launches May 7th.

Seduction by M.J. Rose interlaces the tale of a bereft Victor Hugo, mourning the loss of his daughter over 150 years ago, with the present day chronicles of Jac L’Etoile, caught up in an ancient Druid mystery that is affecting the lives of everyone around her. Intriguing, absorbing, and utterly captivating, Seduction will leave you begging for a sequel.” —Books & Books Bookseller

2) Tish Cohen: “One of Canada’ strongest new talents” Maclean’s Magazine

Cohen’s new book, Search Angel, comes out in June 2013

“There are some books you can’t put down, and others that won’t even let you look away. Tish Cohen’s new novel is both. Try to read it while ironing, and you will perma-press a pinky; do the same while making a sandwich, and you will end up buttering the phone bill. But as the summer’s first terrific beach read, this isn’t really an indoor kind of book anyway. Both of Cohen’s previous novels (Town House and Inside Out Girl) are in development as films, and The Truth About Delilah Blue is sure to follow. She is clearly familiar with the cinema’s propulsive rhythms, and has an almost Hitchcockian sense of how to uncoil audience guts and play double dutch with them. And yet Delilah Blue is a purely domestic drama; no wild-bird invasions or psychotic moteliers in sight, though there may as well be...”—The Globe and Mail—

“Town House is everything you could ask for in a novel: touching, wry, bewitching, eccentric, and riveting to the end. I love this book and eagerly await Tish Cohen’s next.”

—Sara Gruen, NYT bestselling author of Water for Elephants

3) A.X. Ahmad: Ahmad’s debut novel, The Caretaker, releases May 21.

“Though A. X. Ahmad’s The Caretaker is a tightly wound thriller, it is equally concerned with themes of insiders and outsiders, race, culture and class.” Lisa Brackman, New York Times bestselling author of Rock Paper Tiger

“Told with propulsive narrative drive, The Caretaker weaves a compelling story, beguiling characters, and two exotic locales–India and Martha’s Vineyard–into a suspenseful whole.  A wonderful debut.” —Richard North Patterson, #1 New York Times bestselling author