The Next Big Thing
THE NEXT BIG THING
This questionnaire was going around the web a few years ago -- I just found it when I was cleaning up stuff on my computer and decided to update and post it. Thanks to Lillian Nattel for tagging me.
What is the working title of your book?
"The Discovery of Flight"
Where did the idea for the book come from?
When I was in university I volunteered at a home for multiply-handicapped children and there was a girl there who was completely frozen, unable to move or speak, with the most beautiful and intelligent eyes I’d ever seen. I desperately wished I could help her communicate what she was thinking even if there was no way to free her from her disabilities. Now we have assistive technology, which is awesome, but it didn’t exist then. So in my book she’s writing a fantasy YA novel in which she takes the form of a telepathic hawk!
What genre does your book fall under?
I kind of fail at genre (see my essay from the June 2015 "Quill and Quire", posted above). A lot of my poems are essays, for example, and my most recent novel, "Safe as Houses", which is nominally a murder mystery, has a murder in it but isn't very conventional otherwise. It has a fractured narrative from two points of view in two different time-lines just like the book I’m writing now.
Some people thought the novel I published before that one, "The Tale-Teller', should have been YA because the protagonist was 19; I thought the one I’m writing now was YA but because it includes a younger sister who is 12, who narrates the realistic part of the story through her diary, apparently it has to be Middle Grade.”
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
It’s not only premature to think about something like that, it’s bad luck. A British film producer wanted to make a movie of my first novel, "The Violin Lover", and had an ideal cast in mind, but couldn’t get the funding for the project. I’ve learned from that disappointment, believe me, and don’t count my eggs before they’re scrambled.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
There’s more than one way to come of age.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I worked on it off and on for about ten years, worried that I didn't have the right to speak for someone in my protagonist's situation. Finaly I followed her sister's voice and that showed me the way. I’m always teaching and editing and doing other stuff at the same time -- right now I’m in art school -- so it’s really hard to figure out how long things take. And then there are the multiple revisions. I am a fast writer but then do tons of revisions.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I have no idea.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
This story is inspired by the girl I worked with in university (see question one). I wish I could remember her name, because even though I met her long ago I’ve never stopped thinking about her. But the experience of feeling shut in and misunderstood, of not being able to share one’s internal world, is one I think everybody shares, and the notion that everyone has a rich secret fantasy life is something that interests me greatly.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
It has dragons in it. And pineapples. And birdwatching. And quite a few jokes. So that even though it may sound like a grim topic it’s a funny book. Or at least funny in parts.
This questionnaire was going around the web a few years ago -- I just found it when I was cleaning up stuff on my computer and decided to update and post it. Thanks to Lillian Nattel for tagging me.
What is the working title of your book?
"The Discovery of Flight"
Where did the idea for the book come from?
When I was in university I volunteered at a home for multiply-handicapped children and there was a girl there who was completely frozen, unable to move or speak, with the most beautiful and intelligent eyes I’d ever seen. I desperately wished I could help her communicate what she was thinking even if there was no way to free her from her disabilities. Now we have assistive technology, which is awesome, but it didn’t exist then. So in my book she’s writing a fantasy YA novel in which she takes the form of a telepathic hawk!
What genre does your book fall under?
I kind of fail at genre (see my essay from the June 2015 "Quill and Quire", posted above). A lot of my poems are essays, for example, and my most recent novel, "Safe as Houses", which is nominally a murder mystery, has a murder in it but isn't very conventional otherwise. It has a fractured narrative from two points of view in two different time-lines just like the book I’m writing now.
Some people thought the novel I published before that one, "The Tale-Teller', should have been YA because the protagonist was 19; I thought the one I’m writing now was YA but because it includes a younger sister who is 12, who narrates the realistic part of the story through her diary, apparently it has to be Middle Grade.”
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
It’s not only premature to think about something like that, it’s bad luck. A British film producer wanted to make a movie of my first novel, "The Violin Lover", and had an ideal cast in mind, but couldn’t get the funding for the project. I’ve learned from that disappointment, believe me, and don’t count my eggs before they’re scrambled.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
There’s more than one way to come of age.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I worked on it off and on for about ten years, worried that I didn't have the right to speak for someone in my protagonist's situation. Finaly I followed her sister's voice and that showed me the way. I’m always teaching and editing and doing other stuff at the same time -- right now I’m in art school -- so it’s really hard to figure out how long things take. And then there are the multiple revisions. I am a fast writer but then do tons of revisions.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I have no idea.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
This story is inspired by the girl I worked with in university (see question one). I wish I could remember her name, because even though I met her long ago I’ve never stopped thinking about her. But the experience of feeling shut in and misunderstood, of not being able to share one’s internal world, is one I think everybody shares, and the notion that everyone has a rich secret fantasy life is something that interests me greatly.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
It has dragons in it. And pineapples. And birdwatching. And quite a few jokes. So that even though it may sound like a grim topic it’s a funny book. Or at least funny in parts.
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