next big thing (blog hop)
December 19th, 2012
First I had to figure out what book to talk about. I was thinking about the Jan Sleet mysteries, but the questions are more appropriate for a novel. And I can't write about my next project because it's not far enough along. It doesn't have a working title or a synopsis or a first draft. I doubt if anybody wants to read a blog post where most of the answers are, "Damned if I know."
So, I decided to write about Stevie One, which is finished, but it's "in progress" because I'm sure it will be an e-book at some point and it may get some polishing before that.
What is the working title of your book?
Stevie One.
Where did the idea come from for the book?
It was mostly because DC Comics decided to reboot their entire line, wiping out all previous continuity and starting over with something called the "New 52." Which is the sort of thing that the comic book companies do from time to time to clear out over-complicated continuity and make the books more inviting to new readers. And in the process of this reboot, DC canceled my two favorite books and wrote one of my favorite characters out of existence. So, I decided to write about a similar character. Not the same character, of course, but, you know, kind of inspired by.
I was also somewhat inspired by a movie. I can't say which one (it would be a spoiler), but it will be obvious if you read the story.
What genre does your book fall under?
The subtitle is "An Adventure," which is pretty much the case. It would appeal to people who like YA, I'd say, but it's got some elements that some people might not expect in YA (lesbians, smoking, naked people).
And it's a mystery, with a detective and an investigation (and a solution).
It's also a love story, probably the most romantic thing I've ever written.
So, I think it might appeal to people who like any of those genres.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Hmmm. Well, here are some suggestions, but these actors are not currently the right ages to play these characters.
Sigourney Weaver could play Jan Sleet (Weaver is a great actress, she's physically imposing, and she can play comedy).
I'd pick Tim Hutton for Marshall, since Hutton played Archie Goodwin in the Nero Wolfe TV show, and Marshall is very much the Archie Goodwin of my mystery stories.
For Angel? Lara Parker, who played Angelique on Dark Shadows.
I think give Chloë Moretz a couple of years and she'll be ready to play Stephanie.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
A teenage girl runs away from home, falls in with bad companions, travels to another country, and does something remarkable, learning a lot in the process.
If you plan to publish, will you self-publish traditionally?
I'm not sure what "self-publish traditionally" means (vanity press? chapbooks?), but the story (technically a novella) is available online, and when it is published in book form, I'm sure it will be self-published.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Pretty much exactly six months. I started posting it at the beginning of this year, and the final section was posted on June 25.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
See above for a couple of inspirations. I can't think of much beyond that, especially, since it doesn't fit into a single genre.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
First of all, I found it really challenging that the questions separated "where did the idea come from?" from "what inspired you?" I thought that was an interesting distinction.
My main inspiration as I was writing was that I wanted to write something concise. I was fairly ruthless about removing scenes that didn't move things along.
What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?
Um. It's got action, romance, cigarettes, literary allusions, heroic rescues... And it's concise! What more do you want?
And so the Blog Hop continues, I tag these awesome folks (some of whom have already been tagged on this one, I know):
[Later: Jo Eberhardt tagged me as well, but I used the questions Maggie used because I was already mostly done with the answers.]
Entry Filed under: writing
5 Comments Add your own
1. tsbazelli | December 20th, 2012 at 3:32 am
Great to know more about Stevie One! Thank you for the tag as well 🙂 It’s been awesome reading about what everyone’s working on.
2. Anthony Lee Collins | December 20th, 2012 at 8:40 am
Having the specific questions means people say different things than they would if it was just “So, tell us about your WIP.”
It’s also fun to see how the questions have evolved as they’ve gone from hand to hand. I know three people who have done this, not tagged by each other, and in each case the rules and the questions have been different (that one about “self-publish traditionally” didn’t appear in the others).
3. Maggie | December 20th, 2012 at 10:30 pm
Good to read more about Stevie One! And Lara Parker is exactly how I pictured Angel. 🙂
4. Anthony Lee Collins | December 21st, 2012 at 10:46 am
If you’d like to see Angelique in action (and I expect that “Angel” is a reference to Angelique), there’s a clip here. That scene, and how effortlessly she dominates it, always stuck with me, and then (of course) I found it was on YouTube. 🙂
Talking of influences, I was trying to think of actresses for Claudia and Erika, and I was a bit stumped. I knew what Erika looked like, but couldn’t think of anybody. Then I thought of Laura Elena Harring from Mulholland Dr. for Claudia. Which immediately took me to Naomi Watts, who would be perfect for Erika. And now I think that the image of those two women probably helped inspire Claudia and Erika in the first place (which certainly wasn’t conscious).
5. T. S. Bazelli | Ink Stain&hellip | December 21st, 2012 at 12:30 pm
[…] around. I was tagged by both the lovely and talented Camille Griep, and the experienced wordsmith Anthony Lee Collins. So here's a little about my current […]
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