The Next Big Thing

Greg Lilly, writer/publisher and all around awesome person, asked me to be part of the Next Big Thing Blog Hop. It sounded like fun, plus I get to tag some talented writers. My answers to the questions are listed below, and I’m tagging three others to be part of the hop. They will post their answers next Wednesday, December 12. You can read Greg's post here.

These are the rules/questions:

Details: Rules
*Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (Work In Progress)
*Tag up to five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them. It’s that simple.

Ten Interview Questions for The Next Big Thing:
What is the working title of your book?
Madness in Brewster Square: Book 1 of the Brewster Square Series

Where did the idea come from for the book?
I can’t really answer that, except to say that I believe it has been simmering in my head for a while now. I was at a dinner for writers this year when the idea for the entire series came to me. That night, I went home and began outlining the story.

What genre does your book fall under?
This is definitely a cozy mystery series!

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? This question is difficult to answer, because my characters are not written with any particular actress/actor in mind and because I don’t pay much attention to television shows. Casting would be challenging, but this list is close to what I visualize when I write:
Ava Maria Sophia Cecelia: Sara Rue
Giuseppe (Ava’s brother, founder of AA Paranormal Investigations): Zachary Quinto
Charlie (Ava’s best friend): Reese Witherspoon
Stanley (Ava’s new boyfriend): Simon Baker
Oliver (new police detective in Brewster Square, former DEA agent): Danny Pino

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? (One sentence did not work for me, had to make it a wee bit longer)
Ava loves working in her brother Giuseppe’s Aromatherapy store, but hates when he drags her into his paranormal investigations. Those things are boring and nobody really believes in ghosts anyway. On the night they investigate the old McAllister place, the one house Ava is convinced is truly haunted, they find a dead body in the basement. As Ava looks into the death, she starts to wonder: has everyone in Brewster Square gone mad?

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
This book will be traditionally published, most likely with a small, independent publisher.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
It took ten months to write the first draft, and will take another three to four to edit before sending it out.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
The Brewster Square Series can be called a cross between Diana Killian’s Mantra for Murder Mystery Series and Juliet Blackwell’s Witchcraft Mystery Series. While not exactly the same, my series has similar themes of family conflict and alternative spirituality.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?
My family. Growing up within a large Italian family had many of moments of craziness sprinkled with lots of love (and food). Whenever I am able to spend time with my relatives in Connecticut I am surrounded by love and laughter.. Plus, I wanted to create a fictional town where I could name the streets and make it whatever I wanted it to be. Brewster Square is a combination of the Connecticut towns of New Haven and Branford, with a little imagination to mix it all up.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
My father used to tell me about the hostilities that existed between the Italian and the Irish immigrants in the Northeast when he was a kid, so I used that for this book. I hope that since I’ve been having so much fun writing this, you’re going to have just as much fun reading it.

For now, you can hop on over to next week’s participants and see who they are.
J. Conrad Guest, author of January’s Paradigm, One Hot January, January’s Thaw, The Cobb Legacy, A Retrospect in Death and 500 Miles To Go, as well as a novella and numerous articles. You can read his blog and check out his website for more information.

Jeanne Johansen, author of 27 Minutes and Tea With A Hussy in the novella collection Chesapeake Bay Christmas. As founder of High Tide Publications, Jeanne is dedicated to seeing other writers get a great story out to great readers. Her blog can be found here.

Chris Eberle is the author of the John Seraph mystery series. Check out his blog and website for fun information.

Holiday Stories

Yes, it's true, I have a new book available! I am part of a group of authors called the Bay Sisters, and we've released our first book, titled 'Chesapeake Bay Christmas'. It's a series of three novellas, and as you may have guessed, each story is tied to the holiday season. If you like Christmas stories, or are looking for a quick read, check us out. And stay tuned, the Bay Sisters have plans for more releases in 2013...

What I Will Do On My Summer Vacation

This summer, I will be...

...working on the final edits from the publisher for my debut novel, Signs of the South.

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!

The contract has been signed and we are ready to move forward. As all my friends in the writing world know, getting your first (or second, third or fifteenth) novel published is no easy feat. But I've managed to find a great publisher that I am very excited to work with that really loves what I've written.

Pulse Publishing is the traditional publishing division of Urban Echoes Entertainment, a multimedia company. The CEO, Marcus Harris, is friendly, approachable, and best summed up by the line in his bio that reads, "Marcus has become highly respected for his ability to relate universal truths that span the boundaries of race, color, creed, and gender and address the everyday lives interwoven throughout the global community." How could I not work with someone like that?

This summer we will be working on final edits, cover design, and an exciting contest that involves all of you.

More information regarding the contest and release dates will be posted as they become available.

The Reason for the Story

I believe that we are intimately connected to each other through our stories. Isn’t it in our nature to tell each other the details of our lives? Do we not reach for the phone when something happens so we can share this ‘thing’, good or bad?

If you think about it, we spend much of our lives telling our story to others. Even if it’s just an end-of-the-day review to our partner or friend, we are driven to communicate what happened.

This is what nourishes us, the stories we tell each other or read become the fuel for our souls. When I think about the books I’ve read in my lifetime I know that it was not just about my need to jump into someone else’s world, it was my need to know someone else’s story. It was about my need to know I wasn’t alone.

Reading books is how I learned about so much of the world.

Stories provide a mirror for us to look into and assess and let us know we share a connection. Stories illustrate that we are not alone in our experiences and reactions in life.

Most importantly, stories heighten our understanding of being human.

Why We Write

A friend of mine remarked to me last week that she could not imagine why anyone in their right mind would write a novel since there was no immediate compensation. She was puzzled by my career choice. “At the end of the week I know I’ve earned X amount of dollars. But you’ve written a novel and you’re not getting anything until you find a publisher.” That’s true, I admitted. But there are some very legitimate reasons why I write, I explained. Then, of course, I had to come up with those reasons. Here’s my list of reasons why writers write:

Boatloads of Money
James Patterson, Stephen King, Nora Roberts… they’re all pulling in cash, making boatloads of money, right? Isn’t that what happens when a writer lands a contract? Fame and fortune must surely be around the corner.

Okay, so the reality of the situation is that earning a living as a writer means that there will be weeks when you only have enough money to use ketchup to make tomato soup. At the time, this might seem like a rational thing to do. But the writer persists, knowing that Stephen King started in much the same way.

Prefer to Work in my Pajamas
This is a no brainer. Who doesn’t prefer to start the work day at home, dressed in cozy pajamas with a mug of steaming flavored coffee? Maybe the flavored coffee part is just me, maybe you prefer tea, but you get my point. This is definitely a point in favor of the writing life.

I Have Something to Say
Everyone has something to say. Unfortunately we are constantly surrounded by things people have to say, whether it’s on the internet or the old fashioned radio and TV. With all that unnecessary verbiage floating around, the writer focuses on whittling away and presenting only the essential for introspection, hoping to give humanity insight, wisdom and maybe even humor. Yes, I have something to say, but my ultimate hope is that it refocuses your world view or maybe in some small way makes you feel less alone.

The Writing on the Wall
My brother said this best when I was barely a teenager. He told me, “You’d better be a writer when you grow up. If you don’t write your stories down, you’re going to start seeing them written on the walls.”

Since I have no intention of losing myself to insanity, I have done what he suggested. Surprisingly, I think he was correct.