I was tagged by John Joseph Adams to take part in The Next Big Thing meme, which basically asks writers to answer a set of questions that appear on blog after blog. There’s nothing I hate more than a chain letter. There’s nothing I love more than a good Q&A. Evenly balanced, I was swayed by my adoration of all things John Joseph Adams and decided to participate. I’ll start by imploring you — begging you — to read Wastelands, the finest post apocalyptic anthology ever created. Okay. Now to the questions.
What is the title of your next book?
Third Shift. It’s the sequel to Second Shift . Before that was First Shift.
I’m sorta famous for my wild imagination.
Where did the idea come from for the book?
Readers. They were very upset at me for Second Shift. They insisted it should’ve been longer. They said the same thing about First Shift and Wool. It’s never enough with these people.
What genre does your book fall under?
Romance. My book is science fiction, so alphabetically, I think it falls under Romance.
Are these the real original questions or is John Joseph Adams having fun with me?
What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
I picture myself playing the lead role of Donald, so I would say Brad Pitt. The character of Mission, who is a lot younger but equally handsome, would also be played by Brad Pitt. But with CGI. Like they did in that film where he shrank.
What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
You do know that Proust was able to stretch a sentence along for page after page, and if you weren’t aware of this fact, well then I’m here to tell you that he indeed was capable of such a thing, and that just when you thought his mega and ridiculous sentences were going to end, he’d do something clever, like use a semi-colon where good sense calls for a period; my book is about people living underground after the world has been made uninhabitable.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
That’s a tricky one. I like to think of myself as a self-published author, because the chicks dig that, but in truth I’ve become something of a hybrid, and nobody but Monsanto thinks that’s cool. I’ll put Third Shift out on my own here in the U.S. via Kindle Direct Publishing and CreateSpace. Random House will release the Shift trilogy in the UK and Australia a little later. Hopefully, Simon and Schuster will want to print the book here if Wool does well in March. It’s all a bit confusing, to be honest. I like this question the least.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
The one I’m working on right now? It took a month. Exactly. I wrote it as part of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). The challenge is to write an entire 50,000 word novel in the month of November. And then you revise it afterward until it becomes legible.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
That’s tricky. Nobody else is foolish enough to write books as strange as these. I would say the Shift trilogy is part Rip Van Winkle and part Pelican Brief.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Bill Pillow. He was my boss at my old day job in a bookstore. I no longer have that job, which means I better keep writing and selling books. Food costs money, you know.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
This will be one of my only books not to feature a cliffhanger epilogue. I promise. Maybe. Or…
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Cool, I did it! Now I get to tag five other contestants And here they are! May the odds forever be in their favor!
Erik Wecks
Susan Kaye Quinn
David Adams
Sara Cannon
Bella Andre
(Check their blogs next week and see if they rose to the challenge or slunk off into the woods like ninnies!)
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