The Next Big Thing – A Blog Hop

1) What is the working title of your next book?

My “next” four books have already been written and will be coming out back to back to back starting in May, with Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective. The rest of the books in the series are Secrets and Lies, Mind Games, and Dreamer.

As for what I’m working on right now, I have two ongoing projects. The first is a spin-off of the Cassie Scot series (which is complete at 4 volumes), involving a minor character who demanded a story of her own. At the moment, it has an embarrassing placeholder of a title, Cry of the Wolf. Ouch! Go ahead, I can take it! The other book I’m working on is called Dreamwalkers, which may also turn into a series, although right now I’m just focusing on finishing a rough draft.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

I was on the floor with my (then) nine-month-old daughter when I thought of Cassie. I was having a dry spell. I had finished The Immortality Virus three months earlier, but was feeling a bit burned out on writing and I wasn’t thrilled with any of the ideas I had been playing with. So I decided to take a year-long writing sabatical. Something about taking the pressure off must have freed my muse, because I didn’t make it a year. Three months later, on the floor with my daughter, it popped into my head: What if, instead of writing about the all-powerful sorcerer (which EVERYONE does), I write about someone in a magical world with no magic at all?

3) What genre does your book fall under?

Urban fantasy, paranormal, romance, mystery, coming of age … Oh, I assumed you meant genre(s)! 🙂

4) Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Oh no! Not the movie question. I don’t have an answer, and for once, I don’t want to make one up. (I did for my first two books.) I got to know Cassie from the inside out, so it’s not like I pictured a famous actress when I wrote her. If I’m ever lucky enough to see this dramatized for the big screen, I will trust the people in the movie industry to cast her — they’ve got to know more about picking an actress than I do. Whoever it is will need enough talent to play both Cassie and her mom, because they look so much alike.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

The ungifted daughter of powerful sorcerers is trying to build a normal life for herself when she is pulled into a paranormal investigation and tempted by a handsome sorcerer.

(And may I add that the three-sentence synopsis is TONS better? 🙂 )

6) Will your book be represented by an agency, a publisher or will it be self-published?

Twilight Times Books, a small but wonderful press that prides itself in uncovering talented authors, has once again agreed to publish my new book. They published my first two novels, and have agreed to publish the entire Cassie Scot series.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

The first draft took about three months. I was in the zone! Granted, I rewrote it three times after that, but the first draft took no time at all.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I wouldn’t. I don’t want to sound like this is an absolute original — I fully recognize and admit that the magical world is an amalgam of every urban fantasy novel I’ve ever read (so check out my goodreads profile for ideas), but the character…she’s not your typical tough chick. She’s not a bad-ass. She’s smart, compassionate, and brave, but she’ll have to use wit rather than strength, and I can’t think of another urban fantasy novel in which that is the case. Jim Butcher once wrote a high fantasy series in which the main character, Tavi, didn’t have the magic the rest of the world had, but he went someplace completely different with that character and that story. So I’m afraid I don’t have an easy, “If you liked this, you’ll like my books.” Give it a shot. It might surprise you.

9) Who or What inspired you to write this book?

This book, in particular? I’m not sure. I know I quickly and thoroughly fell in love with the character, so maybe Cassie herself inspired me to write it. I have to say that I have never, not before or since, felt as drawn to write a story. I HAD to write it. It wouldn’t let me put it down. I very much hope to find another such story one day, but may end up feeling blessed to have found the one.

10) What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

The first paragraph:

“My parents think the longer the name, the more powerful the sorcerer, so they named me Cassandra Morgan Ursula Margaret Scot. You can call me Cassie.”

And the beautiful cover painting: