The Next Big Thing

The super-fantastic Alison Beightol, who happens to be one of my most favoritest people EVAR, invited me to be a part of The Next Big Thing. The Next Big Thing is a blog tour in which the invited author answers a set of questions about his/her latest work, gives a shout out to the author who offered the initiation, and then tags five other authors to participate (you can see my selected authors at the end).

Are you ready? I'm totes ready.

What is the working title of your next book?
Spark

Where did the idea come from for the book?

A line from Muse's *such an appropriately named band* song "Starlight"--Let's conspire to ignite/All the souls that would die just to feel alive.

What genre does your book fall under?
Urban fantasy with some romance

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I know she's not an actor, but Hayley from Paramore would be perfect as Duke. Bradley Cooper as Leo, Jennifer Connelly as Elle, Ed Quinn as Raphael, Alex Lundqvist as Sven

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Two Nephilim detectives must navigate Heaven's and Hell's politics to secure the Spark, the manifestation of God's power on earth, from the demons who want it and the angels who want to use it to be free.





Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I'm hoping for agency. Fingers are crossed as always.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Several months. There was a lot of research, banging my head against the wall, and yelling involved. Oh, and alcohol.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Throw a rock and you'll hit one with Angels, fo' sho'. Though it's YA, I'd probably say A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford is somewhat close stylistically.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Not so much inspired as...coerced. Duke started talking one day, and when she didn't stop, I had to follow where she was leading me. After Elle introduced herself in a short story I wrote for a contest (and after undergoing multiple name changes), the book took on a scope and a path I was NOT prepared for. Had to see it through to the end.

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

This isn't a typical good vs. evil scenario. Not all angels are good. Not all demons are bad. Also, my Nephilim and the world they inhabit isn't typical, either. Just wait. Hopefully you'll see.

Here are the next authors I'm tagging:
Landra Graf, who's freaking awesome, and 1/3 (officially!) of my A-Team review team at Indie Books R Us
Moe Ferrara, my sunshine and my sanity
Mari Dunham, the newest 1/3 of my A-Team review team at Indies and amazing person all around
Stephanie Sauvinet, who rocks me without fail with her cyberpunk awesomeness
Liana Brooks, superhero queen and sci-fi auteur extraordinaire. 

Lucky 7s

Thanks to the awesome Jackie at Bouquet of Books for choosing me as one of her Lucky 7! Jax is one of my all-time favorite people, so you guys should go visit her beautiful blog here.

Now for the rules for Lucky 7 Meme:

1. Go to page 77 of your current MS. (Or a fave book)
2. Go to line 7.
3. Copy down the next 7 lines - sentences or paragraphs - and post them as they're written.
4. Tag 7 authors.
5. Let them know.

I'm currently revising Spark, my urban fantasy crazy-fest. These are seven sentences between MC Riona and Sven, the half-demon who's been in love with her for almost 800 years. Obviously, he effed up.

“I’m going to go to my car,” she said through clenched teeth, “and get my change of clothes, dress, and leave.”

“Riona…”

“And you are going to sit here, alone, and think about what should have happened, as opposed to this…mess.” Riona shuddered with her anger at its boiling point. Sven sat like a scolded animal, eyes boring into the floor with their own heat. She slammed the door behind her for good measure.

The chill of late afternoon air cut through the terrycloth like a hundred little talons. Her back throbbed against her shivering muscles. Demon blood was highly valued in the first and second centuries for its anesthetic properties. The first Trackers hunted these demons, and Reapers like Demaris would make the kill. Reapers and Trackers always worked in teams, side-by-side, sometimes marrying and becoming one hellishly amazing track-and-kill machine. The marriages were rarely borne from love. More or less, they were the logical next step.

That’s how her mother and father were. A team, but not necessarily in love. The system worked for the most part, with or without love. Reapers and Trackers, Rippers and Psychers. Balanced.

The clothes she needed lay neatly in the backseat, a pair of jeans and a pale green button-down shirt. Her shoes had been salvageable, at least, though the dark stains on the leather would never come out. That’s what I get. A ruined $300 suit, ruined $100 shoes, ruined evening, ruined hope… She cursed herself for hoping. That was the one thing she knew never to do.

This time, she closed the door gently as she bee-lined toward the bathroom. Sven chattered lowly on his cell phone, his tone heated, though the words were a jumble. Riona disregarded him and changed, already missing the way the robe wrapped around her like lamb-wool soft wings. The shirt scratched against her wounds, pulling against scabs that would disappear by tomorrow at the earliest. What did it matter if Sven had tried to bind her? She’d been bound to him since that first afternoon so long ago.
 
I've totally already revised this, but the meme says "as is" not "as is revised." So...yeah.

Now for my Lucky 7 ^_^

Laura Diamond @ Laura Diamond Lucid Dreamer

Beckah-rah

Krysten @ The Shadow's Series

Janne @ This Week's Hobby

Landra @ Rise of the Slush

Wilkins McQueen @ Elephants Thailand and China

Jack LaBloom @ Jack LaBloom Romance Writer, Or Maybe Not

Six Sunday 7/10

Yay! It's Six Sunday time again! I'm so excited to read today's entries cuz I KNOW they'll be awesome. Be sure to check out all the talented Six Sunday participants!

Pulling from Spark one more time before I go back to Duality (edits are...well...they're edits). This is just a little more from Duke's conversation with her wisp, Adrielle Baxter. Last week was Step Three: Gain Confidence, in which Duke told Adrielle that Duke's husband and dog are bound, just like she is.

            “Oh yeah? And where are they now?”

            “Hopefully, Greg took our dog to the park. Kanzys really liked the park.” I had to try not to break down. Losing Greg had been hard, but watching Kanzys starve himself to death in mourning…that was way worse.

Six Sentence Sunday 7/3

It's that time again! Welcome back! I love getting comments throughout the day, and really appreciate them. Makes Sundays a whole lot more enjoyable for me, even if True Blood's back on (YAY!).

This week's six is the continuation from last week. Adrielle Baxter has just figured out that she's dead, and Duke's trying to talk her down. Not easy. At all.

Welcome to Step three.

She was so angry, just like Greg had been.

            Step Three: Gain confidence. “A lot, trust me. My husband…he’s still bound. So is my dog. I see them all the time.”

Six Sentence Sunday 6/26

Welcome back to Six Sentence Sunday, and thank you for stopping in every week. Your comments make my entire week!!!

Be sure to stop by and visit my fellow SSS participants. There's some killer writing out there!

This week's SSS is from Spark again. I keep thinking I'll go back to Duality once construction is almost finished. It's turning into something pretty cool, if I say so myself *toot toot*.

We get to move on to Step two: Comfort. Although the next exchange isn't particularly comforting.

*Warning. There is an F-bomb ahead. Just sayin.*

“Adrielle,” I barked, trying to snap her attention back to me. “I want you to listen to me, okay? You’re all right.”

            “I’m dead!” she screamed. “I’m fucking dead and you want to tell me I’m all right? You’re sick.”

Six Sentence Sunday 06/19

SUUUUUUUUUNDAY! The day after Saturday, which is the day after Friday!!!

And it's FATHER'S DAY! If any daddies, or single moms who have to be dad too, are reading this, I hope you have a wonderful, beautiful day. 

I've totally been slacking on the blog front. I've been writing like crazy on Spark, and without internet at the homestead, I'm spreading my interwebbing thin... 

Enough of my excuses. Here's this week's Six Sentence Sunday. I'm still totally ga-ga over Spark (which I love, even in its rough rough form), so I wanted to share from it again this week. This is a continuation of Duke's conversation with Adrielle Baxter, the victim. Step one: Get them talking. 

            I nodded and waited for her to continue, wondering how long it’d take for the realization to sink in.

            It didn’t take long.

            “I walked back toward the office, and there was this…this guy. In the security lights, I saw him…and…” She stopped and gasped. “Oh, God…”

Definitely check out my fellow Six Sunday Peeps!!! (Of course, if you found me via the list, then you've probably done that already.) Have a great Sunday!

Six Sentence Sunday 6/12

Hello, everybody! Six Sentence Sunday is here again! I missed it last week, but our esteemed Sara Brookes was busy making the new site awesome. She even put in a forum (AKA time vortex). So, if you haven't, please say thanks to her for all her hard work, and check out the site here

OK. Back to Spark. I PROMISE Duality will see the light of day soon. I'm gonna start working on it again. Spark's been a lot easier on me, though. And I love Duke. She makes me happy.

To this point,  Duke and Shook are investigating a series of Ripper-esque homicides. As a Psycher, Duke is the only one the squad with the ability to speak to the deceased, and this is a glimpse of her first spirit interview.

“Adrielle Baxter?”

            She nodded, wrapping her arms protectively around herself. I thanked God that they never looked like their corpses.

            I flashed my badge, slowly edging toward her. “My name is Duke. I want to help you.”

Six Sentence Sunday 5/29

Yay! It's Sunday! You know what that means!!!

That's right. For all the Six Sentence fun you can handle, click here to check out my fellow Sixers.

And as always, thank you for coming back week after week after week! Your comments mean the world to me. Especially since it didn't end.

Here's the continuation of last week's. For editorial purposes, Sven's wearing a gray t-shirt and cotton pants. Yeah, I know, not as hot as the towel, but he's not trying to seduce her. Yet.

            “You can never get the water hot enough, can you,” she mused.      

            The room was nothing like she expected the great Sven Vidar to stay in. She imagined him in posh penthouse suites with champagne chilling on ice, or at least a mini bar. This place had neither; it was comfortable, cozy, small.

            She already felt too close to him.

            “You know, it’s difficult to get that perfect fire-and-brimstone temperature from a Kohler." 

Six Sentence Sunday 5/22

Well, if you're reading this, then you didn't get raptured. If you're reading this and you DID get raptured, then the afterlife must have some seriously awesome Wi-Fi. Either way, I'm glad you're here and that you stop by every week. Thank you for your support. Y'all are THE BEST!

And if you haven't joined the fun yet, why not? It's easy! Check here for details and the list of SSS participants!

This week's six is more Spark. Y'all seem to be enjoying it, so...yeah.

She followed the walkway along a row of neatly-clipped hedges to the back entrance. Trepidation and white-heat filled her as she raised her hand to knock. She thought about turning around. Checking her watch, she found that she still had two minutes to walk away.         

Instead, she tapped her shaking fingers against the weathering brick and waited for Sven to answer the door.

The scent of sandalwood and lavender met her as the door swung open, revealing the freshly-showered demon actor. 

Six Sentence Sunday 5/8

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome again to SSS. I'm your hostess, Lexcade. Today on the show we have for you a chunk of the end of Riona and Sven's meeting. When we last left them, he'd been attacked by a demon child (not demon-possessed, but a demon in the form of a child) who was one of the extras in his movie, and Riona was checking it out. Then Sven invited her to his hotel room. To...talk. Yeah, that's it. Talk.

For a fleeting moment, Riona watched every move Sven made, smooth, with all the power and bravado of a lion sauntering back and forth after devouring dinner. Her body throbbed for him, but she turned away before something unforgivable happened. The last thing she wanted was for hellfire to rain down on her head, which was exactly what Michael had said would happen should she join with a demon. On her way to her car, she whispered the ancient words that only angels and their spawn spoke with power. By the time she put her key into the ignition, no one would know the demon child had ever existed.

For more SSS fun, check out my fellow wordsmiths here.

Six Sentence Sunday 5/1

Wow. Totally missed the boat on last week. It posted about 12 hours and 17 minutes too late *headdesk*. That'll teach me to pay attention to the time and date stamp.

Taking a break from Duality for my wip Spark. I promise I'll jump back into Duality next week. I just kinda need a break while waiting for a few critiques.

This is from the second chapter--new characters: Riona and Sven. Riona works with Duke as a paranormal investigator and is also a Nephilim. Sven is a demon, currently an actor, who has been after Riona for around 700 years. They rarely get this close. She came on set to talk to him about the attempt on his life. He's asked her to meet him at his hotel later.

Riona followed his eyes. Everyone around them was preoccupied. Slyly, Sven slid his hand around her waist, pulling her close. She gasped at the sudden contact and shivered again at his warm breath on her skin. “When you arrive, head to the back of the building. There will be a door to my room.”

Now, go check out my fellow Sunday Sixers! I promise you'll find some awesome stuff waiting for you ;) 

over the river and through the woods...

Woke up to the first snowfall of the year. Nothing significant, but enough to mess with my head a little bit. It's not that I hate snow, really, but if it's gonna snow and be cold, then it needs to snow enough to let me stay indoors.

I'm a puppy parent again, which is nice. I brought my dog back up with me after over 3 years of my parents keeping her. It's weird. I feel like I'm getting to know her all over again, but she's a trooper. Unconditional love is an amazing thing. So far, she's spent the last couple of days protecting me from the cats and from roommate. Once she gets used to everyone, she'll be a happy happy pup.

Also, I finished my outline for Spark over Thanksgiving *intense happy dance ensues*. I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited about writing it, but it needs to stew a little more. I've found all kinds of interesting stuff to work in; I think that the detail in this one will be incredibly rich, moreso than anything else I'm working on at the moment just because it's steeped in all these different traditions that I can weave through the narrative. Also, getting to read the Book of Enoch for research purposes will be interesting. There's going to be a lot going on in this, so keeping it to a decent length is going to be difficult. I'll try to edit as I go and streamline, and *hopefully* start in the right spot this time (it's kind of hard to remember that not all stories start at the actual beginning).

I'm working on a more detailed outline for Taming the Ancients as well. I'm going to try to divide my time at work and home for writing (like I said, hotel work is perfect for writers, especially in the slow season). Maybe at work, try to accomplish the more technical aspects--outlines, character bios, plot details, etc.--so I can utilize that for writing while I'm home. After I write my new intro for Duality. Grr argh. So much to do... But I can't imagine doing anything else.

Q4U: How do you guys utilize your writing time? Any tips will be greeeeeeatly appreciated :D

insane in the membrane

i've stalled out on inspiration for the time. bad night's sleep last night plus stress and anxiety do not a favorable day make. i've gotten about 3/4 of the way through my outline for Spark, and i'm really excited about it. there are a lot of elements i want to play with, most of which i found in a great book about demons. hopefully it'll be unconventional, maybe a little tongue-in-cheek, and all around awesome.

i want to bring something new aside from the whole Satan + Armageddon + world domination thing. so, we'll see. this might turn into my favorite project. although i still have a special love for duality and taming the ancients (since i feel most comfortable with fantasy), but i think spark's gonna be a lot of fun. i hope. i'm kinda tired of writing dark depressing things, so maybe i can let a little of that hidden humor slip out. prove i'm not a one-dimensional writer.

or something.

i may explode right now.

Wha-huh?

When I first started plotting Spark, admittedly I had NO IDEA where it was going. I'm trying to write Taming the Ancients by the seat of my pants, and that's not happening very well either. I think that I'm forced to outline these two, at least. I have no clear-cut ideas about either of them. I vaguely know Point A to Point Z kinds of things, but as far as the actual PLOT, I couldn't tell you. I've had these ideas for months, but they've mostly been ideas, even though TTA is over 10,000 words. So far, Machial is the only character really doing something... Argh.

It's partially my fault. I haven't been communicating with them very well. I'm introducing 2 new characters to the Spark world, and as it turns out, one of them wants to be the MC. Anyone who follows my inane tweets will know that Rose won, but I'm not sure how well that's sitting with Duke right now. Duke wants to be a MC, too. I've debated making their stories into separate books, BUT the storylines intersect quite a bit.

Here are my problems (and I'm sure at least one of you who reads this has run into a similar sitch):

1) Rose is more comfortable in 3rd person/limited/past tense
2) Duke is more comfortable in 1st person/present tense
3) Neither of them wants to switch.

I have been thinking about making Duke's sections a journal (a la Bram Stoker's Dracula, but not as painfully dull) that Rose finds during the investigation. That way, Duke will still have scenes, as she's involved with the investigation herself, and I can maintain the present tense that she seems to enjoy. I'm not comfortable writing an entire novel in present. Even though it worked beautifully for Suzanne Collins and is working well so far for The Windup Girl, I'm not sure I can pull it off. I'm a traditionalist.

I started the Plot Outline Course from Holly Lisle's online courses. Well, I paused to write a blog post... I'll let you know how this works out.

....shouldn't the second novel be easier than the first? Argh.