My good buddy Kiersi tagged me in a new blog meme titled My Next Big Thing, wherein writers talk about their current projects. She’s a pretty cool and super talented lady, so I thought I’d keep the meme going and answer some questions about the book I’m working on.
1. What is the working title of your book?
The working title is The Collector’s Legacy.
2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
The idea for the Collector’s Legacy came from a combination of things. I’ve always liked the coming home story, and wanted to try one with a supernatural twist to it. While the story has changed in later drafts from its inception, the original premise was a boy coming home to bury his father and finding out he’s a monster hunter.
The other half of the idea came from personal experience. I grew up in a small town, was often picked on a lot, and had a bit of an absent, deadbeat father. I love father-son stories, and wanted to see a kid coming to grips with his father’s humanity by learning some hard stuff about him. In this case, the hard stuff is that his dad hunted down dangerous fairy tale creatures.
3. What genre does your book fall under?
Somewhere in the young adult paranormal thriller spectrum.
4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
This is a tough one. Gabe is a nerdy kid that eventually becomes something more. When I wrote the first draft I pictured Jesse Eisenberg for much of it, but I’m not so sure that’s who I’d pick now that I’ve gotten four drafts in.
Truthfully, these days I picture a younger version of my friend Jason Downey.
5. What is a one sentence synopsis of your manuscript?
When his deadbeat father dies of supernatural causes, Gabe Decker foregoes his freshman year of college to find the monsters responsible.
6. Will your book be self published or represented by an agency?
Fingers crossed, represented by an agency. I’d pursue self publishing if I exhausted my other available avenues. Which includes setting the book down for a few months and revisiting it with fresh eyes.
7. How long did it take to write the first draft of your manuscript?
The first draft took only two months. The next few… well, let’s just say the first draft was written for NaNoWriMo in 2010.
8. What other books would you compare this story to within the genre?
It’s sort of like King Dork with monsters. It’s also a bit similar to the Dresden Files, but with high schoolers.
9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Writing is one of the only ways I know how to make sense of this nutty world. Several stories I want to visit all have to do with relating to fathers, especially distant or non-existant ones. In a way, my dad inspired me to write about resolving a lot of those issues I still cling to. What better way than having a kid face hordes of monsters.
10. What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
I’m pretty hard on my book, but I think the thing I really enjoy about it is its sense of humor. Gabe is a funny kid, and I like seeing someone completely ill-suited to be a monster hunter end up with that kind of responsibility in his lap. I also really like the mythology behind some of the monsters, and the recurring idea of the crushing weight of expectation.
I’m passing the meme train along to:
The wonderful Lauren Spieller, who I met at Writer’s Digest West in Los Angeles. She’ll be posting on December 4.
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