Welcome to the NEXT BIG THING Blog Hop.
A blog hop is like a giant game of tag to help readers discover authors who are new to them. For this hop, authors are answering 10 questions about what we’re working on now. This week, I’m it.
I was tagged by Lynne Gentry. Visit this wonderful and amazing author’s blog to see what surprises she has in store and to see who else she tagged. Follow the hop long enough and you’re bound to find books you’ll love!
Here is my Next Big Thing!
1: What is the working title of your book? Sweet Dreams
2: Where did the idea come from for the book? The 1960s were my teen years, a time when dreams filled my head and the world was changing faster than you can say serendipity. It was an exciting time when music, clothes, and ideas about women were shifting. Patsy Cline sang on the radio; American Bandstand came on TV on Saturday morning; and beehive hairdos were the rage. I pulled from my memory bank all the things I loved about that time, some of the things that fascinated me . . . and a few that scared me . . . and spun dreams for two cousins who attend a Southern charm school in East Texas where conventions and marrying the right boy were held in reverence. The results surprised even me!
3: What genre does your book come under? Women’s fiction although some of my younger readers will call it historical.
4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? The cousins: Dusty Fairchild, played by a younger Reese Witherspoon and Paisley Finch, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal (with green contacts). And of course there’s a cute Texas boy that comes between the girls: I think Christian Bale could pull off the role of Jack Morgan.
5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? The bond between two cousins is tested when they fall in love with the same handsome guy, but when family secrets and a tragic accident threaten all they believe in, they learn where their true hearts . . . and dreams . . . lie.
6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency? My publisher is FaithWords (Hachette Book Group), and I’m represented by MacGregor Literary.
7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? Months and months. The first half was rewritten dozens of times, but after about halfway through, I sailed toward the end in only a month.
8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? This is a hard question as there aren’t that many books from the era of Sweet Dreams, but I was inspired by Elizabeth Musser’s The Sweetest Thing set in the Great Depression. The Sweetest Thing tells the story of two remarkable young women–opposites in every way–fighting for the same goal: surviving tumultuous change. So alike in their premise, but so different, too. People who love reading stories from the not-so-distant past and those where family secrets entangle the characters’ lives will love Sweet Dreams.
9: Who or what inspired you to write this book? A trip to the Columbian Ice Fields with an eager geology major piqued my interest in having one of the cousins want to be a geologist. The song “Sweet Dreams” inspired the title. The rest of it is a combination of life in Texas where I grew up and the voices in my head (yes, they are real!)
10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? 2013 is the fiftieth anniversary of Patsy Cline’s death. She was an amazing talent and I’ve showcased her in Sweet Dreams. Also, anyone who’s ever been a child or a parent (most of us, yes?) will know that we don’t always get it right, but that the bonds of family are worth fighting for.
I’ve tagged Julie Cantrell, one of the sweetest writers e-vah! Her debut book Into the Free is one of the best books I’ve read – seriously! I know you’ll want to stop by her blog next Wednesday as she joins the Blog Hop.
Happy Writing and Reading!