Tagging Myself

Where are you?

His sister's thought whispered through his mind like ripples of water over a still pool.  Of course, the king chose that moment to turn, absorbing the sight of his second son with eyes the color of stone.

“Sit down,” he drawled in a smooth, lingering baritone.

Hadrian had always thought of his father’s voice as a black river; slow, bottomless, and deadly.  The kind that hid monsters.
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So my friend Deb did this thing where a real author actually tagged her in a post, and I wanted to be cool like her, so I'm copying her awesome.  Except for the part about being tagged by an actual author.  Pretend with me.

Anyway, what you're supposed to do is open up your story, flip to page seven, go to line seven, and then copy and paste the next seven lines.  So there they are.  Yes, Kronk.  Feel the power!

Then she answered ten questions from a blog hop, which I've never done before, but since I like to talk about myself I would also like to answer these questions.  The questions are about something you have published, are attempting to publish, or something you are currently working on.  Here we go.

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1. What is the working title of your book?

It doesn't really have one, but in my head sometimes I call it "Traveler" or, if I'm feeling dramatic, "The Wraith Prince."

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

Ok, I have this really awesome blurry picture of an old root cellar that belongs to one of my grandma's neighbors, but it's on my old computer that won't turn on.  She lives waaaaay out in the country on the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri.  It looks a little like this:

source

but it's more overgrown and the rocks are a different color and it has a door.  Anyway, every year when we'd go visit I'd see that root cellar and think, "Man, if there was a portal to a magical world, that would be it."  And that's where my story began, even though not the magic portal aspect isn't a big part of it anymore.

3.What genre does your book fall under?

I am inventing a new genre called "Young Adult for Actual Young Adults and not Teenagers."  Just kidding.  If I had to place it I'd say YA, but my characters are 22-24, so I'm really aiming more at a college audience, and I don't know if that qualifies for YA.

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

I don't like to say because even when I do have a specific actor in mind, other people may not like how that actor looks and then it sort of ruins the story for them.  But I do have a file if you're really curious.

5. Write a one sentence synopsis of your book.

My book isn't done yet so I'm not entirely sure where the plot is going, but I'll give it a shot (I'm going to cheat by using semicolons and horrible grammar and then end with a cliche):

Hadrian knows he's on the wrong side of the war, but he agreed to be his father's spy to save his sister's life; when he runs into Dani, a Gifted One, his only thought is to use her as a bargaining chip; but before he can turn her over, everything goes wrong.

[Note: I've always been a little vague on the proper use of semi-colons.  Also note: The names of things in my book, like "Gifted One" are working title sorts of things that I eventually hope to replace with something much cooler.]

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

The dream is to be represented by an agency and do traditional publishing.  If it doesn't work out in a few years, I might go ahead and self-publish because why the heck not?  I've already written the books.

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

I've technically been working on this one since... August of last year?  Maybe?  I'm being slow.  But both of the first drafts I've actually completed were done within a month, one in January 2011, the other in November 2012.  So if I get a move on I could potentially finish this one by the end of February or sooner.

8. What other books could be compared to your story?

I don't know if I'm well-read enough to answer this.  I'm sure there's something like it out there.  Does anyone who is reading it have any ideas?

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Everyone who read my first ever manuscript, because they were really supportive.  My sister Lindsay, because she keeps bugging me for stuff to read.  My mom, my friends Ashlyn and Diane, and more and more my husband.  I read what I had out loud to him during our road trip and he actually liked it.  And I know this isn't a great answer to give, but what really inspires me is the idea of adding even a tiny amount of money to our yearly income so I can do things like put my girls in dance class.  Seriously, that's about all I want out of life right now.  Ok I lied, I'd also like to be able to buy a house.

10. What else about your book might pique a reader's interest?

Oh, the usual things: flowers... chocolates... promises I don't intend to keep.  Ha!  Joking.  Readers, I promise to keep my promises.

It's got magic, guns, hot guys, a war, healing, attempts at humor, a beautiful woman, despair, redemption, murder, sexual tension, a dysfunctional traditional family, a functional non-traditional family, tragedy, romance, and an enchanted forest.  Who doesn't want to read this book?!  Just kidding, don't answer that.

So anyways, that's me being cool like Deb and Julie, who also answered these questions and is much funnier than me.  But now it's ridiculously late and I have to go to bed.  Everyone leave a comment!