Justine Manzano Hello readers! I hope you all had a wonderful New Year!
I was tagged by Harvey Stanbrough to take part in this, The Next Big Thing Blog Hop. Harvey runs StoneThread Publishing, the publishing company behind the anthology “The Things You Can Create”, that will be featuring my short story of the same name. His blog offers many essential writing tips, so check it out.
Here are the rules for this Blog Hop:
- Give credit to the person who tagged you.
- Post the rules for this hop.
- Answer these ten questions about your current WIP (Work In Progress) on your blog
- Tag one or more other writer/blogger and add his or her link so we can hop on over.
So…here we go:
What is the working title of your book?
The Order of the Key
Where did the idea come from for the book?
This idea has gone through so many iterations, I don’t even really know anymore. I came up with an idea for this at the age of 15, scrapped it, pulled it out again, wrote it, hated it and trashed it, then resurrected it, cannibalized it for the “good stuff” and dumped out all of the trite stuff I couldn’t even believe I had written. Then, with a somewhat similar theme, a couple of familiar characters, but an entirely new mythology, this series rose from the ashes like a phoenix.
What genre does your book fall under?
Urban Fantasy
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
For the lead, Jacklyn, I have no idea. I don’t think I’ve quite given up on the completely ridiculous idea that it’s going to be me. Kevin Zegers would have the role of Kyp (Jacklyn’s romantic foil) in a heartbeat as apparently I wrote the thing with him in mind without even realizing I had done it (there will be a blog on this strange phenomenon in the future). There are a few other roles that I have sort of dream casted with the likes of Michael Shanks, Gabrielle Union, Nolan Gerard Funk and Terry O’Quinn. And there are still others that I couldn’t possibly cast yet.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
One sentence? Really? Can it be a run-on? Oh well, here goes.
Jacklyn Madison discovers she has a birthright within an organization of people with extraordinary powers and an extraordinary mission – just in time to become a pawn in a deadly war for supremacy between the group’s dictatorial ruler and her idealistic son.
Now that was a mouthful.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I don’t know yet. I have a few different avenues in mind that I may want to go with. What I do know for sure is that this work looks like it’s likely to be 8 books, possibly more. So there is a very good chance that whatever route I choose to start with, I may end up on a different route by the end. I do intend for them to all see the light of day one way or another.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I’m still writing it, but to be fair, I’ve been working on other projects in between. I’ve been working on it for a little over a year, but it has only recently started to take shape over the last 6 months or so. Starting yesterday I began my own self-imposed NaNoWriMo – so the hope is, I should be up to the editing stage within the next month or so.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Any books by Kelley Armstrong, Richelle Mead, Veronica Roth or Cassandra Clare. All contain some level of blending between mythology, fantasy, romance and snappy dialogue, as does mine.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
When it comes to this particular work, I believe that it was actually the main character that inspired the work. Jacklyn herself was inspired by the part of myself that dreamed of living in a world that was more interesting than the usual day-in, day-out. She was inspired by the part of me that wished something truly supernatural would happen to me and wondered how I would handle it. But the truth was, I couldn’t imagine a world in which that could happen and a regular woman, no matter how empowered she may be, could come out of the ordeal unscathed. I drew the story around the idea of her and how a hero could be forged out of such a mess.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
One of the good things about this story, I feel, is that it is real. The lead has just turned seventeen, but there is no sugar coating and we are definitely not in a young adult novel when we enter this world. Teenagers curse. They think about sex. They make decisions that others would consider vile. Just like adults do. In that way, there are no punches pulled. I felt like having a girl who could fight super powered creatures say something along the lines of “Good golly!” wouldn’t lend a great deal of authenticity. Also, I feel like I’ve managed to create a fresh mythology here. We are out of the Vampire/Werewolf/Witches/etc. tropes here. Are there similarities? Of course there are. There is formula involved in building any fantasy world and that assuredly exists in this story. But there is a whole new world to be explored through the Keys, their allies, and their enemies that I have endeavored to make as original as was possible.
And there you have it. Be sure to check out the blogs of the next bloggers on The Next Big Thing Blog Hop on Wednesday, January 9: Jess Sturman-Coombs and Dallas Woodburn.
I’ll see you in two weeks with a peek into what married life is like between two writers!