The Next Big Thing

Today is the anniversary of my very first blog post. I cannot believe a year has passed. In that time I’ve written about all manner of advanced motorized transportation and we even had a commercial space vehicle dock with the International Space Station – amazing.

To commemorate this event I am participating in The Next Big Thing Blog Hop. The idea is for writers to answer ten questions about a work-in-progress or a newly-published book.

My writing coach, Sera Rivers, tagged me last week. Since it’s my blog’s one-year anniversary, she has decided to let me go first. (As she looks upon this paragraph, she is grumbling about my phrase-choice “she has decided,” but in celebratory honor, she is allowing me to keep said phrase-choice: THIS time…yes, she wrote these parenthetic remarks.)

Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing:

What is your working title of your book?
Refuge

Where did the idea come from for the book?
I’ve always been a bit fascinated by the myth of Santa Claus. How does this guy get toys into the hands of all good children? My hypothesis is that he’s an alien who utilizes advanced technology to fabricate and deliver the toys in a timely manner. Refuge is his backstory, who he was before Santa Claus.

What genre does your book fall under?
I would call it a cross-genre of science fiction and historical fiction; I’ve got aliens, Vikings, Scots, spaceships, advanced weaponry and a cloaked island on Earth.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Dwayne“The Rock” Johnson as the protagonist, SubCaptain KrisIngles. Bruce Willis as Lieutenant GuarDell, an old school Sanklausian Marine. Dye her hair red and Piper Perabo, star of USA’s Covert Affairs, would make a kick-ass Gitta, the potential love interest of KrisIngles.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
The first in a trilogy, Refuge is a redefinition of Santa Claus’ origin.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I will be seeking representation.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
It seemed like it took forever to write the first draft, when in actuality, it took about a year and a half.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I’m not certain. I think I would liken it to, “First Contact,” Season Four, episode 15 of Star Trek The Next Generation (airdate: 2/18/1991). During a mission to determine if the Malcorians are Federation worthy, Will Riker, disguised as a Malcorian, is injured and stranded in a one of their hospitals.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I have always felt like there was a story inside me waiting to be written. On numerous occasions, I started a tale but never got past the first page. I had all sorts of excuses – family, work, night school (I was working toward a BS in Computer Science). Finally, in the beginning of 2005, I vowed that I’d start working on a book when I attained my degree. While I wrote and wrote and wrote, it didn’t really come together until I hired a writing coach to help keep me on task.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Refuge grew from what I had originally planned as a prologue/introduction to an entirely different story. But it took a life of its own and has turned into the first novel of a trilogy. As I wrote, I realized there was much more of KrisIngles’ story to tell.


Leave questions, similar book titles, and general comments below. I’d love to hear from you.

Look for next week’s NEXT BIG THING post by Sera Rivers.