The Next Big Thing

Potential cover...still working on it.

Guy Salvidge, local author and nice guy, tagged me last week to participate in ‘The Next Big Thing’ Q & A. I have to answer some questions and then hand the baton over to five more authors. So here are the questions and my responses…

1) What is the working title of your next book?

I chose ‘Song of the Jikhoshi’ because I thought ‘jikhoshi’ was a word I’d made up. So anybody looking it up on Google would find it easily because it would be the only one. Silly me. Since then I’ve discovered that ‘Jikhoshi’ is the name of a popular Indonesian rock band. I can’t win on these book names!

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

It’s a sequel to Treespeaker which ended with a definitely open thread (while not leaving the reader in any suspense…I hope, because I hate stories that do that).

3) What genre does your book fall under?
I’d say it’s YA fantasy, which is a bit of a problem because Treespeaker didn’t really fit into YA. There’s been a lot of discussion about this. People thought Treespeaker should be YA because the style suited YA, but Jakan, the main character was in his forties, so it didn’t fit. Either way, I’ve found my books are getting read by all ages, whatever subgenre they get pushed into, so it’s not really worrying me. I have a third book in my head and that goes back to being adult/YA crossover again!

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
Ah, now that would be telling. Let me just hint that if you look at my Pinterest boards, one or two of the faces on my ‘favourite entertainers’ and ‘faces for characters?’ lists might just be in my book.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

“A boy must work out whether he is still the man he once was.”
Confused? Tut tut. That means you haven’t read Treespeaker. Go out and read it at once!

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

Self-published. I’ve given up sending novels out to agents or publishers. I’m quite happy with how my self-published books are doing.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
Years! I started writing it as soon as I finished Treespeaker, but then I hit a wall and I just couldn’t get back into it. At first Treespeaker wasn’t doing all that well anyway, so I figured it didn’t matter, but now it’s doing better, so I’m determined to get it out there early in 2013. A few plot holes to fix first.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I don’t like comparing my books to others. I don’t want them to be like anyone else’s!

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

As I said, the ending of Treespeaker lent itself to the opening of this story. It allowed me to go into an area I’m interested in – adoption and the concept of nature vs nurture – and anyway, I really liked the characters in Treespeaker (am I allowed to say that?), so writing another story let me continue my friendship with them for a little longer.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

People who have read Treespeaker and given me feedback, seem to have loved the characters too, so I’m hoping they’ll enjoy this further episode. It’s maybe not as spiritual as Treespeaker, but it does look at the issue of nature vs nurture and the importance of choices in life.

The baton is now handed on to Lynda Wilcox, Kat Jordan, Ardyth deBruyn, Stuart Ayris and JA Beard