Next Big Thing-Meme

Alex Villansante at Magpie Writes tagged me in the Next Big Thing meme. And I am SO flattered she would and like her I say I'm the next big thing with an eye roll. Go HERE to read her answers. The book she's working on sound FANTASTIC. She really is going to be The Next Big Thing. ;0)

What is the working title of your book? Goodbye Avery

Where did the idea come from for the book? There is a really long version of this story but I will try to keep it short. Goodbye Avery is a reincarnation of my first book, When Dreams Awake. There is very little that is the same as the original book. I opened a whole new word doc and started over. I changed almost everything including the characters themselves. The only thing that remains is a very broken girl that needs to get better.

What genre does your book fall under? YA Contemporary with a paranormal twist.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in the movie rendition? I'm going to pass on this one. The girl is based off one of my niece's friends and the boy is how I  picture my youngest son when he gets older. So, yeah, can't really give you a picture.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book? (Kelley! Are you out there. I need you to write this for me. LOL) Silence fills pianist Avery Bennett's life, until her father speaks to her from the grave through his turntable and pulls the music buried deep in her heart back to her fingers.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? When it's done I will send it to my agent and we'll go from there.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? Between 2 to 3 months. I wrote about 15 chapters then got sidetracked with revisions for TGT. Then I came back to it about a month ago.

What other books would you compare this to withing your genre? If I Stay by Gale Foreman. I'm not saying my book is that good. (LOL) But because it's about 90% contemp and 10% paranormal  And how sad the book is.

Who or What inspired you to write this book? About 4 years ago I read a YA Paranormal book series. I fell in love with the idea that I could create a character that people would end up loving as much as I did. For whatever reason she ended up being the saddest person I could come up with. She'd lost her dad and along with him, music. When I completely rewrote the book I wanted to change the way her dad spoke to her (the original version it was through her dreams.). My hubby had just purchased a turntable and was playing tons of records. So I thought, why wouldn't her dad speak to her through something that connected them. Music.


What else about your book might pique the reader's interest? If you love music then Avery's story might interest you. Or if you've ever lost someone close to you. Or if you like sweet, smexy boys. Haha. I don't really know if Joshua is smexy yet, he hasn't gone through all of my CP's but I think he's pretty great.

Now to pass this along. The following people really are going to be THE NEXT BIG THING. I promise.

Kathryn Purdie

Robin Hall

Catherine Scully