The next big thing! This wonderful meme is allowing authors to write about their latest project in this fabulous blog hop. I’ve been tagged by two wonderful people: Jessica Lemmon, one of my awesome critique partners, who has a new book, Tempting the Billionaire, coming out in January from Grand Central and my LIRW sister Deborah Dale, writer of romantic suspense.
Rules for The Next Big Thing Blog Hop if you’re tagged:
1. Use this format for your post
2. Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (work in progress)
3. Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.
Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing:
What is your working title of your book?
The Temporary Wife, which was my working title and is the actual title of the book. My editor loved it. 🙂
Where did the idea come from for the book?
Funny story. My agent was approached by an editor at NAL, who had read my work and asked if I wanted to take a crack at an idea they’d been bouncing around for Intermix for a contemporary romance. I wasn’t so sure about it, until I started playing with ideas. Once the ideas started to hatch and I developed Jason and Meg, my hero and heroine, I couldn’t wait to get to their story.
What genre does your book fall under?
Contemporary Romance
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I agonize over my characters, I do, but Meg and Jason weren’t so hard to imagine. Here are the actor and actress I’d choose:
James Lafferty is my Jason. He’s so handsome and can pull off the alpha geek without a problem.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
The Temporary Wife is about a marriage of convenience between a billionaire and his childhood sweetheart, whose heart he broke years before.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I’m represented by the wonderful Becky Vinter of FinePrint Literary Management and The Temporary Wife will be published by Intermix, NAL’s digital first line in May 2013. Warm up your e-readers!
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I was offered the contract on my proposal on September 12th and the book was due on Halloween. Now, you all need to know I teach full time and that wasn’t all. The stretch of time between offer and deadline was when I was co-directing the school play. There was a little wiggle room in the deadline, especially after Hurricane Sandy hit my area, but it took me about 7 weeks to write the book. I NEVER write that fast.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I don’t know! I aspire to be like Jill Shalvis, who is just too awesome for words, Kristan Higgins who always makes me laugh, and my mentor, the lovely JoAnn Ross, whose career is an inspiration to me.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I was asked to write it. How cool is that? Honestly, when you’re unpublished and an editor from a Penguin imprint says, “Can you do this?” You say, “Yes.” I loved the story that developed, the characters that emerged and I became a stronger, more focused writer because of this project.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
My alpha hero with the soft belly, who is also a billionaire computer geek. Does it get any better than that?
Include the link of who tagged you and this explanation for the people you have tagged.
Now it’s my turn to tag some wonderful writers.
1. Patty Blount – One of my chaptermates, a close friend and an extraordinary YA writer. Her book SEND is phenomenal.
2. Jolyse Barnett – Writes and amazing blog about Key West and other getaways and is working on a romance series set in upstate New York’s wine country. Oh, and she’s this writer’s best cheerleader.
3. Karla Nellenbach – Another fab YA writer who is my partner as we find the skinny (and healthy) girls inside of us!
4. Alyson Peterson – A mom and writer of romance who only just discovered she CAN write kick ass romance.
5. Beth Yarnall – I had the pleasure of meeting Beth in PERSON in California this past summer when we both attended the RWA Conference. She is uber cool and the writing = awesome.
