The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

Posted Dec 6 2012, 1:57 am in BFF, fiction, Patty Blount, YA

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 of my fellow Long Island Romance Writers, Jeannie Moon, author of THE TEMPORARY WIFE, coming soon from Intermix, and Deborah Dale, who writes 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.

Um. Yeah. About that. I tagged three other writers. Sorry about that. It’s the holidays and all. 

What is your working title of your book?

TMI, which is text shorthand for Too Much Information. 

Where did the idea come from for your book? 

I met my editor at an LIRW lunch a few years ago and she fell in love with SEND, my debut novel. But Sourcebooks prefers to build author’s careers and wanted more. So I pitched them a bunch of ideas I’d been simmering and this was the one that won. 

What genre does your book fall under? 

Contemporary YA

Which actors would you choose to portray your characters in the movie version of your book? 

Ooo, I love this part! I regularly use actors as physical models for my characters to help decrease continuity errors in my work. For TMI, there are three main characters. Megan, Bailey, and Chase. For Megan, I’d choose actress Alyson Stoner. And Aly Michalka would be the perfect person to play Bailey. Finally, I’d go with Matt Dallas for Chase. 

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? 

TMI is the story of two best friends whose online version of “Top This” nearly destroys their friendship. 

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

I am represented by Evan Gregory of the Ethan Ellenberg Agency. TMI will be published by Sourcebooks Fire sometime in the fall of 2013.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? 

The first draft from concept to turnover took about five months. 

What other books would you compare this story to in your genre? 

GAH! That’s too hard…  I can tell you I aspire to write the kind of friendship that endures like Frodo and Samwise or Harry, Ron, and Hermione. 

Who or what inspired you to write this book? 

My editor! She loved Send and wanted a follow-up novel that explored the dangers of technology from a female narrator’s perspective. So I gave her two :) 

What else about your book might pique reader’s interest. 

The plot of TMI is loosely based on a headline from a few years back in which a mom was arrested for posing as a teen boy for the sole purpose of getting even with her daughter’s cheerleading rival. 

OK, time for me to tag some awesome writers!

Joy Preble, Lauren Bjorkman, and Jody Casella — three of my fellow YA Outside the Lines bloggers. Joy is the hugely talented author of the Dreaming Anastasia series. Look for her latest called The Sweet Dead Life, coming this spring. Lauren’s latest novel Miss Fortune Cookie was just voted by the ALA for Best Fiction for Young Adults. And Jody’s debut novel THIN SPACE all started when she saw a barefoot boy get off a bus. 

Thank you, Jeannie and Debbie, for tagging me. 

Now it’s your turn! Tell me about YOUR Next Big Thing! I love reading new authors and hope you’ll recommend one in the comments.  With the holidays fast approaching, please support your favorite authors and buy books as gifts or stocking stuffers. 

 

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