Saturday, December 8, 2012

The Next Big Thing

Brief introduction, as there are several authors blogging here. Kathryn Sullivan here, author of the YA fantasies The Crystal Throne and Talking to Trees and the sf/fantasy anthology Agents & Adepts. My children's picture book, Michael And The Elf was just republished by Guardian Angel Publishing on Tuesday and released in both paper and e-format so I'm still bouncing around about that. There's more at my website.

I've been tagged by Gary Russell as part of The Next Big Thing blog-a-thon, and, as I don't have a blog of my own, I'm posting the answers to the ten questions here. Followers of YAAYNHO are probably already familiar with my answers, but here we go!

What is the working title of your next book?

The series will be called Explorer-in-Training. The working title of the first book is Invasion of the Space Bugs. I'm also working on another book set in the universe of my galactic agents from a few stories in Agents & Adepts, but I haven't even settled on a working title for that one. The file names have been Jan scenes and Vanishing, but those are just placeholders.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

Back when the main character was still talking to me (long story) she said she wanted to be an explorer like her grandmother, who had found the planet that the colony was now settled on. But first she has to finish school. And then the bugs came.

The agent story is a mixture of a story I had been working on with someone else before the opportunity fell through (another long story) and one with another agent finding an alien in a swamp. I've been reading that short segment at a few conventions and people seem to like it.

What genre does your book fall under?

YA science fiction for the space bug story. Vaguely science fiction for my galactic agents story.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

I wouldn't even try to attempt that. I don't follow enough shows or movies to know the names of actors and the actors in the movies and shows I do watch wouldn't be suited for my books.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

1) Young girl plans to be an explorer like her grandmother.

2) Galactic agents protect primitive worlds from invasion.

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

I don't have an agent. Amber Quill Press has published my other books, so I'll check with them first. If they're not interested, there are several other e-publishers and presses I can query.

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

I'm still working on the first draft of both. These are both taking me longer than normal for me, but I'm blaming events in real life.

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

One of the reasons I’m writing the YA book is because there’s been a dearth of YA science fiction books lately.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

The galactic agents series in Agents & Adepts were inspired by James Schmitz's Agents of Vega and Lloyd Biggle, Jr.'s Watchers of the Dark and the series that continued from that book.

The space colony book was inspired from an assignment some of my friends' children had to write on what they wanted to be when they grew up. The character just suddenly piped up, "I want to be an explorer like Grams."

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

There will be bugs and aliens. And girls who like science and engineering.

To continue the blog chain I am tagging Christine Norris, Gloria Oliver, Laura Underwood, James Hoch, and Stephen Zimmer.

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