This one was passed on to me by the energetic and talented Beth Barany, who's done the meme on her own blog. We all know The Next Big Thing is just over the horizon, so I'm joining the ranks of writers like Beth who are describing our own new and just-beginning projects, in answer to the Ten Questions for the Meme. And here are mine:
What is the working title of your next book?
My next published novel will be The Seagull – this is the long-delayed fourth of my Everran books, beginning with Everran’s Bane.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
This one I’m putting up on Kindle myself. A bit scary, having no copy or line editors as a safety net, though the freedom of choosing your own cover and knowing the blurb will stay the way you wrote it does compensate. And the promo is no heavier than with my previous print publishers.
Where did the idea come from for the book?
This was a literal “son-of” book. It’s part of a series, and it sprang as naturally as any book can from the question I can sometimes not resist answering after I finish a novel – yeah, and what happened then?
The 3rd Everran book, The Red Country, featured two of my favourite characters, with an HEA end. But it left me with the What-happened-then tic, which eventually became questions like, What happens to characters after an HEA? And from that, especially, the next-gen questions: How do you deal with children? Especially once they begin growing up?
What genre does your book fall under?
High fantasy.
How long does it take to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Sometimes I can write an opening scene and take 18 months or more doing the research to go any further. This one, set in a secondary world where I could make my own geography and history, probably took 3-4 months for the first draft.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
It’s a bildungsroman, and a wizard’s bildungsroman, of which there are literally hundreds in fantasy. Somewhat presumptuously, the first book into my head in answer to this question was Ursula Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea. The Seagull is also a book about voyages, on the sea and in the mind and heart.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I wouldn’t want a movie rendition.
Who or What inspired you to write this book?
Apart from the “son-of” impulse, I don’t think any single person or thing inspired the book. Otoh, I’d been reading Patrick O’Brian’s novels, and this book certainly owes a great deal to third-hand knowledge of the sea and of sailing ships which that master of the historical novel culled from his own researches in Admiralty logs and reports of Nelson's time. In particular, O’Brian bestowed my understanding, central to the crisis of this novel, of the “[fearful] perils of the leeward shore.”
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
It’s partly based in an analogue Australia, and many of my readers derive considerable pleasure from identifying the flora and fauna and other parallels.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
This is a story about voyages: in the sea, in the mind, to and from your first beginnings, and to understanding of yourself and the world where you belong.
And now the tags!
Thanx again to the enterprising, enthusiastic and ever helpful Beth Barany
The talented, modest and ever-supportive Warren Rochelle
Warren Rochelle has taught English at the University of Mary Washington since 2000. His short story, “The Golden Boy” (published in The Silver Gryphon) was a Finalist for the 2004 Gaylactic Spectrum Award for Best Short Story and his novels include The Wild Boy (2001), Harvest of Changelings (2007), and The Called (2010. He also published a critical work on Le Guin and has academic articles in various journals and essay collections. He is currently at work on a novel about a gay werewolf and a collection of short stories. One of the collection's stories, "The Boy on McGee Street," was published in Queer Fish 2 (Pink Narcissus Press) in October 2012.
The equally talented, fascinatingly web-savvy Andrea Hosth
Andrea K Höst was born in Sweden but raised in Australia. She writes fantasy and science fantasy, and enjoys creating stories which give her female characters something more to do than wait for rescue.
I didn't know you were putting out another in the Everran series! Good to hear.
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