The Next Big Thing: Giantkiller

Author pal Scott Bury, tagged me for The Next Big Thing blog hop and while I must admit I’m not normally a fan of this sort of thing, it sounded like fun (and he can be very persuasive). As Scott puts it:

"The idea behind the Next Big Thing is to answer a set list of questions about your work in progress, then tag five more authors to do the same thing."

I haven't figured out who I'm going to tag yet (hint hint -- if you'd like to do this for your upcoming novel, let me know), but here are some answers about my Next Big Thing:

What is the working title of your book?

Giantkiller: Leonard the Great, Book Two

Where did the idea come from for the book?

Giantkiller is the sequel to Dragonfriend, the first book in what I hope will be a three book series. After I’d finished Dragonfriend, I knew I wanted Leonard’s story to continue so I started thinking about what the next installment would be like. I’d been mulling over possible storylines for several months when it came to me from an unexpected source. In my garden I have a small “sculpture” of a stone cast in the shape of a man’s head. The idea popped into my mind that it “looked like a giant’s head.”  Next, the name “Boulderhead” showed up along with a tidal wave of story ideas.

What genre does your book fall under?

Middle-grade fantasy adventure with an Arthurian twist.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Hmm, not sure. If pushed, I’d say the young leads would probably be unknowns while the adult roles would probably be played by a lot of the same folks who showed up in the Harry Potter/LOTR/Hobbit films.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

When his beloved is snatched by raiding Giants, Leonard sets off to rescue Maid Glennys before a gruesome fate befalls her.

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

Self-published.

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

I wrote the first fifty thousand words of Giantkiller as my 2010 NaNoWriMo project. Life events such as the demands of my day job (I’m an animation writer) and no small amount of laziness conspired to keep me from completing the first draft until September of this year. It now weighs in at a hefty eighty-eight thousand words.

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

There’s a lot of action in this book and a story that (I hope) moves along nicely without being overly complicated – everyday people behaving heroically, some authentic peril, great monsters, and a bit of humor. That being said, I hope my readers would think Giantkiller compares favorably with Riordan’s Percy Jackson series and Nancy Farmer’s Sea of Trolls books.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I’ve always been a voracious reader and I think even from a very young age, I knew I was going to be a writer and, hopefully an author, too. Until you actually give it a try, the thought of writing a novel can be very intimidating. I’d think, “I should write a novel,” then get all flummoxed about where and how to start and quickly run away from the idea. Then in 2007 I heard about the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and everything clicked into place. I was still nervous, but found that a deadline (50k words in the month of November) was just the motivation I needed to finally get off my butt and get started. The result of that first effort was Dragonfriend. So, to answer the question, I guess it was the “what” of NaNoWriMo that inspired me.

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

It will be reasonably priced.

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Scott Bury’s Bones of the Earth is a gritty and exciting fantasy read. To learn more about it, check out his blog, Written Words.

Dragonfriend: B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree

This past week I was contacted by the fine folks at the "Book Readers Appreciation Group" and told that Dragonfriend had been selected as an honoree for their B.R.A.G. Medallion. I'd submitted the book for consideration back in July and then promptly forgotten about it (a mental health trick I try to employ as often as possible -- if I forget about these things, then I don't obsess about these things). Imagine my delight when they contacted me to let me know my book had been chosen for their list.

One of the nice things about this group is that it's made up of "a large group of readers, both individuals and members of book clubs, located throughout the United States, Canada, and the European Union" -- in other words, they're an organization of "real" readers. From their website:

"The single most important criterion that we ask our readers to use in judging a book is whether or not they would recommend it to their best friend."

 I very much like the idea that Dragonfriend is considered worthy of such a recommendation. Thanks, B.R.A.G.!

This Time I Am the One Being Interviewed

Author Scott Bury interviews me and fellow iAi member Gary Henry about our writing styles. I call mine "cinematic" while Gary describes his thusly:

"I like to think of my writing style as “snappy” — using active voice and vivid verbs to the best of my ability. I try to vary sentence length and incorporate colorful description."

Wait a minute. I like "snappy," too. Head on over to the Guild of Dreams and check out the full post (and insert "snappy" everywhere I use "cinematic").

Buster Reads Dragonfriend (aka "I Am Reasonably Certain This Was Photoshopped")

Book Review: Flenn's Folly, Graham the Gargoyle 2

Graham's younger sister Flenn feature's prominently in this satisfying sequel to author Brian Clopper's equally excellent "Graham the Gargoyle."

When Blord, the village jerk, catches her using a spell scroll to go to places she shouldn't go, things get sticky for this smart little gargoyle who finds she has to lie to protect herself and her brave older brother from the harsh punishment that would surely come if word of her traveling got back to the village council.

Meanwhile, Graham and Flenn also find themselves fighting both the extinction of a few isolated magical races (including their own!) due to a "lack of belief," and a dark and sinister force lurking in the woods around their village and the village of Graham's best friend, Ot the Troll.

Told with plenty of heart and good humor, Flenn's Folly is a delightful tale that will easily entertain middle grade readers with its exciting action and  fun exploration of the fascinating mythological creatures that people the fantastical world of Cascade. Recommended.

Busy Busy Busy

Clackety-clack

This has been a great week in terms of work and writing-related by-products. In addition to turning in a fun outline for my next Littlest Pet Shop script, I was able to swing by a certain place to pick up my assignment for the sooper-seekrit new project that I've been praying/hoping to be a part of. A non-disclosure agreement prevents me from telling you anything about it at this time (insert "but I'd have to kill you" joke here or, more accurately, a "they would have to kill me" joke), but let's just say it would be an awesome show to work on and I'll share details when I'm allowed to do so.

To give you an idea of how excited I was to be at the certain place, I hugged the producer of the show -- twice -- and I'm not much of a hugger at all. Fortunately, she's a friend and seemed to accept the hugs in the spirit they were intended.

As a bonus, I got a lot of work done on Giantkiller -- reorganizing it from a prologue and seventeen chapters of disturbingly uneven length (the shortest being 917 words and the longest being 14,058) to a prologue and thirty much more balanced chapters.

So, as stated, a great week. Go busy-ness!

Day Job News: Littlest Pet Shop Premieres in November!

While there are no curmudgeonly dragons or mischievous wizards to be found on Littlest Pet Shop, I'm pleased to report that the show I've been writing on for almost a year is going to start airing next month on The Hub TV Network. In addition to the hyper-adorable character designs, there's some smart and, imho, funny writing attached, too.

What's the show about? From the press release:

“Littlest Pet Shop” follows Blythe Baxter and her father as they move into a Big City apartment above the Littlest Pet Shop – an amazing day-camp for pets of all kinds including a doggie diva, dancing gecko and sweet, adorable panda.  Her real adventure begins when she discovers that she alone can miraculously understand and talk to all of the pets.  She joins them on fantastical adventures that include uproarious song-and-dance sequences featuring all-new original music."

Sounds fun to me! Littlest Pet Shop, or LPS as we showbiz insiders call it, is a hoot to write for and I'm hoping the viewers will get a kick out of it, too. I'll post more details as they become available. Here's the promo: