The Next Big Thing

Thank you to Rae Summers who tagged me on her blog, "The Next Big Thing," so I can have something fun to blog about for my up and coming new release.

So here are some snippets of information about my novella which should be coming out early next year with Astraea Press. It's a short and sweet Valentine's day romance set in exotic locations.

What is the title of your book?

Reminding Me of You

How did you come by the idea?

I wanted to write something with a Valentine’s Day theme so I began my book with a love-at-first-sight scenario occuring in a gift shop on Valentine's Day. But the book didn't have much direction from there. While I wrote, I watched “Who wants to be a Millionaire” on TV, and they mentioned a song. Curious, I looked up the song on the internet and found the emotional theme for my book – how things can remind you of the one you love.

What genre does your book fall under?

Sweet, contemporary romance.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters if it were a movie?

Alexis Bledel from Gilmore Girls would make a great Mia if her hair was made chestnut and curly and her eyes green. She has the right features and a young look.

I think Tom Welling from Smallville would make a good Bryn with a bit of tweaking.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Mia finds love at first sight the day before she leaves for a long vacation in Europe, and while so many men remind her of the man she fell for, a
Welshman named Bryn reminds her the most, until he becomes a bigger part of her life than she planned.

Will your book be self-published or traditional?

Traditional – with Astraea Press

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

It’s one of those books that I wrote to a deadline so it took me close to two weeks to write and edit. I was very focused and determined to get it done. It is a novella – short Valentine bite.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

It was inspired by the song, “All Kinds of Everything,” by Dana. If you watch it on YouTube (link below), it seems quite old-fashioned but the words are lovely. I couldn't use the exact same song in my book because of copyright issues, but it helped to inspire the romance.

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

The book is a fun, fast-moving story with several settings. If you’re fascinated by Paris, as I am, you will enjoy some of the setting of the story.

I'm going to tag one other author to continue on The Next Big Thing Blog. Skye Wieland, thank you.

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Nanowrimo 2012

Of course, I can't go through November without blogging on Nano (National Novel Writing Month.) Last year, I gave up Nano part way through and was very disappointed in myself, but I was just too tired, busy and unfocused. It became a burden instead of a joy. I don't regret my decision at all and am glad I didn't hang onto something just because it worked the previous year. (Valentine Fate is my first Nano novel and is available on Amazon.)

This year, Nano has been a joy so far. I'm loving the discipline and motivation it's creating for me. At first, I wasn't going to do it, but when the other Rosa ladies showed such enthusiasm and Romy offered a boot camp to help us along, I was hooked.

My Nano journey so far hasn't been plain-sailing. I decided to try a different route this year and plan my whole novel in advance. There are so many benefits to pre-plotting and planning - it eliminates that difficult spot in the middle and brings order and direction, but just as I was doing some research the day before, I discovered that my plot wouldn't work with the facts. It was back to the drawing, no sorry, writing board. So, I decided to go with my gut and just write. I wrote a brief synopsis to give me a general feel for the direction of the book, but just wrote.

I love the trope I chose to go with - fake engagement. There are several fascinating movies with that trope and they're always fun. The couple are just lumped together to serve a selfish, other purpose, but in that they fall in love. The problem with this trope, is that my hero was too good to be dishonest with his family too long, so the truth came out right in the first third of the book. Now, I had to come up with more plot. The conflicts were still there - the barriers in the heroine's mind to love, but I needed more plot. Eventually the plot developed mainly based on their employee-boss relationship. Now, I'm going back to a similar idea to the fake engagement but roles reversed. This should be such fun.

In the middle of writing, I became quite ill with a venomous spider bite. Some days, it took every ounce of energy to get words on the page. But I'm so thankful to Nano because I would have just abandoned my book, if it wasn't for the motivation it provides. And I even put in a bit of my own experience which helped move the story forward.

I hope that I haven't shared too much about my Nano novel which I hope to get published once it's been edited.

I think the thing I love about Nano so much is writing fast silences that the inner critic and helps me not lose the feel for my characters and story. I know that writing fast produces results for me as it has worked in the past. My novella coming out in January or February was written in two weeks.

What do you like about Nano? Has it worked for you this year?