Blog-Hop Questions


Last week my critique partner, Seabrook Leckie, tagged me in a blog-hop post called the Next Big Thing, where writers share some details about their works in progress. I was supposed to do it on Wednesday but I was too busy being excited about my new job. :) For anyone interested in my current book, here are my answers:
1. What is the working title of your book?
Currently untitled. I've been referring to it as "It started with a carp" but this is most definitely not what it will eventually be called!
2. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
On a remote Scottish island, fifteen-year-old Trypper Lawson discovers an enchanted ring with the power to exchange life and death, and has until midnight to offer himself as a sacrifice to a cult of death-worshippers before a curse is put upon the entire island.
3. What genre does your book fall under?
YA fantasy. It might become MG after my revision though, so watch this space!
4. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I don't know. I'm currently reading Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater which is also set on an island and has a fantastical element to it, so I'll go with that!

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

Three weeks.
6. Where did the idea come from for the book?
Lots of different things! The initial idea came to me after reading Scarlett Thomas' The End of Mr Y, with the idea of people hitch-hiking inside another's brain, mixed with the ability to transfer one "state" to another from Janice Hardy's Healing Wars, mixed with listening to the song An Ode to Billy Joe by Bobbie Gentry too much! The story is completely different to the one I started out with, though. The only thing left from its Billy Joe days are American sounding characters (like Trypp!). I think the island came into it because I've always wanted to write a book set on an island, and it's a combination of Louise's island in Jacob Have I Loved with the sinister elements of Summer Isle in The Wicker Man and the farce of Craggy Island in Father Ted.
7. Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I'll give Nanowrimo the credit for that.
8. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Some lovely Scottish kids.
9. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I'll be seeking representation with this book. I don't think self-publishing would be right for me. I'm not good at self promotion :/
10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
There's a scene near the end that will blow your mind. At least it blew mine trying to write it...!
Tagged: I don't have anyone to tag. Boo.
RulesAnswer these ten questions about your current WIP on  your blog.
Tag (up to) five other writers/bloggers with their links so we can hop over and meet them.