Thanks so much to author Alexandra Lanc for tagging me in her post for The Next Big Thing Blog Hop. If you haven’t heard of it before, The Next Big Thing Blog Hop is a way to help readers discover new authors by us new authors tagging each other in posts that move along to a new blog every few weeks!
Below are some questions about me and what I’m working on now. Alexandra answered these same questions in her post on the 5th, and in two weeks, author Ellen Stokes will answer the same questions on her blog, ellenstokeswrites.com!
So without further ado, here is my Next Big Thing!
1. What is the title of your novel?
Shudder – it’s book two of the YA dystopian/paranormal romance Stitch trilogy. :-)
2. Where did the idea for the novel come from?
The Stitch trilogy started as my attempt to come up with a really out-of-the-box way to provide a happy ending for a love story between a college girl and ghost. By the end of the first book, Stitch, you’re thrust into a dystopian world where you realize the girl is not a student, the ghost is not a ghost, and nothing is quite what it first seemed. Shudder is a continuation of that plot and picks up right where the first book left off.
3. What is the genre of the novel?
Ask any reviewer, and they will tell you that the Stitch trilogy is hard to classify! For Shudder in particular, it’s mostly dystopian, with romance and adventure and a little bit of paranormal, horror, and contemporary sprinkled on top.
4. Which actors would you choose for the movie?
This is always a really hard question, but these are the best matches I’ve found thus far:
5. Is the novel self-published, or traditionally published?
Self-published! I love having full control over my work, and especially being able to publish it as soon as I’m ready to get it to readers more quickly.
6. What other novels would you compare yours to in this genre?
I always tell people the Stitch trilogy is along the lines of The Hunger Games and Twilight, so if you enjoyed those two, you’ll probably also like Stitch. A few reviewers have also drawn comparisons between Stitch and Denise Grover Swank’s Here (On the Otherside), along with The Hunger Games, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed, so that’s quite a compliment to my ears!
7. Who or what inspired you to write this novel?
My mom was always my biggest cheerleader when it came to my writing, and she pushed me to write professionally from the time I was a kid. Needless to say, I ignored her advice for well on 25 years, but when I finally listened and started doing freelance writing full time, it was clear she’d been right all along. :-) And then a couple years later, I decided I wanted to try writing a novel, since I love to read – and when I thought of an idea that I was DYING to see done as a reader, I knew I’d found my book!
8. What else about your book might pique a reader’s interest?
The thing that’s been most amazing about Stitch is that not a single reviewer thus far has been able to guess the twist. They’ve all said it took them totally by surprise, which is something I love to experience as a reader, and don’t get to experience often enough in my opinion. And anyone who enjoyed Stitch I think will love Shudder, because it’s all the good parts from Stitch but faster-paced and more exciting, with more romance and more tension – and more Isaac!
And that’s it! If you’re looking for new authors, follow the tags in each post on The Next Big Thing Blog Hop! Thanks again to Alexandra Lanc for tagging me! You can check her out on her blog here: wordsoftheworlds.blogspot.com. And be sure to keep an eye out for Ellen’s post on the 27th at ellenstokeswrites.com!