I was tagged in this Blog Hop business a while ago. I meant to get on it right away, but a few things pushed ahead of it. Now that I’m less busy, I can indulge in this and talk about my own writing. As part of the rules, I have to explain the rules:
Give credit to the person who tagged you. That would be Dave Higgins over at Davetopia. I’m very glad of this; I enjoy reading his blog.
Explain the Rules. Self explanatory.
Answer the ten questions about your current work in progress. Since I’ve started various projects and work on them at different paces, I’ll go with the one I’ve been working on for the longest.
Tag five other people and link to their blogs. Continuing this practice isn’t necessary, but I wouldn’t mind sending some of my readers to blogs I enjoy reading.
Now that the rules are out of the way, I shall get on to the questions. I am hesitant to put any details of my writing in public view, but I have been working on this book for almost six years now.
What is the working title of your book? The new working title is Beholden to None, thanks to a coworker. It had a placeholder name (Bayonets IN SPACE), but I’m glad it has a serious title now.
Where did the idea come from for the book? Randomly, I thought “What if Pandora’s box wasn’t a box, but actually a person?” The story has absolutely nothing to do with that now, but that’s where it started.
What genre does the book fall under? I’m going to go with science fiction.
What actors would you choose to play your characters in the movie rendition? That’s a tough question. I never thought this would be a book anyone would ever want to turn into a movie. I think I could see Arnold Vosloo as my villain.
What is the one-sentence synopsis for your book? As of right now, that would have to be something along the lines of “Civil war has divided an alien planet as they fight for Earth’s fate: enslavement beneath the Secure Empire, or a hostile alliance with the Ahkhar Fleet.” (As I’m sure every writer does, I hate writing a one-sentence synopsis.)
Will your book be self-published or published by an agency? I honestly have no idea. We’ll see what happens when I finish it.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? It took me a little under a year for the first draft. The five years since then have been spent on the second and second-and-a-half drafts. (Draft 2.5 happened when I rewrote the plot.)
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Another difficult question. Aside from the previously mentioned thought about Pandora’s box, I’m not certain what inspired me. It could be my failed first attempt at science fiction made me want to write something new that was much better.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? I’m not sure about “within my genre,” since I haven’t read as much science fiction as I would like. I like to think I’ve channeled some Brandon Sanderson into my writing, but that might be wishful thinking. There is one place, however, where I noticed a major shift in my writing; the way I handled each character’s emotions made me think I subconsciously tried emulating Monica McCarty (a romance author). I believe I wrote that part when I first discovered her work and then developed a minor obsession.
What else about your book might piqué the reader’s interest?
Two of my characters share a telepathic bond, and the addition of a third person affects their relationship as well as the events of the story. Plus there are giant robot fights (if you’re into that kind of thing).
I’m going to break the rules a bit here and ask Shylock Books to tell us about her project.
