The Next Big Thing

Welcome to Week 20 of The Next Best Thing!

In this blog hop, authors answer ten pre-determined questions, which will reveal bits and pieces about their current release or upcoming book. Today, I'm going to highlight the sequel to my debut novel, The Willows: Thorn. But first, I want to say thanks to the amazing, Layla Messner for inviting me to play along!

Q&A:

Q: What is the working title of your book?

A: The Willows: Thorn

Q: Where did the idea come from for the book?

A: It's a continuation of The Willows series, but the original idea spawned from one of my lead characters, Gabe Willoughby.

Q: What genre does your book fall under?

A: Young Adult paranormal romance.

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

A: I'd love to have Alexandra Dadario play Ashton. She has the most perfect shade of blue eyes. The rest of my dream cast can be found here.

Q: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

A: I don't have a one-sentence synopsis written for Thorn yet. It's still being written ;) 

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

A: Thorn will be published by Raven Key Press.

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

A: I'm still working on the first draft. My debut novel, The Willows: Haven, took about nine months.

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

A: I'd say, story-wise, it falls somewhere between Julie Kagawa and Amanda Hocking.

Q: Who or What inspired you to write this book?

A: I've always written, but I'd never tackled a full-length novel. My awesome husband really encouraged me to finish one after our second daughter was born. It was a way of having something for myself. It's easy to get lost in taking care of everyone else. He wanted to me to have my own outlet. :)

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

A:You probably haven't read anything about what my characters are before. I really love taking existing history, fable, myths, or beings and making them my own.

I’m breaking the “rules” of this blog hop a bit because, despite numerous posts on Twitter, I couldn’t find five more authors who wanted to answer these questions about their WIP/new release (I guess everyone’s busy writing.) Rather than become the most annoying person on Twitter, I decided to link to five of my author buddies. Feel free to play along if you'd like, guys. No pressure! If anyone else would like to participate, just leave a comment, and I'll link you in :)

My author buddies (who are AMAZING writers. Check them out!):
Elizabeth Isaacs
Rachel Harris
Lucy Swing
Trisha Wolfe
Tiffany King 
Mindy Ruiz
Todd Keisling

The rules: Post *next Wednesday.* Answer these 10 questions about your WIP or new release. Find five authors to “tag” for week 21.