My Next Big Thing

I was tagged by Sheila Deeth, author of Divide by Zero, for the Next Big Thing blog hop.

The rules of the blog hop are simple: Answer ten questions about your WIP (Work in Progress) and tag five more writers/bloggers to do the same. A chain of links will lead you, dear reader, to a forest of wonderful writers all busy creating new books just for you… or so I'm told. So here's my contribution to the chain.
 



What is the working title of your book?

The Ghost of Sarah Travers. This is the official title. It is the first book in The GHOST Group series, a middle grade paranormal mystery series. Each book in the series has the title “The Ghost of…” with the final words being the main character. For example, the second book is called “The Ghost of the Crying Valentine” and the third book is called “The Ghost of the Irish Setter.” Each book is tied in to a holiday; the first book for New Year’s, the second for Valentine's Day, the third for St. Patrick's Day, etc. I originally called this series “Holiday Horrors” but some teachers I told about this series suggested I change that title since it is written for a young audience and the “horrors” part of the title might make it difficult to get the book into school libraries. (The books will first be published as ebooks; the print versions will come later.)


Where did the idea come from for the book?

I actually got the kernel of an idea for this series several years ago. I just had bits and pieces of the idea. It probably came as a result of my passion for anything related to the paranormal – ghosts, hauntings, haunted houses, etc. – plus, I was researching haunted cities for a nonfiction book I was writing on that very topic. I started to wonder, what is it like to live in a haunted city? Something from my research and my passion just helped me gather together all the pieces for this story. When I finally figured out what kind of series this was going to be and who the main characters were, that’s when I started writing.


What genre does your book fall under?

Paranormal mystery.


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

My characters are 11-year-olds and unfortunately I don’t watch a lot of kids TV shows or movies to be able to pick out young actors and actresses who would be good candidates to portray my characters on screen.


What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Sarah Town is a town brimming with ghosts and some of those ghosts need help!


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

I have a contract with Gypsy Shadow Publishing for this series.


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

I wrote the first draft in a week. It turned out to be 50 pages long. The revised draft I’m working on now is nearing 80 pages.


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

I think any kind of ghost stories written for kids would be good comparisons. All The Lovely Bad Ones by Mary Downing Hahn, Jason and the Friendly Ghost by Violetta Antcliff and The Green Ghost by Marion Dane Bauer come to mind.


Who or What inspired you to write this book?

I really think if there is one thing that inspired me to write this series, it was my curiosity of what it’s like to live in a haunted city. Okay, maybe the fact that I always wanted to be a part of a detective group when I was a kid has something to do with it, as well as my enjoyment of the Scooby Doo cartoons. Except in these stories, the ghosts are real!


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

I try to include information about ghosts, hauntings and how to get evidence of ghosts in every story. I hope this will attract anyone interested in learning more about why hauntings happen and how to do your own investigations.


Authors I tag are:


Dellani Oakes

LK Hunsaker

Beth Trissel

Tara Chevrestt

Kate Tenbeth

There won't be 12 for 2012

First, it was “write 12 ebooks in 12 months.”

After that plan did not work out, I decided that, since I had so much on my plate, I would instead submit 12 manuscripts in 12 months.

However, that has not worked out very well, either. Because, as it is, the publishers I submitted manuscripts to needed extra time to go over submissions from me. And some, like GSP, are already working on getting books published that we have contracts for. That takes time, too.

Soooo ... it would seem that this is a plan I will have to deep-six as well. I just don’t feel comfortable sending one publisher submission after submission after submission. (Hm, I think I write a lot.) So, no. No more of that!

This year, I have submitted 9 manuscripts. I queried an agent for another, and in December, if things move forward with one publisher, I’ll submit another. So that’s technically 11. But there won’t be a 12^th.

Not this year.

I’m totally okay with that. For some projects, like the haunted cities book, people just need more time until it’s all complete. And, yes, I’d love to see the first book in the GHOST Group series out by January, but I don’t think that’s going to happen because that publisher already has two other manuscripts by me that are pending publication.

But I’m still going to finish revisions on this one, as well as the second and third books, this year (the second and third books in that series are Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day stories, respectively). I’m going to get that done all the same, because I want to have those projects COMPLETE and FINISHED. Then I’ll work on the third and consecutive books next year.

So now, that is the schedule I am working by. Instead of prepping the next manuscript to submit, I am going to instead work on completing ongoing projects and get those books done. That way, I can start the new year fresh. I will pick up where I left off with the health book and continue work on the new poetry book.

Also for next year I will self-publish yet another poetry book and revise a horror novel a publisher is interested in. Only, I’ll send the manuscript along AFTER that particular publisher is finished with one of my books already under contract.

Forthcoming ebook written in honor of NBCAM

It’s October! And aside from Halloween, October means something else: It’s National Breast Cancer Awareness Month! To support the occasion, my breast cancer anthology (well, it’s half anthology and half stuff that I wrote), will be published as an ebook by Gypsy Shadow Publishing! The ebook is called On the Wings of Pink Angels: Triumph, Struggle and Courage Against Breast Cancer. It contains stories from breast cancer survivors, interviews with people whose family have been affected by breast cancer, interviews with business professionals supporting the cause and information about breast cancer.

I am very excited about the upcoming release of this ebook. It started out as a labor of love; I ran a breast cancer series on my Palms to Pines blog in 2009 and, ever since, wanted to turn it into an ebook that would benefit a charity. Now, three years later, that will happen. When I found out that Gypsy Shadow Publishing, my publisher of The Yellow Rose and two other books, was going to start up an imprint of books for charity, I asked if it was possible I could turn my blog series into a manuscript and submit it to them. They said yes and I got busy putting it all together. Thank you to Denise Bartlett and Charlotte Holley for supporting and publishing this project! All royalties I receive from sales of this ebook will go to Courageous Kids, a nonprofit organization that helps kids cope with the loss of a loved one (mother, father, grandparent, etc.).

It seems like every October, I’m all about National Breast Cancer Awareness Month or Halloween. This year, it’s NBCAM. Next year, it’ll be Halloween, as I hope to have my horror novel out by then.

Maybe one of these years, it’ll be about both!