I have yet again been underservingly nominated for a blogging award by Writing Underdog and Dreampunk Geek! These two fabulous bloggers keep handing me these awards, and I feel terrible for not getting the chance to nominate them back! Their blogs are truly wonderful, and if you haven’t subscribed, please do. It is well worth the time. So thank you, thank you, thank, guys!
For these questions I’m using my new WIP, not my first-draft fantasy novel. Bear with me, because I’m still getting to know my characters and story line.
What is the working title of your book?
Broken Rainbows. I’m not sure yet. Opinions are welcome!
Where did the idea come from for the book?
Ermm… I was watching the Scotiabank Giller Prize and tried thinking of book ideas that might end up with me sitting in the same room as Margaret Atwood. Somewhere during a commercial break an awkward, rebellious-esque girl walked into my head with the name Tonie (sort for Alton, after the place in Nova Scotia).
What genre does your book fall under?
I’m not sure; I’ve never written — and barely read — anything like this before. Teen drama? Self-discovery? Romantic-explorative fiction?
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Tonie Marron and her friends are terrified of graduating next year, and together they take their small suburban town by, storm, losing and making friends, falling in and out of love, and discovering things about themselves they had never even suspected along the way. (Who said anything about run-on sentences?)
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Hmm…Ian McKellan, Emma Thompson, and…a bunch of teen actors who haven’t been iconized by YA franchises.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I’m torn, but will try the traditional publishing road first. Prepared to self-publish.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Can barely call it a WIP. Have a couple pages of brainstorm and three pages of scribbled dialogue in an well-loved notebook.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I haven’t read too much in this genre, but maybe something like Write Naked by Peter Gould, or a more adult-content Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli? Funky and fun and playfully sexy with elements of sacrifice, choice, and loss. Can anyone think of a book like that?
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
It is a story about self-discovery, friendship, different kinds of love, life-changing choices, and overcoming obstacles for people you care about. The protagonist comes from a family of social outcasts, which sometimes is a blessing and curse depending on if she can sneak away to her friend’s house for a Star Wars marathon or if she’s stuck working at the family-owned thrift store. It’s less organized into chapters than short stories and blog posts in Tonie’s POV and just is going to go wherever she takes me.
For the Next Big Thing Blog Hop, I nominate:
(I know, but the Force is strong in these ones. Derserve it, they do. 
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