Be Inspired Blogshop Meme

I was tagged by Amanda Olivieri, and it must have been a mistake. Or else she doesn’t know yet how much I love to talk about my novel. Sit down, grab some skittles or something to munch on, because there is no way I won’t talk too much here.

1. What is the name of your book?

Spider Silk

2. Where did the idea for your book come from?
Sometimes, when I can’t get to sleep, I indulge myself with story plots. Usually they’re a one-night venture, full of clichés and cheesiness and romance more gushy and cute and unrealistic than anything I’d actually put in a manuscript (not that there’s anything wrong with gushy and cute). Also, *cough* it may sometimes morph into mental fanfiction, about books/movies/shows I’ve liked lately.

Spider Silk’s premise actually started as one of these falling-asleep plots, but one that was more plausible than others. A boy had to team up with a girl who used to be his worst enemy, to save another world. It stuck around for a few nights, and I really, really liked it. Then one day I doodled a spider-girl, and she fit in this plot, and so the saga began. I still have that doodle. And I still really, really like the plot.

3. In what genre would you classify your book?
YA Fantasy. My gut says Epic Fantasy, to be specific, but it does involve inter-world travel and is told from the POV of a modern teenage boy, so… *shrug* Based on that, maybe some would disagree?

4. If you had to pick actors to play your characters in a movie rendition, who would you choose?
Not sure off the top of my head. Maybe some new faces? I guess the best answer is, whoever feels right. Whoever could portray the characters the way I’ve always pictured. I have fantasized about this, as alluded to in this post, but I’ve never attached big names to the daydream. Partially because I feel like anyone I pick now would be wretchedly old/no longer suitable by the time my book got published, let alone turned into a movie.

5. Give us a one-sentence synopsis of your book.
After five years of interrogations, therapy, and rumors of mental instability, seventeen-year-old David Archer’s adventure in another world seems almost as unreal to him as it does to everyone else—until his worst enemy comes to Earth and claims to need his help.

Bleh. That’s actually close to the first bit of my rough query-letter-in-progress (meshed together a bit to fit the one-sentence rule), but I don’t think it does the story justice. Long story short…

Boy who was once a hero teams up with his worst enemy to save another world.

That better?

6. Is your book already published?

No. I’d say ‘I wish’, but if it were published as it is now, I’d probably crawl in a hole and die. I still have quite a bit of revision to do. -_-

7. How long did it take you to write your book?

Finished the 120,000 word rough draft in two and a half months—NaNo pace.

Revision slays me though, and I’ve been side-tracked with other projects + school. That rough draft is years old now (and awful). My current rewrite started… 12-2-11. … I get distracted. And I’ve been going back to fix things, and—and--*hides face and types faster*

Does it seem better if I say I have the other four books basically fully plotted? XD

8. What other books within your genre would you compare it to? Or, readers of which books would enjoy yours?
I don’t want to say Narnia, because Narnia is Narnia, and I can’t call my book Narnia because it’s NARNIA.

So, I’m going to say it will appeal to anyone who’s ever loved the idea that someone ordinary could stumble into another world and become a hero. And anyone who ever wondered what could happen afterward.

Also, perhaps Graceling by Kristin Cashore, because Viss Arach’s got the whole ‘forced to kill since childhood’ thing going on—I MEAN—is a strong female character. ;)

I think there’s a certain nostalgia factor involved in Spider Silk. It’s a different spin on the kind of book everyone’s read at least one of. Some of the first books I ever loved involved portals to other worlds, and Spider Silk kind of draws on those memories. A lot of people have liked the premise, and I’d like to think it’s for similar reasons.

9. Which authors inspired you to write this book?

All of ‘em.

C.S. Lewis, because NARNIA.

Any author who ever wrote about other worlds, and the kids who move between them.

But… Honestly no one really specific. It’s not like the idea came while I was in the middle of a certain book. It’s a mish-mash of ideas putting a spin on a common fantasy trope. *shrug*

10. Tell us anything that might pique our interest in your book.

Viss Arach is a sarcastic ex-assassin with spider-powers who is secretly a nerd. David Archer’s a writer. There are ancient castles and rebel cities in ancient forests and festivals and folklore and betrayal and swords and executions and—

I’d better just cut this off here, or this blog post will end up being five pages long.

11. Tag five people!

Amanda, at Truth, Justice, & Other Stuff – My lovely crit partner. ;D

Amy, at A Story of a Dreamer -- A while back she posted a short story on her blog, and I realized how GOOD she is. I'd love to hear more about her novel. *pokes Amy*

Maggie & Constance, at Twin Moment -- Two lovely gals I've been following a while. ^^ ... Online, not in a stalker-ish way. XD

Olivia, at Olivia's Opinions -- I know her premise, and I'd love to hear more about her novel. :)

Also, a Notice: So right now, I have started college. Freshman year, panic setting in, etc. etc. etc. My schedule may be…uh…hectic. So. I will try to keep posts regular. XD

Does Spider Silk sound like something you’d read? Did you have any favorite books in your childhood that involved portals to other worlds? Will you be participating in this blog meme? Feel free, even if you’re not tagged!

Insanity Has Resulted In Success!

Note: This is a very random, thought-jumpy post. XD Because I needed a post and wanted to update people on how NaNo went.

Four days after NaNoWriMo, 2010 has ended… People thought it couldn’t – shouldn’t – be done. They were half right. I did it… But it probably wasn’t a smart thing to do.\

Novel number 1 is 50,283 words right now, and I just need to do some wrapping up… Okay, that’s an understatement. They’re just meeting the people from the Nation to the North. They still need to join up, help the people of the Tip to defeat the pirates, and then go home. But bottom line is, I’m definitely more than… eh… two-thirds of the way done with it?

Novel number 2 ended the month just a little more than 50,000 words long. It’s, in a word, awful. But it’s a NaNoWriMo novel. So that’s okay. Honestly, it’s so bad that I’m not sure I’ll ever dare to go back and salvage it… But who knows?

Altogether, I ended at 100,304 words. ^^ I don’t think I’ll ever write two NaNo novels at once again, though. XD It’s possible, but not really advisable.
Number 1 actually isn’t so bad. It’s definitely rough, but no worse than the novel that I’ll be attempting to revise just as soon as I finish Number 1’s ending. My “REVISE IT NAO! >8O” urges have dwindled a bit into a more manageable “Let’s get this done. >:)” kind of feeling. I’ve been making notes like crazy, and I feel like this time around I’m going to have a much better sense of what I’m doing and what my characters are thinking…

You know what amuses me? I was at the library today, and I saw a book where the premise was that two kids living in England find out they’re related to Sherlock Holmes and then they… I guess they solve mysteries or something?

But that’s impossible. Because Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character. XD It’s probably a perfectly lovely book, but after I saw that I just kind of smiled and put it back on the shelf.

Which was good because I already had three other books I was checking out. Among them, Mockingjay! Finally going to read it. ^^

I was looking at the cover of Mockingjay and noticed something… While the other birds on the covers had been in circles, this one had little fragments around it, like it was breaking free. I took a closer look, and realized for the first time what epic covers they are (I wanted to find a pic of all three covers lined up next to each other, but my computer apparently doesn’t want to let me do that. T-T).

The cover of the first book shows the mockingjay pin. The second shows a bird kind of in shadow, with a sort of glow around it as things begin to heat up. For the first time I noticed that the circle it was in wasn’t just a cool design thing… It was like a scope of a gun. And then, in the third book, the bird’s come to life, and it’s breaking free…

Maybe I’m just the last person to notice these things, but I think it’s really cool. :)

I love sequential covers like that… It’s my hope that the cover art for my books is as good. ^^

And yeah. That’s about it for this entry.
I really do want another screen name. Comments, please! Do y’all think ‘Silent Pages’ would be fine – at least for now? *glares at that awful title – the writer.* It’s a good title, but not a good username. Advice, por favor!