The Next Big Thing

February 9, 2013 by sharonsant

The Next Big Thing

I’ve been tagged in the next big thing blog hop by the surreally hilarious Laurence Donaghy. I have the same list of questions that I have to provide entertaining answers to and then I tag two writerly friends. Oh well, here goes internet oblivion….

1. What is the working title of your next book?

It’s called ‘the one where Sharon’s writing fairy locks away her Merlin DVDs and uninstalls the youtube app from her phone and ties her to a chair until some words come out’. Maybe that’s a bit longwinded, though. We’ll go for The Young Moon instead. It’s the second of the Sky Song trilogy.

2. Where did the idea for the book come from?

As it’s a sequel, I suppose I have to say that the idea came from the first book! At the end of Sky Song, we left Jacob **Sound of a truck roaring past** so, The Young Moon picks up two years on from there. There was always going to be three books and each one continues the overall story arc. Sky Song was as much about Jacob’s dilemma over his life choices as it was about his battle with the bad guy. In The Young Moon there’s a whole bunch of different dilemmas around loyalties and who gets to choose who lives and who dies. Jacob gets faced with some really tough decisions and quite often has to deal with the consequences of making the wrong ones.

3. What genre does your book fall under?

If you wanted to be pedantic you could call it Young Adult fantasy. But there is a feel of realism about it, and I’m very influenced by magical realist works, so I suppose, in that sense, it’s not fantasy in the way most would think of that genre. There are actually a couple of my favourite TV shows that you could probably point to and say ‘like that.’ If you look at something like Life on Mars or Misfits, outwardly, the setting is very ordinary and mundane, but something extraordinary is happening just beneath the surface. I think that Jacob’s story is like that.

4. What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

This is where I come undone. Colin Morgan’s face just pops up every time – not because he looks remotely like any of the characters, but just because I’d make sure I was on set every day! This is a tricky question, though, because the main characters are all teenagers so the actors young enough to play them would probably be fairly unknown. I think for Jacob’s best friend, Luca, Jonathan Bailey (from CBBC’s Leonardo) would be pretty cool. For Jacob, I could really see Jeremy Sumpter looking right, although he may be a little old now as I’m still remembering him like he was in Peter Pan. Maybe someone similar. But if Colin Morgan would dye his hair blonde then he’d be a definite Jacob! Actually, for Ellen, someone who looks sort of like Katie McGrath would be good, only she’d have to look seventeen (sorry Katie!). Luckily I’m not a casting executive – my requirements would be pretty vague!

5. What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

It’s bad enough writing an ordinary synopsis! One sentence? Ok. I’m totally rebelling with one and a half…

All Jacob has to do is cheat death, yet again, find another like him amongst the seven billion people that swarm over the face of the planet before Makash does, and thwart the prophecy that spells his doom. No pressure then…

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agent?

Sky Song is self-published so The Young Moon will follow suit. Unless some miracle occurs between now and March and an agent takes me on. What’s that you say? More chance of hitching a lift in the Tardis? To be honest, though, I’m quite enjoying self-publishing at the moment – it can offer a lot of freedom to a jobbing writer like me in terms of deadlines and creative decisions.

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

If I have a good run at it, a first draft can take maybe 5 or 6 weeks. I don’t exactly remember how long The Young Moon took but I’d say it was around that. It’s the editing and fine tuning that takes a lot more time than that.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within the genre?

I genuinely can’t think of anything like it. That’s not me showing off my originality, it’s me showing off how woefully unread I am lately! There are lots of books that tackle ‘chosen ones’ with great destinies, but I don’t know any of them that do it in such a domestic setting with so much emphasis on the emotional impact of that. The only one I can think of that deals with it any similar way is Harry Potter, but Jacob’s story is nothing like Harry’s other than he does have a destiny that he can’t escape.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Oh dear. I have to say, again, that the first book inspired this book! Sky Song came to me as a vague idea about a little girl whose father watched the skies every night. She wondered why and it took her a few years to figure out that he was watching for someone, rather than something. The little girl turned into a teenage boy and the thing that came from the stars was his destiny. Then I started to think that if someone just pitched up at my door when I thought I had my life worked out and landed me with a destiny I hadn’t asked for, how would I react? That’s pretty much the heart of Jacob’s dilemma.

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

It features hot teenage boys. Am I allowed to say that? Oh… erm, then it has a very important message about friendship and… oh hell, who am I kidding, hot teenage boys is my USP!

Next it’s the turn of Emma and Jack…

Emma Adams is 21-year-old author of THE PUPPET SPELL, a quirky YA fantasy published by Rowanvale Books. She is currently studying English Literature with Creative Writing at LancasterUniversity whilst writing the sequel and also working on the creepy paranormal Darkworld series. Check out her blog about her writing journey, where she posts weekly updates and writing tips, and also regular book reviews and features.

Jack Croxall is a YA fiction author and science writer living in Nottinghamshire. He tweets via @JackCroxall, and you can find out more about his novel, Tethers, by visiting www.jackcroxall.co.uk

Look out for their Next Big Thing Q&As next week.

The Puppet Spell author, Emma Adams, chats about singing Disney and writing YA

February 6, 2013 by sharonsant

As promised, the second of my guests, the lovely Emma Adams, writes about what started her on the road to writing and why she loves YA. The floor’s yours, Emma…

I was a strange child. I never wanted to talk with the other kids. I had a couple of close friends, and we spent most inventing bizarre games with complicated rules no one else could understand. Really, it was inevitable that I’d go on to write fiction.

When I was ten, I was writing for people my own age. And they liked it. I loved being picked to read out my writing. Then secondary school happened. Suddenly, writing for fun was no longer an option. I found it hard to fit in, and people thought I was odd because I preferred to sit in a corner with a book rather than go outside. All everyone else seemed to want to do was to grow up as quickly as possible. But I wanted to be a writer.

My teachers insisted I needed to think of a ‘real’ career. Books were my only escape, and even as I struggled awkwardly through adolescence, I knew I never really wanted to grow up. And that’s why I continue to write books for children and young adults. I want to live in that world where endless possibility exists, and hasn’t been stamped out by the Real World. I want to fight against the imperative to ‘grow up’, because it isn’t something that necessarily means being happier. University has been the best time of my life, and I think that’s because it’s like an extended childhood. Where else do you find yourself singing Disney songs at the pizza take-out at four in the morning?

I think that’s why I chose a university setting for my next book series – a young adult/new adult supernatural fantasy series. Writing for teens gives more scope to explore those essential life decisions and at twenty-one, I’m still going through the same thing myself! As a young adult you’re discovering who you are and what you want to do, and there are endless possibilities. Above all it’s about exploring boundaries, whatever the genre – between human and non-human, real and unreal, life and death. YA voices aren’t jaded by experience, and I think that’s one of the reasons it appeals even to adults. I want to read and write books that excite me, because I want to be excited by life. That’s what YA fiction gives us, and that’s why it’s here to stay!

About the Author:

Emma Adams is 21-year-old author of THE PUPPET SPELL, a quirky YA fantasy published by Rowanvale Books. She is currently studying English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University whilst writing the sequel and also working on the creepy paranormal Darkworld series. Check out her fab blog about her writing journey, where she posts weekly updates and writing tips, and also regular book reviews and features.

Author Jack Croxall talks about writing YA

February 2, 2013 by sharonsant

Regular visitors may notice I’ve decorated. This is in honour of my blog guests for February. To start the series off, Tethers author Jack Croxall talks about how Will and Lyra ignited his passion for YA fiction. I’ve been looking forward to Jack’s Victoriana feast for a while now, so I’m thrilled that he’s now ready to release and that he’s popped into my blog home today. Take it away, Jack…

Why I love (and write in) the YA genre ‒ Jack Croxall

I remember the moment I first wanted to become a writer. I was sitting in my early-teenage bedroom reading The Amber Spyglass between stints of homework, GameCube and playing electric guitar badly, when *spoiler alert* star-crossed adolescents Lyra and Will were forced into parallel universes never to see each other again.

Before starting the His Dark Materials trilogy I had bypassed the YA genre completely, instead choosing to graduate straight from children’s books to novels aimed at adults. With the benefit of hindsight, I suppose I’d done this in some misguided attempt to appear cool to the opposite sex but, thankfully, Philip Pullman’s books were knocking about the house for some reason and one day they just happened to catch my eye.

I was not ready for the heartbreaking ending of The Amber Spyglass. It got to me in a way that nothing I had ever read/watched had done before. I’d identified with the characters early on and, although I didn’t fully appreciate all of the complex themes the books explored at the time, the plot had drawn me in hook, line and sinker.

Before that ending I hadn’t ever given much thought to the fact that books were written by actual people. I expect that, if you’d asked me who the author of The Amber Spyglass was when I’d just started it, I’d probably have given you the same vacant expression I gave most of my teachers when they asked me something in lessons. But, once I’d read the book’s final sentence, I immediately turned over to the cover and thought, Mr Pullman, I want to be able to make people feel how you’ve made me feel. And in truth, that was depressed into to a mild stupor for days – but in a good way.

From that moment on I started feasting on nothing but YA, only picking up the occasional ‘adult novel’ once I was into my twenties. I do enjoy reading books aimed at mature audiences but I rarely connect with them like I do with novels following adolescents. After much reflection, I think this must be because some of the trials and tribulations teenagers go through are universal and that means I can still relate to them despite being slightly less Y and a little more A these days.

So, when I finally sat down to write my first novel, Tethers, (sadly my education got in the way of me becoming a writer the instant I finished His Dark Materials) there really wasn’t any question over what kind of book it would be. I wanted to write in the genre I loved and, indeed, my protagonist was a teenager named Karl almost from the moment my fingers touched the keyboard.

About the author:

Jack Croxall is a YA fiction author and science writer living in Nottinghamshire. He tweets via @JackCroxall, and you can find out more about Tethers, by visiting his website or popping over to his facebook page. Or, if you’d like to buy it, check out the Amazon page.

With a little help from my friends…

February 1, 2013 by sharonsant

Over the next few weeks I’ll be asking my fellow YA authors to take a turn here (mostly to give me a rest, but don’t tell them that) to talk about what they love about the genre.

There are lots of reasons why I write and read YA. I don’t write or read it exclusively, but it seems to dominate my choices at a subconscious level. Whenever a story pops into my head, invariably, a teenage character pops in with it. Maybe it’s because I’m drawn to young people in life (or people who have a young outlook). Maybe it’s because I have a misguided attachment to my battered old Converse which means you’ll have to prise them from my cold, dead feet, regardless of how embarrassing my kids find it. Maybe it’s because I’m clinging stubbornly to my own lost youth. I’m not sure I can really say why I lean towards YA – you might as well ask why I like the colour green.

Whatever Freud would have to say, I love to write characters of this age. They escape the constraints that dictate the actions of the rest of us. There’s a whole new world opening up for them, endless possibilities still to be written. I write younger protagonists from time to time under a pen name and, while they have just as much fun, mostly I have the watchful eye of a parent or guardian to take into consideration. Young adult protagonists have more freedom to go out into the world on their own but without the burdens that adults have. It’s a time of massive transition – of finding yourself, who you really are, what sort of person you’re becoming – and for me, that’s so exciting. With a young adult protagonist you can pursue emotional arcs that you can’t with any other age group and your characters don’t have to worry about the next gas bill.

First up on the guest posts it’s the turn of the lovely Jack Croxall, author of Tethers, to talk about Philip Pullman, dodgy electric guitars, and what started him on the YA road. You can catch Jack’s blog post here tomorrow.