The Next Big Thing

Last week over at the Killer Chicks, JB Lynn tagged me to participate in The Next Big thing and AlexiaChamberlynn tagged me a while back, so here goes nothing...

...ahem, before I begin, let me just say that I don't feel like anything I write is 'the next big thing' - well, not since my first book and you can guess how that went.  So, rather than think of this as 'the next big thing', I'm just going to think of this as 'the big thing taking over my life right now'.  Hope that's okay.


10 Questions:

What is the working title of your book?  
Sleeping Ugly

Where did the idea come from for the book?
I woke up, wandered into the bathroom and while I was sitting there, this popped into my head.  I can't think of any reason why it would.  Nothing connected to anything.  One moment it was just there, so I finished what I was doing and came out here to write the idea down before I forgot it.

What genre does your book fall under?
I haven't decided if this is a paranormal mystery, a paranormal romance, or just some supernatural thing I cooked up.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie?
I never think of actors who'd play my characters.  They're their own people and no actor I've ever seen has matched who I have in my head anyway.

What is a one sentence synopsis of your book?
When model Jeni Braxxon sleeps with the wrong man, she finds herself under a curse where she wakes up every morning ugly as sin and has to track down the witch she pissed off before her life falls apart.

Will your book be self published or represented by an agency?
It's too early in the game to know that.  Could go either way - or even the third option where I'm not represented by an agency but still traditionally published.  Ya never know.


How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I've only written 2400 words so far, but these things usually take 2-4 months depending on my level of commitment and the laziness factor.


What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I'd like to think it'll turn out to be a little like Carolyn Crane's Mr. Real or Brownies and Broomsticks by Bailey Cates

Who or What inspired you to write this book?
I have no clue.  Things just pop into my head sometimes.  I can say, though, that without my husband's encouragement when we were courting, I never would've stuck to writing.  I spent too many years beginning novels and never finishing them.  After he read the first chapters of what would become my first finished novel, he told me I needed to write - nothing else, just write.  And he's been beside me ever since.   

What else about your book might interest the reader?
Jeni is a pretty likeable gal under the cutthroat model but like many girls, her self-esteem is low enough to make her sleep around - which is how she gets into this mess to begin with.  Or so she thinks.  ;o)

Mini Excerpt:  
:Disclaimer:  This is the roughest of rough drafts since it's barely begun and I have no idea where the hell I'm going with it.

It was morning and I was ugly.

Near as I can figure it, I pissed in the wrong witch’s pool at some point.  All I know is one night I went to Spanky’s, drank a lot, danced a lot, and went home with the first available hottie.  The next morning, I woke up cursed.

And ugly.  Did I mention ugly?

Not the best outcome for a twenty-two year old fashion model, let me tell you.  I had a photoshoot the following week.  I had an agent who kept promising me the cover of Vogue if I kept going the way I was.  Sure, twenty-two is a bit old for a modeling career to take off, but I had hopes.  It had to take off.  It wasn’t like I had skills to do anything else.  Even on a good day, I’m not fit for fast food or retail sales.  Like this, I’m not fit for even that. 

Who wants to buy food or clothes from a hag?

I spent the first twenty-four hours of my ugliness trapped inside my apartment with the drapes drawn and the door closed.  After the initial shock of seeing myself, I threw towels over all the mirrors.  It was like someone was sitting shiva in there.  Until I tried to get ready for bed. 

With nothing and nowhere to go, I opted for an early bedtime.  Brushing your teeth is an interesting experience when you can’t see yourself.  So I sucked it up and pulled the towel down.  Prepped for a glimpse of gruesome, I got the second shock of the day when a nearly normal me stared back.  Other than looking like I had the roughest day of my young life, I was me again. 

Chalking it all up to the worst hangover ever, I swore off booze and went to bed, confident in my beauty.  I didn’t remember falling asleep.  I don’t even remember dreaming.  I closed my eyes in the dark one minute and opened them the next in the soft light of dawn.

I wish I could say I felt a tingle or a twitch.  Even a burning sensation in my nether regions would’ve been preferable, because it would’ve provided a warning.  Nope.  I got nothing.

Except ugly.  Overnight ugly.

At first I totally doubted my sanity.  Nobody gets ugly overnight.  Then again, no one gets pretty throughout the day either.  Either a person is always pretty or they’re always ugly. 

Psychotic break now or one earlier in my life—neither option made me feel any better about myself.  Of course, the only other answer seemed just as crazy.  Magic isn’t real.  Curses don’t happen in real life…

Unless they do.

Content might change during edits. Copyright 2012

Now I guess I'm supposed to tag some other people to talk about their Next Big Things.  I don't usually do this part, but what the hell - the more the merrier, right?  The people I tagged are:

J.S. Corcoran
Natalie Nicholas

and Silver James but she has a deadline looming so she had to bow out.  Go visit her blog anyway - just because. 

Look for their answers to The Next Big Thing next week.  =o)

Also, speaking of Alexia Chamberlynn, she's the latest guest poster over at The Unpublished Writers' Guide to Survival this morning.  Stop on by and take a look at her post on entering writing contests.