No
one knows how it started -- I don't, at least -- but writers are linking
from blog to blog in a virtual game of 'tag, you're
it.'
In this 10-question interview, writers talk about the Next Big Thing they’re working on, then tag five other writers, each of whom does the same, tagging another five, and so on and so on...a kind of literary chain letter, only not annoying, but fascinating. Really.
For
writers, it's an opportunity to share work-in-progress, perhaps refining an
idea that hasn't quite taken full shape or revealing a book in the final stages
of editing. For readers, these linked
blogs offer a chance to 'look behind the curtain' of the writer's imagination -
to see stories before they become books, discovering what inspires and shapes
them.
At the end of this
post, I've tagged a few other writers you might want to get to know. Visit their
blogs and you may just discover a work-in-progress destined to become the
'next big thing' to read on your bookshelf or e-reader.
So.
Here goes...
What is your
working title of your book?
Moving Parts
Where did the idea come from for the book?
I started
writing short stories and they started to add up. Now there are almost enough for a book.
What genre does your book fall under?
Short story
collection. Fiction. Short fiction.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
If the story, Moving Parts got made into a feature, I think Keira Knightley and Jason Segel would make a good Edie and Ditch, a nerdy pair of star crossed lovers who met in a grocery store line up. There are also several linked stories, that could be a collection of short films where Frances McDormand would be a perfect Yvonne, the neurotic,
bug-eyed, dog-loving narrator. If Let Me Call You Lovely were a movie, Fred Willard should play Uncle Nick, Jennifer Coolige for the role of Charlene and Michael Cera as Jeremy. My friend's cat, Rockford, could play Jarslberg (see photo below).
Apart from Cera and the cat, I wish I knew more Canadian actors who fit these roles.
What is the
one-sentence synopsis of your book?
In this
collection of stories about striving and longing, sad yet hilarious characters
encounter truth, fear, and love in their own peculiar ways; through speculation on the
private lives of strangers, through imaginative digressions from the mundane and through careful observation of the ordinary.
A bit rambly, but that's the gist of it.
Will your book
be self-published or represented by an agency?
To be
announced.
How long did it
take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Still in the
works. Going on three years.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Reading the books listed above. And, in a way, I was inspired to write these stories
because I am fascinated by human behavior.
I notice a lot of weird shit and want to know more about it. Examine it. Dissect it. Laugh with it. Live with it. Survive it.
What else about
your book might pique the reader’s interest?
My writing has
been noted as:
“…remarkably
assured prose and full of unexpected and wonderfully bizarre detail.” – Grace O’Connell
“…hilarious,
smart, cutting, wry, careful, moving…” - Sarah Selecky
***
Uncle Nick had named all the cats after cheeses. Gouda, Brie, Kojak (from Colby-Jack) and
Zola, (short for Gorgonzola). They were
all adoptions from The Toronto Cat Rescue, except Zola who came from the
Internet.
“Have you seen that Kajiji?” Nick said to Jeremy, “Every five minutes
another goddamn animal goes up for adoption.”
Last month, there was a new one.
Neither a rescue nor an adoption, but a little orange stray that started
hanging around the yard. Nick let her in
and started feeding her. He called her
Jarlsberg. Jarlsberg had taken to sleeping in the basement with Jeremy.
Repeatedly, he had woke to the cat curled up beside his head, purring in his
ear. Not only did she sit outside the bathroom door while Jeremy showered, the
cat followed him around while he dressed and stared at him while he watched The Dragon’s Den on his laptop. She
would carry bits of particleboard from upstairs in her mouth and drop them at
Jeremy’s feet and wait. When Jeremy
kicked the scrap wood away, Jarslberg would bat it around the room then bring
it back to Jeremy’s feet. She’d stare at
it until Jeremy kicked it for her again.
Nick and Charlene had been renovating for the last nine years. Any time Jeremy had stopped in with his mother
to see Uncle Nick, the place was in a new state of disarray. Sheets of drywall
were stacked against frames of two by fours in the dining room. An unfinished
kitchen floor was lined with buckets of plaster. Loose wires sprouted from light fixtures that
were not fully installed. But visitors
were always welcome. Nick would throw a
sheet of plastic on the dining room table and offer them herbal tea and some
gluten free cake or cookie--Charlene was allergic.
It was difficult to have conversations with Nick and Charlene because
they often spoke at the same time.
“We’re
going to work on the bathroom this week,” he’d say.
And Charlene, “Nicky’s changed his mind about the layout again.”
Nick loved anything with stained glass so the windows were the only parts
of house that were finished. The front door housed a particularly intricate
landscape design along with a small window beside it that was made of a
combination of orange and yellow stars.
The three tall windows in the dining room contained sections of coloured
glass that cast patterns on the plastic liner where they drank their tea.
“Isn’t it the most lovely and amazing thing?” Charlene said.
And Nick, “Would you look at that goddamn light.”
***
And now I’m tagging a few talented writers. Visit their sites and find out about them and their work.
Christna Fletcher
I had hoped to get five writers, but didn't.
Some may still show up so come back.
Message for tagged authors:
Rules of the Next Big Thing
***Use this format for your post
***Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (work in progress)
***Tag five (or as many as you can) other writers/bloggers and add their links
so we can hop over and meet them.
Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing:
What is your working title of your book?
Where did the idea come from for the book?
What genre does your book fall under?
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Include the link of who tagged you and this explanation for the people you have
tagged.
Be sure to line up your five people in advance.
And,
last Thursday, I was awarded the Random House of Canada 2012 Student Writing Award for my short story, Let Me Call You Lovely.
On
Friday, my nephew and his girlfriend came to Toronto for the weekend to attend
the game yesterday. They are huge fans (pictured here, front and centre, in
green) and along with many other keen CFL lovers, have been roaming the city
for the past week. I went to Nathan Philips Square and Yonge and Dundas with
them where we did yoga on a makeshift field, tasted new flavours of Frank's Hot
Sauce and tossed a football at some tires in a cage. Next year's Grey
Cup is in Regina. 
