Tag You're It Meme

 Thank you, Tara, for the tag on this fun Meme!

I've been hyper-focused on my novel, Champion in the Darkness aka The Crystal Sword, so that's the focus for this Meme. It's been through some tough revisions. Characters have been cut, killed off, and then . . .well, I decided I needed a few of them back. A particular mentor has ended up with so much more page time I started wondering if I should change the title . . .again. There was romance, but it was awkward, then it gained heat, and then it became secondary . . . apologies to all the romantics out there. The basic story is still there, and still the same. The first five scenes I imagined, and used as major plot points are still intact.

So, on with the meme:

What is the working title of your book?
Champion in the Darkness

What genre does your book fall under?

Christian fantasy adventure. I don't like using just one name. It's YA, maybe somewhat MG, and hopefully a few adults will like it too.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie?

Clara - AnnaSophia Robb, Stelia (that mentor I mentioned) - Lucy Lawless, Dantor - Daniel Craig except with dark hair, Salene (Clara's best friend) - Selena Gomez (name similarity is a coincidence), Prince Will - Liam Hemsworth (sorry romantics - this is Salene's guy), Adrian, the amazing griffin rider - possibly Chris Hemsworth - but younger than real life - I don't have a good actor choice for him (and yes, this is a guy of interest for Clara).

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

When the evil forces of the Dark Sisterhood and the Drinaii attack the capital of Septily, Clara a young sword apprentice is forced to fight and flee with other survivors with the  hope of returning to break open the darkness with the power given only to the Champion.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
After much consideration and research, I've decided on self-publishing.

 

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

I had a short story, then I fiddled with it for several months. Finally, NaNoWriMo 2010 presented itself, and I rewrote the whole thing from the beginning again . . .so, my first unfinished draft took 9 months, and my first finished draft (technically my second) took one month. I've been revising forever. (but hopefully will be finished, polished and done before Christmas this year - thinking of a January or February release date)

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

My kids wanted me to write a story for them instead of writing scifi for "old people." (ouch)

I also felt inspired by The Squire and the Scroll by Jennie Bishop. In that picture book, a young squire conquers a great evil dragon threatening his land by using the words of an ancient scroll that turns into a sword. It got me wondering what it would be like if a fantasy world had swords imbued with power from faith and the word of God. Plus I re-read The Voyage of the Dawn Treader not long before I jumped into NaNo . . . so even though I didn't plan a sea serpent incident originally, I felt a strong desire to bring one into the mix. And then, draft after draft that scene changed and became more important as a turning point for Clara.

What else about this book would pique the reader's interest?
um . . .sword fights, battles, snake-women, and swords of power? A villainess with a thirst for ancient vengeance and power? A king who betrays his people? Majestic griffins and their mysterious riders?

And now I pass this on to these five . . .wait six . . . extraordinary people to tell us about their WIPs:

Angela Brown    L.G. Smith     E.R. King      Karen Lange     Rachel     QueendSheena


I would also love to hear from more extraordinary people about their WIPs but I was running out of blog time . . . my homeschooled kids need me to step away from the PC.