The Next Big Thing

I think I may be very close to being the last person to jump on The Next Big Thing train. I've successfully dodged it many times before (mostly because questions #4 and #8 and I don't get along), but somehow the ever awesome Tara Tyler talked me into it. (Plus, she gave me permission to fudge #4, which was totally the key to getting me to say yes.) (And if we've both been dodging this (for whatever reason-- I won't judge), and you're also finally ready to give in to the fun and answer the questions next week, let me know, and I'll link to you.)

I'm going to do this for the book that still has a couple rounds of copy edits to go-- SKY JUMPERS book 1.

1. What is the working title of your current or next book? The original working title was GREEN BOMB. Awesome, no? ;) Then when I finally got inspiration for an actual title, it became THROUGH THE BOMB'S BREATH, and stayed that way for 2 1/2 years. Its brand-spankin' new title is SKY JUMPERS.

2. Where did you get the idea for that book? My family and I were flying from Florida to Utah on a day when virtually the entire country was covered in clouds, and I had a window seat. I just kept staring at the wrong side of those clouds, thinking how awesome it would be if I jumped out of that plane and landed in those clouds. (Assuming they'd slow my fall....) I decided I had to write a book where someone did that. Only I made the clouds not actually clouds, but dense air caused by a side-effect from the green bombs. And I made it invisible. And very deadly. And made it cover the earth.

3. What is the genre of the book? Post-apocalypic Adventure. (Which does not mean dystopic. You'll find no uberly-controlling government here. More of a lack of government.)

4. If you could pick actors to play the lead characters in your story, who would you pick? Am I the only one who can't seem to do this? It's impossible! I even really, really tried-- I promise!

5. How would you describe your book in one sentence? It's about a girl who can't invent in a town where it's the most important thing, but when the town is taken hostage, inventing won't save them, but the daring and risk-taking that usually gets her into trouble just might save them all.

6. How will your book be published--submitted through the traditional route to a traditional publisher, or will you be handling it yourself through indie publishing methods? Traditional publisher.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of this book? Ten months.

8. What other books within your genre are similar to yours? Um... It turns out that there aren't that many MG Post-Apoc Adventures. When I was querying, I couldn't think of a single book to compare it to! Random House has compared it to The City of Ember.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book? My daughter really struggled with reading, especially in first and second grade. She is good at SO many things, though! She's especially good at a lot of things that don't show up in school. I was always amazed at how none of that mattered when you were bad at the one thing that mattered most. It made me want to write a character that was amazing in a way that people tended not to see, when she was terrible at the thing they did see.

10. What about your book will pique the reader's interest? Setting! Okay, so yes-- most of the earth's population was wiped out. So was most of technology. And there are a billion dangers. But I would still go live in my setting ANY DAY. And if I did live there, I'd definitely start every day with a Sky Jump.

Next week, the chain will continue with the amazing Taffy Lovell!