THE NEXT BIG THING – 12/12/2012
Marcy Rockwell has tagged me for THE NEXT BIG THING, and since I am an obliging sort of fellow, my post is going up today. “THE NEXT BIG THING” is basically writerly self-promotion crossed with a chain letter. The idea is that I answer 10 questions about my current work-in-progress, and then I tag five more writers, who can then answer the same ten questions about their current work-in-progress (or not) as it pleases them.
So, with the formalities out of the way, let’s get down to business:
What is the working title of your book?
SOUL OF SKULLS. This will also be the final title of the book. I’m also playing around with ideas for short books about the iPod Touch and Linux Mint, but right now SOUL OF SKULLS is consuming all of my mental oxygen.
Where did the idea for the book come from?
SOUL OF SKULLS is the sixth book (of a planned seven) in my DEMONSOULED series. The idea for the book flowed pretty naturally out of events that happened in the previous DEMONSOULED books.
Specifically, the idea came from three events in the previous books (note that these are spoiler-free, so feel free to read on):
-The Skulls, the assassins’ brotherhood based in the city of Barellion.
-The skull one of the characters finds in a citadel called Arylkrad, which was once the seat of a High Lord of Old Dracaryl, an empire ruled by necromancer lords.
-The popular idea of the zombie apocalypse. If you want to know what kind of zombie apocalypse, read SOUL OF SORCERY. 🙂
What genre does this fall under?
Sword-and-sorcery and epic fantasy.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie version?
Hollywood actors are generally too photogenic to be characters in the DEMONSOULED universe.
That said, I think Russell Brand would make an excellent version of the villain Malaric, since he’d need only to dye his hair blond and act like himself. And someone like Jillian Michaels would be good as Molly Cravenlock because Jillian Michaels is terrifying, but I don’t know if Jillian Michaels can actually act. Daniel Day Lewis would do well as the Old Demon, but Daniel Day Lewis is reputedly a hardcore method actor, so if he played the Old Demon it would be extremely unpleasant for the crew.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of the book?
Mazael Cravenlock tries to save himself and those he loves as the world burns around him.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Definitely self-published. No agents for me – I can steal money from myself via shady accounting much more efficiently.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I started on November 7th, and the good Lord willing, I’ll be done within the week. So about five and a half weeks to write a rough draft of 150,000 words or so.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Anything by David Gemmell.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
In this case, the events in the previous five DEMONSOULED books inspired the story in SOUL OF SKULLS. Developing the backstory is easy by the time you get to the sixth book in the series, since you’ve already written all the backstory you need.
What else about your book might pique the interest of readers?
There’s adventure, fighting, battles, romance, derring-do, and an invincible army of super-powered zombies. Also an invasion of serpent-worshiping Vikings. And a winged woman whose wings are fashioned from sword blades, not flesh and bone and feathers.
Now comes the part where I tag five other writers.
Mary Catelli – Author of many excellent short stories.
Tom Simon – Author of the excellent LORD TALON’S REVENGE, and numerous insightful essays.
John C. Wright – Author of many science fiction and fantasy novels, and writer of the single most logical blog on the Internet.
L. Jagi Lamplighter – Author of the PROSPERO’S DAUGHTER trilogy, one of the best fantasy series I’ve read this year (or any other).
And I can’t think of a fifth writer right now. Volunteers?
-JM