Wednesday, December 12, 2012

The Next Big Thing

A friend of mine from the New England Horror Writers, Chris Irvin, asked me if I wanted to participate in the Next Big Thing Blog Hop. He shot me an email with the details and it sounded like fun. Maybe somebody will even read this. I wouldn't count on it, but stranger things have happened, so here goes.


1. What is the working title of your book?

The story is set in a distant future on earth, cataclysms have ravaged the earth and brought society to its knees. Technology has disappeared. Magick and monsters have risen again. Civilization exists mostly in small pockets, scattered throughout the land. The title needed to represent hope in a time of darkness. I think it does. The book is called Lightbringer.

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

Mythology was one of my favorite subjects growing up. I ate up stories about King Arthur, Merlin, the Greek gods and demigods. I wanted to write my own fantasy story that drew heavily on various world mythologies. Joseph Campbell's research into mythology is said to have inspired George Lucas when he created Star Wars. I thought maybe I could do the same kind of thing, creating my own mythology populated with mythic archetypes. So I spent a couple years researching various mythologies, starting with Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces, before I started to write down my tale.


3. What genre does your book fall under?

It's fantasy. High fantasy, I guess you'd call it. There's some crossover with horror as well, since I drew heavily on the mythology created by H.P. Lovecraft to give the book a darker feel.

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

I don't have an ideal choice here, but I'm going to throw out an actor from the recent movie The Hunger Games. His name is Liam Hemsworth. I think he could pull off my hero, Deykin.

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

In a distant post-cataclysmic future, a child of the old gods must embrace his destiny in order to save the earth from an unspeakable ancient evil.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

An agency is my first choice, but I will consider self-publishing next year if I have no luck finding a publisher.

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

Ha! Well if you include the research and outlining I did, probably about eight years. From first sentence to last, seven years I guess. There was a lot of starting and stopping in there.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Well, big inspirations for this book are Stephen King's Dark Tower series, The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Some Arthurian literature which influenced me as well would be The Once and Future King, The Mists of Avalon, and Mary Stewart's series which starts with The Crystal Cave. As I mentioned earlier, Star Wars was usually in the back of my mind as well.

9. Who or What inspired you to write this book?

Well, Stephen King has been my favorite author for as long as I can remember. I've wanted to follow in his footsteps and be a successful horror writer for a long time. It was my wife, however, who suggested I write a dark fantasy novel instead of horror. She had no idea how obsessed I'd become and how much time I would invest in it, though. It wasn't something I could just create out of thin air. I had to put everything I had into it.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Myths, monsters, magick, heroes and Lovecraftian horror. To add to that, I studied shamanism, reiki and lots of legends and lore so I could have an authenticity feel to my mythic novel. I am planning a seven book story arc that tells the story of my hero from the night of his conception to the moment of his last epic battle to save the world.

Here are some other writers to watch for in the future:

Jennifer Brozek is the author of The Lady of Seeking in the City of Waiting as well as an award-winning editor of numerous short story collections, most recently Dangers Untold.

B.E. Scully's first novel is Verland: The Transformation. Most recently she published a collection of short stories called The Knife and The Wound It Deals.

Theresa C. Newbill is a gifted psychic and witch. She has written an autobiography called Open Diary of a Witch. Check her out on facebook. Seriously.

Scott Goriscak is the author of Horrorism, Dead and Decaying, and Welcome to the Dark Side. On facebook he runs a group of talented horror writers called The Horror Society.