{"id":1673,"date":"2013-01-23T04:26:04","date_gmt":"2013-01-23T04:26:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dsavannah.com\/blog\/?p=1673"},"modified":"2013-01-23T04:26:04","modified_gmt":"2013-01-23T04:26:04","slug":"the-next-big-thing-blog-hop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dsavannah.com\/blog\/index.php\/the-next-big-thing-blog-hop\/","title":{"rendered":"The *Next Big Thing* Blog Hop"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"US_map\"Welcome to the NEXT BIG THING Blog Hop<\/strong><\/span>. What is a blog hop? Basically, it\u2019s a way for readers to discover authors new to them. On this stop on the blog hop, you’ll find a bit of information on me and one of my books and links to other authors you can explore!<\/p>\n

My gratitude to fellow author Joy Ross Davis<\/strong><\/span> for inviting me to participate in this event. Visit Joy\u2019s website<\/a> to learn more about her and read an excerpt from her upcoming book, Countenance<\/em>. She was invited to the hop by my friend, K.D. McCrite<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, who answered The Questions<\/a> on November 9, 2012.<\/p>\n

In this blog hop, I and my fellow authors, in their respective blogs, have answered ten questions about our book or work-in-progress. We’ve also included some behind-the-scenes information about how and why we write what we write \u2014 the characters, inspirations, plotting and other choices we make. I hope you enjoy it!<\/p>\n

Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts and questions. Here is my Next Big Thing!<\/p>\n

1. What is the working title of your book?<\/h3>\n

Call me superstitious, but I will NOT speak the actual<\/em> title of the book aloud. Yes, it\u2019s that awesome. (The title. And hopefully the book.) Every so often, I search for that title on Amazon, and heave a sigh of relief when no one has taken it yet. In the meantime, I call it either Deep South<\/em>, Jessie\u2019s Story<\/em>, or occasionally, So Much for That<\/em><\/a>, what I called an excerpt from the novel; as a short story, it won an award in the Georgia Writers 2003 Members Contest. (Holy cannoli \u2013 that was a long time ago!)<\/p>\n

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?<\/h3>\n

Honestly, I have no idea. I started working on the novel in 1996.<\/p>\n

3. What genre does your book come under?<\/h3>\n

Women\u2019s Southern Literary Fiction<\/p>\n

In spite of our feminist foremothers, women are still denigrated for our choices. If we have children and go back to work, we can’t possibly be a good mother. If we have children and stay home, we’re wasting our lives. And if we choose not to have children at all, then something must be very wrong with us.<\/p>\n

I explore these issues in my book, in what I hope is a humorous, touching manner.<\/p>\n

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?<\/h3>\n

That\u2019s a tough one. I haven\u2019t really thought about it. If she could believably play an 18 year old, I\u2019d say Sandra Bullock. A younger actress who might do Jessie right (even though she\u2019s not Southern) is Tara Lynne Barr<\/a> from the dark comedy God Bless America<\/em><\/a>. She doesn\u2019t quite have the \u2018look\u2019 I have in my head of Jessie, but she for sure has the spunk and dry humor, and can also pull off the melancholy. Another good one would be Emma Stone<\/a>, as long as her hair was dark\/auburn.<\/p>\n

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?<\/h3>\n

Feisty Jessie Cooper left her small Southern town at 18 years of age with the idea she’d strike it big, but ends up moving from place to place to place; now, she confronts her past and her future, with a little help from an unexpected friend.<\/p>\n

(WHEW! I managed to fit it all into one sentence!)<\/p>\n

6. Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?<\/h3>\n

None of the above! When I finally finish it, I hope to have it represented by an agency.<\/p>\n

By the way, one of Jessie’s adventures, which I called “There is Such a Thing as Too Much Orange”, will be published in the Orange Karen Tribute Anthology<\/a>, being released in April 2013. Proceeds help a fellow writer, Karen DeLabar<\/a>, with medical costs associated with a bout of toxic shock syndrome.<\/p>\n

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?<\/h3>\n

About a thousand years. (It\u2019s still not done.)<\/p>\n

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?<\/h3>\n

The voice is somewhat similar to Diary of a Mad Fat Girl<\/em><\/a>, though Jessie\u2019s Story<\/em> isn\u2019t as upbeat all the time. The main character of K.D. McCrite<\/a>\u2019s Confessions of April Grace<\/a> series has a similar voice and temperament, but she\u2019s much younger so hasn\u2019t had to deal with loss. Between, Georgia<\/em><\/a> by Joshilyn Jackson explores loss and love like Jessie\u2019s Story<\/em> does, but is not as humorous.<\/p>\n

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?<\/h3>\n

See question 2. I have no idea! but Jessie is very real to me. I feel strongly that I need<\/em> to tell her story, and I feel guilty it\u2019s taken me this long. Many of the stories I share actually happened ~ if not to me, then to someone else. So, basically, the people and world around me ~ and like Jessie, I\u2019m very much a Southerner ~ have inspired Jessie\u2019s tale.<\/p>\n

10. What else about your book might pique the reader\u2019s interest?<\/h3>\n

I love Jessie\u2019s voice, and so have all of my early readers. After she leaves home, she flees to the next small Southern town, then the next, and then the next; at each place she gets a low-paying job ~ with very little skills, it\u2019s about all she can expect to find ~ and a boyfriend or three. She generally makes bad choices, most of them clashing against society\u2019s expectations for a woman. Somehow, she manages to have fun. But behind her snarky, sarcastic, witty voice she hides a deep sadness ~ loss piles on top of loss until she\u2019s not sure she can go on.<\/p>\n

The novel is written in two parts that will be woven together when it\u2019s completed – the past, when Jessie left home confident in her abilities, and the many jobs and loves she has along the way; and the present, where she confronts that past and her future. At turns funny, at others sad, the story covers the full range of the female experience: joy, loss, longing, understanding, growing up, and moving on.<\/p>\n

Remember to visit the Next Big Thing author next Wednesday, January 30, 2013:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n