The Next Big Thing

James Calbraith tagged me last week for this, a meme where I have to answer ten questions about my current work in progress (WIP).

Well, my current WIP is actually based on a novella that I have already released for free, Bonds of Fire. I was going to write a second short to go with the novella, but a bigger plot grew around the novella plot instead and I wanted to expand on that.

1. What is the working title of your book?
Bonds of Fire (I like the original name - I may use it as a subtitle though in the end, so as not to confuse it with the novella)

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
That goes all the way back to the novella. My sister, Tasha, and I run a publishing house called Wittegen Press, and we have an imprint of that called Penny Dreadfuls 21, which solicits requests from readers for stories they'd like to have written. Bonds of Fire was one such request: 'I'd like to see a setting that has both sci-fi elements (futuristic with cybernetics) and fantasy elements (magic and magically creatures). I have a thing for dragons, so would like to see them included somehow. Oh, and a baby dragon(s) would make me especially happy. ;)'

I picked up the request and ran with it.

3. What genre does your book fall under?
Fantasy with a side order of science fiction.

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

Drekken: Jeremy Renner

Malachi: Tommy Knight

Yakov: Jamie Campbell Bower

Miri (dragon - voice only): Rachel Weisz

Margren (One of Drekken's adopted dragon mothers  - voice only): Dame Judi Dench

Orin (One of Drekken's adopted dragon mothers - voice only): Dame Maggie Smith

Wen (Drekken's adopted human mother): Gemma Arterton

Leysel: Elisabeth Harnois

Bayard (dragon - voice only): Colin Firth

Olias: Lawrence Fox

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
One baby dragon, two young empaths and a near death experience lead Drekken, a dragon warrior more used to fire-fights than friendship, into a new time in his life where his enemies are not nearly so obvious as those on a battlefield.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
The book will be independently published through our own publishing company,  Wittegen Press. I gave up with the old fashioned route to the market when I realised that the most difficult aspect of publishing, the marketing of the book, is now mainly left up to the author.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
The novella, which I suppose I can consider as a first draft, at least for act one, took about three weeks. I was about the same amount of time into the second story when I realised it was actually part of the same plot. I think there is probably another month on to go on the rest of the first draft (plot is in my head, just need to get it on paper).

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I'm not very good at comparisons and I haven't read a lot of fantasy lately, so I'm going to cheat and look at film as well. So I'd say that for the mix of fantasy/magic and technology, the nearest comparison would be Star Wars and that ilk, although planet rather than space based. For the dragons, if you like Flight of Dragons then you should like Bonds of Fire.

9. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
There's magic, tech and action, running through an adventure on two levels: external conflicts coming from war, new enemies and old relationships, and Drekken's inner journey of self-discovery. Oh yes and dragons, cute little baby ones and sassy full-grown ones.  

10. Tag you’re it! 

• Sanna Caduri
• Natasha Duncan-Drake
• Brooke Johnson
• Tressa Green
• Paul Carroll

Rules:
***Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (Work In Progress)
***Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.