About The Book

Hello All! So, my awesome summer intern friend Ari tagged me in her last blog post. I think this one is especially interesting and useful, so I am going to pounce on it (... a week later... sorry Ari... I might talk about Doing All The Things on Thursday...) I hope you guys are interested too!



1. What is the name of your book?

A TERROR OF DARKNESS

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

Heh, this is kind of a long story. When I was a sophomore in high school, I was sitting with my friend Erin on a bus in the dark, on the way back from our annual band/chorus trip, and I said I'd been mulling over a retelling of Beauty and the Beast with a werewolf in. She thought that was awesome, so I wrote it on and off for a while. I finished it and started working on a sequel.

Then I went to college and asked a professor how one goes about publishing a novel. She introduced me to a student in the other section of her Intro to the Essay class - Kody Keplinger - who taught me how to write a query letter and told me that, seriously, I needed to cut my book in half if I wanted to actually pitch it. I managed to get it from about 163k (!!!) to 100k (!), and then I queried it. I got some interest, got some feedback, and then decided it needed to be reworked. I puttered around for quite a while, trying to find a good way to fix all the problems in the ms.

And then I rewrote the entire thing from scratch. The only thing that's stayed the same from the beginning are the central characters, who I love beyond reason, really.

3. In what genre would you classify your book?

YA historical fantasy. This might be a point of contention for some people, since there are werewolves in my manuscript. I do see this in the realm of fantasy rather than paranormal, however. In most paranormal books, I think, the werewolf/vampire/evil rabbit character has to keep that identity a secret, and there's an introduction to that secret world for a normal human character. Whereas in fantasy, elements of magic - in my case, a magical creature - are simply present and accepted in the world. Does that make any sense or am I losing my mind?

4. If you had to pick actors to play your characters in a movie rendition, who would you choose?

Um... well... Ben Barnes as Prince Caspian looks rather like Avar, I think... although that random kid I sat next to on the Tube once was a dead ringer for him. He was also wearing a fez, too; so much the better.

5. Give us a one-sentence synopsis of your book.

Seventeen-year-old Rose must break her family out of the most feared prison in Paris before they face the guillotine, with only the help of the werewolf who got them all into trouble in the first place. 

6. Is your book already published?

*grins hopefully at the Literary Powers that Be* Someday, I should hope!

7. How long did it take you to write your book?

Um... about five years, I think? Although that's from "initial idea" to "manuscript as it is now," not how long it actually took me to physically write anything. That I don't remember.

8. What other books within your genre would you compare it to? Or, readers of which books would enjoy yours?

Well, my query letter compares it to The Scorpio Races and A Great and Terrible Beauty, because that kind of mixture of reality, history, and fantasy is what I'm really gunning for when I write.

9. Which authors inspired you to write this book?

Well, goodness. Libba Bray to an extent. I think I was initially inspired by wanting to write my own version of Beauty and the Beast. After that, my obsession with the French Revolution and my love of the characters carried the project.  



10. Tell us anything that might pique our interest in your book.

It's a kissing book. *grins*




All right, there it is! Some information on A TERROR OF DARKNESS. I tag... anyone who wishes to complete this tag! (I know, I know... but d'you know All of Those Things I mentioned? I ought to go do them now. Until Thursday!)

Teaser Tuesday + Tags = Double Time!

I know, I know, I failed a little on the alliteration there... bear with me, I'm a writer, not a poet.

But! The lovely and talented Ari, she of the fellow-interning, Nerdfighting, and snarking characters fame, tagged me the other day, and I thought I ought to play along. :)

The Lucky 7 Meme Award Rules are as such:
1. Go to the 7th or 77th page of your work in progress.
2. Go to the 7th line of the page.
3. Copy the next 7 sentences or paragraphs. Remember, they must be as they are typed.
4. Tag 7 authors.
5. Let them know they’re it!


Now, I'm going to cheat a little and not tag people, because I'm still recovering my blog-reading habits from the Blindingly-Slow-Internet-to-Crashed-Hard-Drive-to-Lost-Bookmarks Debacle of 2012, so to be perfectly honest I'm not sure which of you fine readers to tag. (Bonus: freebie excuse to send me the link to your blog so I can add it to my bookmarks again! Go go go!)

Instead, I will give you TWO snippets, as this is both a Teaser Tuesday and a tag post. Woo!

First, a piece from page 77 of the MS that is currently riding the query-go-round, A Terror of Darkness: 

“Where have you been?” Avar snapped, still gripping her hard by the shoulders.

            Rose raised an eyebrow; he was seething at her, absolutely furious, but his eyes looked – frightened. 

            “I would not have thought you cared,” she replied quietly. 

            “You promised to help me get them out of Paris,” he said, gesturing sharply at the grate and the three other wolves who waited in the camp for them. “If you disappear, so does my only chance to escape this place. You said so yourself – you need me, I need you. Where have you been?”

            “I went to the Conciergerie-”

            “Again? Why? Rose, if you are seen there too often someone will notice-”

            “I was befriending a guard,” she told him. “I cannot get into the prison through strength of arms or stealth, so I am going to try to be invited inside.”

 
And next, a piece from my new wip - this one's from page 7, since I think I'm only on page 13 so far!

            “Many of those stories are merely hearsay and idle gossip, not anything upon which to base a serious field of study.”  

            “Josephine, might I trouble you for another cup of tea?” 

            Everyone except Kate jumped at the sound of Clara’s voice. Grandmamma looked especially startled; it was quite likely that it had been so long since she had heard Clara speak that she had quite forgotten her capable of it in the slightest. But when Josephine turned to Clara, her sister did not look at all perturbed by the attention she had suddenly turned upon her; on the contrary, she was smiling calmly, holding out her cup and reminding Josephine to perform her duties as hostess and fill it once more. Josephine smiled back, pressing her sister’s hand warmly as she took the cup and saucer from her. 

And hey, if you want to copy this meme and play with it on your own blog, go right ahead! Do please send me the link, as well!